FEB 15, 12 .. AGRA CANTT
Wednesday the 15th .. Agra Cantt .. I want to bring you all up-to-date on my trip North from Kodaikanal ..
Saturday .. Feb 11th .. 6:40PM .. Depart from Kodaikanal on the Parveen Tour Bus heading North and East to Pondicherry (on the East Coast on the Bay of Bengal) and then North up to Chennai (on the East Coast of India also) ..
About an hour into the trip .. it was now night time and very dark .. big trouble on the narrow two lane mountain road .. we had a FULL THREE (3) HOUR wait while some ‘trouble ahead’ of us got taken care of .. we heard the vehicular traffic North and Southbound was backed up for two (2) miles each way ..what a mess and what a wait .. no one knowing what was happening ..
So to make-up-time for this delay .. we did not stop for a full seven (7) hours ! .. Luckily (based on 21 years of experience) I know how to handle such a situation and can and did so ! NO toilet facilities on the bus !
In and out of Pondicherry and into Chennai ‘only’ a f ew hours late ..
I was able to get my rail ticket departure changed from Monday night to Sunday night .. what a break this was ! .. I got a bed in an Air Conditioned Dormitory AT the Chennai Railway Statiion so I had a SUPER nice place to hang-out while waiting ten (10) hours for my train North to Agra Cantt .. I alternately napped and explored the Chennai area around the main railway station .. my photos will be on my photo website ..
FLIP-A-COIN as to my railway cabin associates .. as you may recall .. I have had some EXCELLENT train trips and some not-so-good and very CHALLENGING trips ..
THE RAIL TRIP NORTH TO AGRA CANTT WAS AN EXCELLENT TRIP !
I HAD THREE POSITIVELY OUTSTANDING CABIN MATES ! .. the train was set-your-watch on time into Agra Cantt ..the train was scheduled to arrive into Agra Cantt at 3:52AM and (get this ! ) at 3:51AM (in the dark of very early morning) I was off the train ..
I walked to my hotel through the dark of early morning in Agra Cantt and my room 115 at the Pawan Hotel was ready and waiting for me !
I slept awhile .. then got up and began my process .. did a fairly major laundry of my clothes from the past three days .. I put up several quick posts on each web site .. did some shopping for necessities .. had lunch .. and ..
About 3:30PM .. yesterday .. Tuesday the 14th of February .. I lay down for another nap ..
Out of a DEEP SLEEP (this was NO nap .. this was a crashed-and-burned SLEEP of exhaustion !) way-out-in-the-distance someplace .. I heard a knocking on my hotel room door ..
I had a lot of trouble fighting to come to consciousness .. when I did .. I could not gain my balance .. somehow I stumbled to the door .. opened the door .. took possession of an extension cord I needed for my C.P.A.P. .. thanked the young messenger who had gotten it for me .. and dizzily .. stumbling and falling .. and I mean falling .. got my C.P.A.P. plugged in and running ..
The room was spinning .. I could NOT focus my eyes on any object .. I just could not keep them on any one point .. it was the oddest feeling .. but I got into bed and sort of held-on for awhile ..
Somehow .. reeling and dizzy .. I got up .. washed my hair .. my scalp was itching .. washed my feet in cold water because they were both cold and they were clammy .. even a cold water washing helped a lot .. fell back into bed .. got my C.P.A.P. in place .. and I began to ponder my plight ..
Patti called me to check-in (it was her middle-of-the-night) and I got talked-down a bit .. and began a fitful and frustrating attempt to get to sleep .. I kept looking up at a light fixture above my bed and I could not keep my eyes on any one object ..it was the most confusing phenomenon ..
About 8:00PM .. I went to sleep .. I awoke at 12:30AM .. took off my C.P.A.P. mask and instantly went back to sleep .. awoke again about 1:15AM and felt greatly improved ! I had regained my balance .. ate a snack and drank a lot of water .. my eyes could look at and stay on a single point .. and the room had stopped spinning .. washed some more things .. and went back to bed about 2:30AM .. and slept well the rest of the night ..
And awoke feeling fairly good ..and got out of bed about 9AM ..
Got out of my room around 9:45AM and did a bank A.T.M. visit .. from HELL ..
The A.T.M. dispensed my ten thousand rupees and .. gave me my receipt .. AND took the money BACK into itself .. I had a receipt and NO money .. I went into the bank and they said .. “Call YOUR bank..” ..
I called Patti who called my bank who called me HERE IN INDIA within ten minutes of my call to Patti .. and they talked me down .. they said they were aware of this happening and for me not-to-worry ..
I ate lunch and here I am ..
I will close with this observation ..
IF I HAD BEEN HOME IN THE UNITED STATES AND FELT WHAT I FELT YESTERDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING .. I WOULD HAVE PASSED ‘GO’ AND GONE DIRECTLY TO AN EMERGENCY ROOM ..
One short week from this instant .. I will be IN Hong Kong .. God Willing !
Now to try to put up some photos on my photo web site ..
Much Joy and Much Love .. Cap ..