5/6/09 – Arrived at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

India Photos


We arrived in Kerala safe and sound and surprisingly comfortable and well-rested. We were all amazed and impressed with our international airline service, Emirates. Megan, Json, Rana, and I were sold on this airline company and will strive to make our future international travels with Emirates. The flight attendants were extremely polite and clean cut. They kept feeding us and we each had our own entertainment center at each seat. I watched lots of episodes of “Two and Half Men”, “Family Guy”, and a couple of movies. Of course, I had my trusty Sudoku book. Our traveling adventure began on 5/5/09, Tues. at 2pm in Kansas City, Mo. We first landed into Houston, Texas and from there connected to our international flight to Dubai. We arrived at the night so we were not welcomed with a blast of smothering humidity. We exited the plane outdoors in the cool night breeze, bussed to the airport, where we were crammed in a crowded, sweaty, musty, humid room waiting to cross customs. Fishing out our luggage was the most unimpressive part. The place was filled with people pushing and hustling around us trying to do the same thing as us. It was horrible and we were finally happy to get out of this place.

At 3 am, we were greeted with crowded people holding up signs and cab drivers constantly asking if were looking for a cab. After emerging from the chaotic crowds, packed traffic and constant honking vehicles, we found our host and quickly threw our luggage into the cars and jumped in before the police could come by and force our vehicles to move out of traffic. Turns out, a public transportation strike was scheduled to start 3 hours after our arrival, which will shut down local businesses for the entire day. People were gathering to the state capital for the strike and protest demonstrations. We had originally planned to go shopping for saris, however with area businesses closed for the day, we decided to forego sleep and walk the town and perhaps find a cozy spot and draw.

The weather got hot and humid fast. We walked around his neighborhood but due to the strike the stores were all closed. We visited Rana’s elementary school and we crammed ourselves into a rickshaw on the way back. Megan was having a blast on the thing and I was freaked out by numerous honking vehicles, on-coming traffic, and way-to-close-chaotic traffic arrangement. The ride home on the rickshaw cost for all four of us was 12 cents. Rana felt generous and paid the driver 40 cents. Once we got home we all vacated to the single air-conditioned room to recoup from the heat.
Serious jet-lag now sets in and all I can think now is sleep!