I Made It To Chennai

This is a quickie until I have time to write a real post and get some more pictures.  But, I needed to write about my arrival.

The Chennai airport is like the Greyhound Bus Station in YeeHaw Junction Florida.  Just as dirty and grimy and low tech.

My driver picks me up right outside the terminal where he was supposed to be and as he loaded my bag into the back of the van, I figure I would sit in the shotgun seat to get the very best view of all the crazy Indian Drivers I have been hearing about.  I opened the door ... and found myself staring at the steering wheel and heard the driver laugh and say "No, No, No.  Thats my seat!"  Of course I laughed too, but it was midnight and I was tired, so of course I forgot India drives on left.

But we got loaded up and headed out (with me in the correct seat), and I have to admit that at midnight, I didn't think the driving skills were all that bad as compared to Chinese driving skills any time of day.

The road quality was a different matter though.  I was trying to send a text home to say I arrived safely, but we were bouncing and jostling around so much I couldn't push the buttons on the phone - and we were on the Toll Road Highway ... you know, a real modern one.  Anyway. we bounced along for a while and I was trying to figure out how this was a toll road since it was not a limited access highway and other vehicles were turning on and off the road at will.  Maybe I will find out before I leave.

But all that talk I was hearing about traffic jams did not occur this night until we exited the Toll Road.  We immediately ran into a traffic jam ... the herd of cattle just wandering down the highway.  They were Brahama Bull type looking (that classic hump on the back shoulders, but small animals like Shetland Ponies).  But there they were, just heading down the road.  We had to slow down an honk and squeeze our way through them.  That was pretty entertaining for me and the driver who just laughed at them.

After an hour we arrived at our hotel.  We enter through the iron gates and past the guard then stop at the next guard who uses a flashlight and mirror contraption to see underneath the van.  Maybe I looked suspicious.  Then, to enter the hotel I had to walk through a metal detector.  Wow!  What kind of complex is this?

Actually, a really, really, really nice complex.  It is definitely a 6 or 7 star resort (on a scale of 5)!  Beautiful grounds, buildings, a gigantic pool that meanders all through the property (I looked to be sure; all one pool), palm trees, flowers, a true tropical paradise.  The Radisson Temple Bay Resort.  And while Marty has an elephant, I had a swann!

So if you let me squared away here with some work stuff I'll get some photos to post up to confirm all of this. 
Stay Tuned!