Hyderabad, India--Day 1

The last time Casey went to India (March 2009) I didn't go with him for several reasons--young children, finances, etc. But I promised myself that if he went again, I'd go, too.
Dan Taylor, who works with Casey, and Dan's wife, Gracia, went with us.

We left home on Sunday at 8:00 a.m. We got to Hyderabad, India on Tuesday at 3:00 a.m. (28 hours of travel time!) Much as I love to visit new places, I wish I could skip the process of getting there.

First leg--Salt Lake to Seattle: ~4 hours--It was raining in Seattle. I needed a nap.

(Note--I accidentally turned on the date stamp on all the pictures we took for most of the trip. And it was set at lowest resolution because we had been letting the little girls play with it. No photographer, me.)

Second leg--Seattle to Dubai, United Arab Emirates: ~15 hours--The flight plan shown on our individual screens showed us going up over the Arctic circle. Casey and I were in business class seats for this long leg of our three flights.

Emirates airlines treats its passengers very well. The flight attendants wear red caps with sheer scarves attached and they bring you three course meals, snacks and drinks, and even a thin mattress to put on your fully reclining seat. (Unless you're in economy class, like Dan and Gracia.  Don't worry, they'll get theirs on the way home.)



When they darken the cabin for sleeping, the roof has tiny purple pinpoints of light like stars. I think I got more sleep on the plane than I did the night before we left home. And when we were awake, we browsed through their huge selection of movies and TV shows.
Dubai Airport has huge triangular windows of frosted glass that arch up and inward from the ground to several stories overhead. It was dark, so we couldn't see the city outside with its enormous buildings.

There were, of course, lots of high end shops selling duty free goods, and I looked around while stretching my legs as we waited for the flight to India.  At 8:00 p.m local time, a man's voice began a high singing prayer call that echoed through the airport. There were signs indicating rooms set aside for prayer. And of course, the default language was Arabic. It felt otherworldly.

Third leg--Dubai to Hyderabad, India: ~4 hours--I only remember being glad when we finally arrived. It was still night time, and felt like it had been for days. We still had an hour and a half to stand in line at customs/immigration and security. We also had to change some money so we could tip our drivers.

How we looked is how we felt--difficulty focusing.

The airline provided each couple with a driver to our hotel. We checked in at 5:30 a.m. and went straight to bed.