A day to relax

I'm in India! I arrived late Saturday night - actually Sunday morning around 12:30. Immigration was no problem, although I did find it interesting that after clearing immigration you have to go through a security checkpoint with your hand luggage before you can go downstairs and claim you checked luggage. I'm still trying to figure that one out. Anyway, LH actually puts the priority checked bags out first (unlike UA) and so as I made my way down the stairs I could already see that my bag was heading towards me on the belt. A quick walk through the 'nothing to declare' aisle of customs and I was suddenly outside the airport and in India. It actually wasn't as bad as many other places that I've been - both Peru and Mexico come to mind - as far as people hastling me to take my luggage, need a cab, etc. I had the luxury of a calm moment to pause and scan the long row of people holding up signs to look for my driver. Upon spotting the 'XYZ company welcomes FlygalSF' sign I walked over and met my driver for the next month. He seems like a very nice individual, and was very helpful. I had hoped to get cash but there were no ATMs and the money change places were closed. This wasn't actually a big deal since I knew that the driver is paid weekly on my credit card and I could get cash at the hotel, but Hussein (driver) offered to take me to a 24 hour banking station just outside of the airport.

My hotel this week isn't far from the airport. I'm actually planning to stay a few different places to try them out - there is a Sheraton and a Marriott in Hyderabad but there is also the Taj chain of hotels that people rave about. The Taj hotel is actually closer to work and nightlife, so I'll stay there one of the later weeks when I'm more settled in.

I got checked in and I've got a nice jr suite room - nice little living area, desk, big flat panel tv. It is okay - nothing spectacular but very nice. Of course, it was about 1am local time when I checked in but 4.5 hours earlier than that back in Vienna and I wasn't the least bit tired. Not to mention that I slept some on the plane. Or at least I tried. More on that in a minute. Anyway, I didn't really get to sleep until about 4am but I did get out bed by about 10:30. I didn't want to, but the only way to beat jet lag is to have one hellish day where you force yourself to get onto local time. Thankfully I feel pretty good today. I didn't do much - after 10 days of travel and going full force I allowed myself some down time today. After all, I'm here for 4 weeks - I don't need to see it all today. I actually went out and laid by the pool and read for a few hours. It is a lovely 80 degrees and sunny here and it was just a perfect afternoon. It also gave me a chance to read the lonely planet India book that I've been lugging around. I had an excellent lunch of Aloo Gobi that was a little spicier than I'm used to but was definitely made for a westerners taste buds (thankfully). The rest of the day I did a lot of housekeeping items - read through some work emails, paid some bills, gathered laundry and had it sent out, organized my luggage which had become a disaster, found the gym and went for a run, and now - updating the blog.

So tomorrow I go back to work and I finally get to meet all of the people I've been talking to here in Hyderabad since June. Should be an interesting week!