Trains, Planes and Cars: Going back to Sulur - May 29

              Unfortunately I had to wake up at 5 something in the morning to get ready to leave Valsad and I would reach home around 8:00pm so I had a looooong day of travel ahead of me. I also think I get stressed out before having to travel because I had a really hard time falling asleep which wasn't great because I couldn't sleep until I got to my grandmas. I did manage to pack all the things I bought and have them fit the weight limit which I think is a miracle because the clothes I bought were very heavy. Dr. Italia sent a car to pick me up from the hotel and take me to the railway station where Riddhima and Ushma met me to take me to the right platform and train car. I was a little bit nervous because I had only been on a train in India once before (that I remember) and I had been with my mom and sister and uncle. We also had only two minutes to get in the right car (which we didn't at first) but after some quick moving around we managed to find my seat and get all my stuff settled before the train started.

  

My hands did get even darker which was awesome. It was a really dark maroon color

 

Waiting at the Valsad station. Inside the train car

Lookimg down the length of the car

               Once I was in my seat a lot of tension went away because a driver would be waiting for me in Bombay to take me to the airport and after that I was home free. The train ride was somewhat uneventful, it took 3 hours so I just listened to music and read a book. They gave us breakfast but I really wasn't in the mood to eat so I just had some bread and juice and gave the rest back. Once we reached Bombay, it took about an hour to get to the airport and somehow the airline let me check in six hours before my flight so I could check my luggage and relax before the flight. Watched some Will and Grace, had lunch, read an Indian Cosmo (which is very different from Cosmos in the US) and read another book all the while wishing I could sleep but I had to hold off for a few more hours. 

Mickey D's billboard in Bombay

            The flight itself was only around two hours and there was a really cute 18 month old girl (Diya) that was next to me so I spent most of the flight playing with her which made the time pass very quickly. My aunt and cousin picked me up from the airport and we didn't get home until 8 - 8:30. Another aunt and uncle had come to visit the day before so they were waiting for me with my grandma when I got back. I had some dinner, showed everyone the stuff I bought which then I had to put away before going to sleep.

         Very happy to be done traveling, I'm not looking forward to next week when we'll have close to a 40 hour journey back to Pittsburgh. Going to be a fun ride....