Well, 20 hrs in the air and 1 plan change in an Arab nation later, we are here!
Plane ride went surprisingly well considering I wasn't sure how the baby would react, but she slept, played and entertained several rows of passengers with her smiling and laughing.
Flight from Chicago was pretty uneventful. Smooth flying, airline (Etihad) was pretty good. We were pretty packed in there, but thats almost any airline these days.
Abu Dhabi was interesting. I didn't know quite what to expect, I thought a lot of Sheik looking men and all in black looking woman and for the most part I was right. Being a predominant Muslim region, that was to be expected. We had some extra time between flights, so I did what I always do and shopped. Picked up a couple of souvenirs and people watched and of course we ate. And what does one eat in Abu Dhabi??? McDonalds, of course..LOL. 59 dirhams which they let us pay in dollars (like 15$) but then gave us dirhams in change. Nice- so I spent it on souvenirs. Most interesting thing I saw.....probably the one rather large Sheik guy who didn't appear to have on anything under his long white gown and he walked by where we were sitting, plopped down in a recliner like chair they have in the airport lounge area, kicked off his shoes and went to sleep.
So another 3 hrs from there and we arrive in Bangalore, be it around 4am and yet the airport is packed. Got our massive amount of luggage and headed to the in laws house. I was greeted extremely warmly and they are of course in love with the baby already.
So feeling a little bit tired and jet lagged and what is the best cure for that??? How about a motorcycle ride on India's famous roads. Famous for what one travel book I have calls: the worst drivers with the best reflexes. Picture this: thousands of motorcycles most carrying large amounts of passengers (sometimes a family of 5) and some cars and big trucks - oh and don't forget the auto rickshaws (like a motorcycle with a mini car around it with no windows) all competing for road space in a place where there doesn't appear to be a speed limit and if there is nobody cares. Also there are tons of places that seem like they are under road construction yet there are no workers or equipment which just makes me think they are dug up for no reason. Add in speed bumps every 1/4 mile and oh don't forget about the thousands of people trying to cross the road, walk somewhere or just stand and wait for something to happen. Its mass chaos that you can only imagine and somehow it works. There are few accidents and people somehow know what to do even though they pass on all sides continuously, honk not to say hi or you messed up in driving but to alert other drivers of their presence. You rarely see accidents and in Roy's words when there is one each driver blames the other, yells some obscenities, and then they leave.
So overall so far so good. I'll post some pics soon. My brainy husband left the SD card at home after trying to load the pictures fast to the hard drive so we have to pick up a new one.
Plane ride went surprisingly well considering I wasn't sure how the baby would react, but she slept, played and entertained several rows of passengers with her smiling and laughing.
Flight from Chicago was pretty uneventful. Smooth flying, airline (Etihad) was pretty good. We were pretty packed in there, but thats almost any airline these days.
Abu Dhabi was interesting. I didn't know quite what to expect, I thought a lot of Sheik looking men and all in black looking woman and for the most part I was right. Being a predominant Muslim region, that was to be expected. We had some extra time between flights, so I did what I always do and shopped. Picked up a couple of souvenirs and people watched and of course we ate. And what does one eat in Abu Dhabi??? McDonalds, of course..LOL. 59 dirhams which they let us pay in dollars (like 15$) but then gave us dirhams in change. Nice- so I spent it on souvenirs. Most interesting thing I saw.....probably the one rather large Sheik guy who didn't appear to have on anything under his long white gown and he walked by where we were sitting, plopped down in a recliner like chair they have in the airport lounge area, kicked off his shoes and went to sleep.
So another 3 hrs from there and we arrive in Bangalore, be it around 4am and yet the airport is packed. Got our massive amount of luggage and headed to the in laws house. I was greeted extremely warmly and they are of course in love with the baby already.
So feeling a little bit tired and jet lagged and what is the best cure for that??? How about a motorcycle ride on India's famous roads. Famous for what one travel book I have calls: the worst drivers with the best reflexes. Picture this: thousands of motorcycles most carrying large amounts of passengers (sometimes a family of 5) and some cars and big trucks - oh and don't forget the auto rickshaws (like a motorcycle with a mini car around it with no windows) all competing for road space in a place where there doesn't appear to be a speed limit and if there is nobody cares. Also there are tons of places that seem like they are under road construction yet there are no workers or equipment which just makes me think they are dug up for no reason. Add in speed bumps every 1/4 mile and oh don't forget about the thousands of people trying to cross the road, walk somewhere or just stand and wait for something to happen. Its mass chaos that you can only imagine and somehow it works. There are few accidents and people somehow know what to do even though they pass on all sides continuously, honk not to say hi or you messed up in driving but to alert other drivers of their presence. You rarely see accidents and in Roy's words when there is one each driver blames the other, yells some obscenities, and then they leave.
So overall so far so good. I'll post some pics soon. My brainy husband left the SD card at home after trying to load the pictures fast to the hard drive so we have to pick up a new one.
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