28 May 2008

We tried going to a bank, after meeting with the members of the Institute (IAH & VB) led by Director Renukuprasad. The group was definitely on IST though, and we had to do a mad dash after this to get to the airport for our flight…which by this time were running on time. So after failing at the banks across the street which were actually just ATMs, we had to simply leave and have people trust me with the money to get to Dr. Nadeem when I returned. We rushed to Dr. Nadeem’s house where his wife and daughter had made us lunch that was AMAZING! Now I like Indian food and all, but this was spectacular. 5 of us then managed to pile into a car with ALL the luggage and a driver to meet the others at the airport. This involved 1/2 of the car to be on someone else’s lap and no way to see out the back. The ridiculousness of this all resulted in lots of stares (more than the usual) towards our car. We made it…barely getting through security due to a 15 minute delay and flew to Delhi. We knew we had to find someone with a name that sounded like ‘shiny’ that worked for Panicker’s travel agency. While the name of the agency did not instill a great sense of security, Dr. Nadeem had faith in them, and he has let to lead us astray. We would not find ‘shiny’ for two days, but a small bus got us to a hotel and all was good. A brief debate over room cost, we settled in to rooms with cable TV, toilet paper stocked, and a shower that had a curtain. We slept then…till 3:00am for our 4:00am bus to Agra.