INDIA -- I'M HERE!!!


After a 14 hour and 20 minute direct flight on Delta from NYC's JFK, we landed in Mumbai, India without any trouble. It was a nice flight!

Upon landing we moved swiftly through the very long line at immigration -- it moved remarkably fast! Then on to luggage...


Yes -- spoke too soon. An hour-and-a-half later we found our luggage in a pile in a corner where someone had taken it off the belt. Then on to the long and slow line through customs. Every bag you have with you has to be fed through an X-ray machine before you are allowed to cross through into India. Two X-ray machines for 100s of people means relax, joke and be patient (which is just what we did).

Once you get through customs, you walk through a very small cordoned of doorway to where you are met by throngs of people awaiting the arriving passengers... OUTSIDE. The crowds that you would find in any airport -- quadruple them and drop them on the street. Voila, welcome to Mumbai.

I'd arranged a car to pick us up through our hotel and he was there waiting for us. A smart idea I can tell you from the looks of the taxi line. I think it's actually cheaper too!


The drive to our hotel, after midnight now, was interesting in itself. We passed through many neighborhoods of varying financial levels both low and high.

The taxis (shown right) are SO TINY!! And there are auto-rickshaws everywhere! According to the driver of our Toyota Carolla (huge in comparison to the taxis), both the taxis and the auto-rickshaws have either 5kg or 10kg tanks (you get approx. 20km/kg) of LPG - liquid petroleum gas (natural gas). I'll get a better photo of the taxis and one of the auto-rickshaws tomorrow or the next day.

Upon arrival at the hotel, Bernard and I went down to the restaurant for a bite. I was sipping my water when who arrived? DAN!!! After 5 long weeks - Yeah!!! He's a bit road worn after 4 weeks volunteering in and exploring South Africa. Time to start our Indian adventure!


Tomorrow we all head to the Printing Factory. I love seeing new factories! Learning what equipment they have and what their capabilities are...helps me decide what I can design!!

Nighty night! Up in 6 hours to start the day!!