176 Sunday Nov 28

Sunday Nov 28 Day 176

This was my last travel day. It started at 5 am on Saturday and ended at 10 pm on Sunday when I went to bed. This was a total of 52 hours. I left Kilmarnock at 1:10 pm Saturday and endured a 9 hour taxi drive to Indira Ghandi International Airport in Delhi. It took 9 hours and 15 minutes to get there at 10:25 pm. The sugarcane is being harvested and transported to the sugar mills. This causes major trafic jams near the mills. We had to pass by 2 of these facilities. The first one was some distance from Delhi and we took the back roads and missed the mess. The second one is just outside Delhi and on the only route into the city. There were times when there were 4 distinct lanes of traffic and the road was a 2 lane road.

One of the most constants sounds you hear in India is the sound of the vehicle horn. When driving in the mountains you honk your horn when approaching a blind curve to let oncoming traffic know you are there. All Indian drivers cut the curves and are so surprised when there is oncoming traffic. Honking the horn must have been an orgasmic for my driver. When we were not in any traffic he would just honk his horn for the obvious pleasure it provided him. There are actually a few traffic lights in Delhi. We would be waiting for the light and as soon as it went green my driver began to honk his horn with great and repeated vigor. There were usually 7 to 10 cars in front of us but he had to let everyone know that he was ready to go immediately, so move it along.

When I got to the airport my first task was to exchange my Indian rupees for US dollars. When purchasing rupees the exchange rate was 43 rupees to the dollar. When I sold my rupees back I got 48 rupees to the dollar. I wanted to go an buy some more rupees and exchange them and make a little money but I didn’t have time.

I flew with Air France all the way to Seattle. The food was absolutely delicious. Perhaps eating the same thing everyday had some effect on my taste buds. It was only the 3rd time I had meat in last 3 months.

I awakened at 5 am on Saturday morning. I got to bed in Maple Valley 42 hours later. I had a whole 10 to 12 minute nap on the ground in Paris. I am not able to sleep on an airplane. The confining of my feet in a very small area (this area is taken up by my backpack leaving two small holes for my feet) causes me to move constantly and not fall asleep. The first leg of the journey was the taxi ride to the airport which lasted over 9 hours. Then there was the 3 1/2 hour wait in Delhi follow by a 9 hour flight which ended up being a 10 1/2 hour flight. We were on the ground for an hour and a half (all locked up in the nice big plane). Taxiing to the runway was a very lengthly process. It must have been close to 1/2 hour. The layover in Paris was shortened by the delay in Delhi to only 3 hours. The flight to Seattle was another 9 hours. When I get here I stay up until it is bedtime in Seattle. I am writing this on Thursday and my brain is finally working.

When I got here I needed to go through customs. I looked for my keys to my 2 large suitcases. I knew they were in my backpack and so I searched and searched. I had given up when I looked down and there were my keys laying on the ground at my feet. It turned out that they did not want to look inside my suitcases.

When I weighed myself on Monday morning my concern had been met. I weigh less than 135 pounds. This is the first time I have weighed this little in over 45 years. It was the really bad taste of my midday meal that caused me to eat less each day. Unfortunately the horrible food will stay with me as a really bad memory forever.

To those of you who have read to the end, Thank You for your time and patience. I hope I have been able to inform you, amuse you and see me at my worst. I got everything I needed to continue with my project and hopefully will have something to see in a couple of years.

Goodbye

Leon Dillingham