The Gateway to India

It is sometime since I last did a travel blog. Places that I have visited since April include, but are not restricted to, Miami, Shanghai, Osaka, Prague, Budapest, Milan, The Hague, Hong Kong (well the airport), Moscow, the Evian Resort, Hamburg (but not during the world cup), Brussels (one trip by Eurostar), Helsinki, London… It transpires I am one of the top 50 travelers in the company – I am not sure this is a good thing

There are two trips of note. I went to Shanghai for 12 hours. I was supposed to be running some workshops but it was decided that I needed to get back to the Netherlands for something of a crisis meeting. I was supposed to be working with Wayne that week. I sat in his seat on the way back after meeting him at the airport to hand over my wad of Chinese cash.

I also went over to India to look at some IS off-shoring options. My Dad spent a lot of time over there when I was still at school so it was interesting to see some of his old stomping ground. Day one was spent in Bangalore. Bangalore is a pretty civilized place and we stayed at an amazing old colonial hotel The Taj West End. Our hosts were extremely pleasant and asked me to light a candle to ensure a happy relationship between our respective companies. Shame I kicked the beautiful bead pattern all over the floor!! Bangalore is not a bad way to be introduced to India as nothing can prepare you for Mumbai (or Bombay if you prefer). The place is indescribable. We were taken on a guided tour and exposed to many facets of Indian life. On one side you have the poor - a mass of humanity living on top of each other, families literally living in the street, shanty towns the size of Milton Keynes. On the other you have the affluence of modern multinational office buildings, the splendor of old colonial villas and some of the most opulent hotels in the world. It is though amazingly friendly and the locals seem extremely content with life. We ran into the South African cricket team at the bar where we had dinner. I have posted some pictures as web album here. I can now see how India can get to you. Much amusement of the journey home - Marc and Dan messed about so much that they lost their seats in business class. That makes a big difference on a 10 hour flight back to LHR. Marc was eventually put back into business but Dan endured 34K on the way home. It transpires his cause was probably not helped by Tara buying him an economy ticket by accident.

This picture was taken at the laundry centre of Mumbai. Basically the guys that work here seem to be the washing machines for the whole city