Thursday, April 15, 2010

Logistics swings into action - sort of

And what a pain it is! There I was having a lovely relax yesterday (well actually it was a nanna nap!) when Robin rang to tell me to call him back. Here we go again... Some considerable time later we managed to chat to each other, and he told me that since he seems to be not achieving what he had hoped, he was going to can the rest of the trip and just get to Tawang and then send the crew on their way, leaving a free week for us to have a holiday. He said that he does not want to spend much time in a car, or going somewhere with lots of rain, but apart from that I can decide what we will do.
OK, India, bloody big place, having a heatwave, he is about to spend 7 weeks in the mountains so not that, and we will be in the far north east - about 10 hours plane ride away from Goa, the place everyone immediately suggested. Right dear leave it with me.
GRRRRR. Spent a very frustrating 3 hours or so online trying to work out something, ANYTHING, that was doable from Guwahati airport that connects with not much else.
Gave up and went out to karaoke and sank a few Kingfishers and managed to avoid the microphone (well mostly). Had a very cranky driver when I came out - well how was I to know he gets 'locked out' of his house at 12.30 if he doesn't tell me these things?!@!*#* Thanks Manish for taking over the 'hurry up madame' phone call or whatever it was. But of course it was thanks to Manish I was there in the first place!
Anyway, was hoping to go to the pool this morning but have spent about 6 hours online trying to make arrangements, and the person who is supposedly changing my plane tickets has just disappeared, so I can't book anything till I find out about the tickets. I could have gone to the pool after all instead of wasting all day here getting cross.  I spoke to Robin a few times today, and he suggested Manas National Park in Assam (saves him going too far) - ah well I'm sure it would be nice if there was somewhere to stay that a) was not a dorm, b) provided food and c) was not rated by travellers as 'like a prison cell'. So I gave that a miss. Equally Kaziranga in Assam has some quite OK sounding places - but if I am paying $180US a night, I actually expect that my 'hot shower' will not be a lukewarm bucket of water. Call me weird!
So I have, after much thought, decided that as Robin has had 1 cancelled trip, 1 made up trip and 1 bummed out trip so far, that we should have a treat. I think that a super posh hotel in Kolkata (just an hour or so away by plane from Assam) might be just the ticket. Yes I know it's lots of money, but it is actually cheaper than a lukewarm bucket shower in Kaziranga! We can swim, Robin can go to the gym, sauna or spa, have massages and eat, and at least in Kolkata I can go out and stock the mini bar with STUFF and not pay 5 star prices! And he did say that if I was happy he was sure he would be too! So anyway, that's what I have decided (Robin did say it was up to me and if I thought we could afford it to do it) but don't tell him - it's a secret.
I also got an email today from the guys in Bhutan wondering what sort of food Robin would like - I said that he wouldn't like sardines with rice, or fish head soup. Luckily for Robin he can and will eat just about anything.
I spoke to Robin this afternoon and they were driving through a town in Arunachal where there were NISHI people who have rather distinctive headgear - one fellow had a coconut shell on his head with feathers stuck in it. Sounds like just the thing for the racing carnivals.
Well that's about all I have to report from my hopeless day of internetverke. Hopefully next time something FABULOUS to share....like these pictures!






a wonderful light up map of Indian Railways network




here's some delightful outfits from Sarojini market

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