Thursday, May 10, 2006.
The trip began with arrival at Dulles around 4 p.m. for a 6:40 p.m. flight... Having frantically packed for the two hours prior I was in little mood to encounter any of the typical obstacles at the airport but, Dulles being Dulles, the woman at the United counter chose to give me attitude claiming that there were no flights on United to Bangalore. I incredulously responded that on the contrary there was a flight to Bangalore but it involved a code share flight on Lufthansa from Frankfurt to Bangalore. Seemed simple enough however the woman gave me a blank stare and simply reiterated that she saw no united flight to bangalore in her computer. Being in the mood I was, I responded with mild sarcasm and a bit of petulance and told her that I was sure there was a code share flight and even offered to show her my e-ticket itinerary. Anyway, long story short the woman clearly did not appreciate my attitude but nonetheless accepted with some disdain that there was indeed a flight on to Bangalore. The relevance of this tidbit story becomes clear later.
After boarding the plane I settled in for my grueling 18+hr jaunt to India with a 2 hour layover in Frankfurt where I met up with a guy from the client. I did not manage to sleep on either flight.
We arrived in Bangalore at midnight Bangalore time (10.5 hrs ahead) on Saturday, May 12th after a 9.5 hr flight with no video entertainment and a meal they claimed was chicken but had the mysterious texture of beef. I did not eat it. After going through customs, we then waited patiently at the ONE luggage belt (not too impressive for an international airport trying to supply luggage to the 200+ people on the plane). After an hour of waiting, it became clear that my luggage was not included. Images of the disdain on the United woman's face in D.C. popped into my head and I realized that she did, in fact, have the last laugh... In a way I congratulate her as I would have likely done the same thing if faced with an obnoxious washington D.C. attorney such as myself. After getting a toiletry bag and 4,000 rupees ($100) from Lufthansa we took the hotel car to the infamous Leela Palace.
Upon arrival at the Leela Palace I was struck by the blatant oppulence of the place. There were Indians dressed in traditional attire to help with luggage, there were rose petals in the many pools of water inside and there was incense in the air. The lobby was tremendous and people were there to service our every need. In a way, I felt how royalty must feel upon arrival anywhere. It was also a far cry from the typical accomodations the client offered (can we say Best Western in Roosendaal?). The room in which I would be staying for three weeks was equally impressive, huge, with a balcony and replete with fantastic bedding and a marble bathroom. After speaking to my girlfriend briefly at 3 a.m. I finally managed to pass out around 5 a.m. India time or 7 p.m. in the United States.
