India arrival

I arrived safe and sound after two flights that went very smoothly. As I hoped, I stayed awake for the most of the first flight and slept most of the second; the time went by fairly quickly with the tv and laptop. I scored great seats on both flights with the seat next to me empty.

I have to take my wife to dinner when I get back, as they lost my one checked luggage bag yet I have all I need in my carry on. They tried to stop me bringing the carry on the second flight saying that it was too big. I complained to a supervisor, jammed the bag into the bag-size checker and told him that the bag carried my essentials. The supervisor let me through with the bag, turns out it was needed.

After the delay at the airport in the missing bag, I went outside and met my driver. He called my first name out and told me the driver was awaiting my arrival in the carpark. I went with him to the car and away we went. The rental car was a compact, yet I ordered a full size SUV for the trip. I then asked about the hotel and, through rough dialogue, figured out that I was booked at the wrong hotel in the wrong city. I asked more details and discovered that I was not in the right car! We turned around and headed back to the hotel. I had my current driver cell phone my real driver to inform him of the mix-up. My current driver returned to the airport (after thinking I missed the flight) and away we went correctly to the town of Mysore. I think I was a little out of it after the 24 hour flight and 4:30 am arrival....

We arrived at in Mysore at 10:00 after a hectic non-rush hour drive that felt more like a car chase. Cars drive up the wrong way on highways and don't abide by the lane markers. Most cars and huge trucks do not have side mirrors, so cars must honk there way past others cars to alert them that they are being passed. My hotel check-in was at 12:00, I asked the driver to take me to the city zoo and spent the morning there. Very cool zoo with huge, lush pens for a diverse group of animals. There were monkeys running wild and being around the locals was entertaining. I took a picture of the cutest boy and girl with mom and grandma dressed in Indian attire. I saw another little boy yelping at the monkeys and thought of how much fun my son Logan would have at this zoo.

I am back at the Ginger Hotel now; its very nice and cheap at $30/night. I am showered up and ready to meet the driver to go to the palace in town. I planned to be out till about 7 pm and then head back to the hotel to crash/rest.