John -back on the blog

Varkala

(John) Now that we are a team again, it's time to write about what we have been up to. Mhari and I had a good trip to Trivandrum where we met up with Lesley and Sam. We drove with my parents to Heathrow through nasty wet weather. They dropped us off then continued on to a funeral near Crawley. We are very appreciative of all the support they have given us. Checking in to Heathrow was a breeze. We were pulled out of line and led to the First class check in desk. For a spit second I though they might have decided to upgrade us. They did, but only as far as the check in desk. After that it was Economy all the way. We flew on Jet Airways, an Indian Airline and as far as it goes it was pretty good. The food was great, nice and spicy. On arrival in Mumbai we were met by a man from the hotel who led us to the pick up area and phoned a friend. We sat for a while and watched Mercedes, BMW's and assorted big SUV's pick up other groups of people and wondered what we would be travelling in. Mhari spotted it first. She said “I bet that's ours” pointing at a rusty battered Daihatsu micro bus that was limping into the pick up zone. We proudly got on board, shoving our back packs through the passenger door as the rear gate wouldn't open. Our hotel was entered through a large door with a speakeasy style peephole. The driver obviously knew the password because the door opened up and we were shown the stairs that led to the hotel. After the check in procedure we were shown to the room by three men who would not stop making our beds and turning on lights and A/C and showing us the toilet and shower until to tired to fight, I gave them 100 rupees and they went away. Sleep would have been nice, but beneath our window was a chicken run and the rooster crowed all night long. On the other side of the room, outside our door, people were cleaning and chatting. To get to sleep that night I would have needed drugs that I didn't have. The wake up call came at 7.50 am 10 minutes earlier than requested. I ordered breakfast that came to the room very promptly. When we came down to leave we were told breakfast was complimentary and the car was waiting, too tired to complain about being too tired, we hopped in a slightly less beaten up micro bus and were driven to the airport. It was the briefest glimpse of Mumbai that we were given during those trips to and from the airport but still fantastic and jaw dropping.

The airport inMumbai provides a study in contrasts. It is quiet and serene. Security was thorough and friendly and we were quite relaxed by the time we boarded. The two hours it took to get to Trivandrum flew by (pun not intended), our bags came off the plane very early and it wasn't long before were walking out and into the arms of Lesley and Sam and the tears of joy flowed.

The taxi trip to the hotel in Trivandrum was crazy as every trip in a taxi or an auto rickshaw has been since. There is so much to see, so many people, and dogs and chickens and vendors and traffic and motorbikes and noise and litter, so much litter.

We have spent two days on the beach and an afternoon at the zoo, we have been on a train and several local buses. We have eaten a lot of delicious food and sampled many different kinds of tea. All lots of fun and most of it very new. I haggled for a sarong, beat the poor guy down to a ridiculously low price but still could have got it cheaper if I had only tried harder. So just three days in and I'm hooked.

By the way, Mhari never did get the MRI. We went for her appointmant to be told that her MRI was in two days time and that we were only there for a pre MRI appointment and we should have have received a phone call about the actual MRI. However, the consultant examined her knee and said she should avoid sports for one month and carry on as normal without the aid of a walking stick. She was fine to fly and all was well.

(Lesley) John saved a man in the sea today. We were on the beach watching the kids playing in the waves when we noticed the beach police whistling and signaling. We thought they had a problem with our kids, so John went over to see what was up and explain about Sam and Mhari, but in fact they were eyeing a man furthur out who appeared to be in difficulty. They asked John to go check if he was ok and signal if help was needed. John swam out and in fact the man was asking for help, he couldn't swim and had been pulled with the current well over his head. John had him roll onto his back, and signaled for help then began to tow him in. The beach patrol saw John's signal and sent two good swimmers in to help John bring the man in. I swam out as well after seeing John swim beyond the kids and furthur out towards a little head bobbing in the sea, but John had it under control. The little oriental man was very tired and needed the assistance. He was cooperative, exhausted, scared but not panicking. He was fine once ashore, but potentiallythe situation could have gone badly. Yay, John our hero!

Proof that she has arrived in India.

Relaxing in front of our room.