Sunday, 16 November 2008

I've arrived in Bangalore

Arrived at Bangalore airport 30 minutes early after an uneventful flight. Terminal 5 at Heathrow was really impressive and lived up to all it was supposed to be. Whilst busy, there were few queues and the longest I had to queue was at security which took me 5 minutes! We touched down at Bangalore at 5.00am local time (5.5 hours ahead) and took a taxi to my hotel - the Ballal Residency.

Drove from the airport as dawn broke. My driver was, like most Indian drivers, hooter happy reminding me of the chaos on the roads when I was last in India in 2001. En route to the hotel, we passed a golf course and loads of people were playing at 6.30am!!

The hotel is simple but clean and will be my home for the next 2 weeks. I had a quick breakfast (curry of course) and then collapsed on my bed for a 3 hour sleep. Have just returned to the hotel having walked around the immediate area jam packed with people, rickshaws and endless cars and scooters. My biggest shock was to see a Marks & Spencer franchise store just around the corner from the hotel!!

Writing this in my hotel room that overlooks a Police Officers' sports ground and...guess what....a cricket match is on with highly enthusuastic crowds and a commentator blaring from the PA system.

Still feeling a bit wobbly after the flight, the time change and the lack of sleep. So looking forward to a good night tonight and to meeting all the team at Dream a Dream tomorrow.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Great Ed! I am relieved that all's gone well so far. Take care!

Rufustia said...

Glad you arrived safely. Careful what you eat. Curry for breakfast! Ugh!