2 hours to a city called Raipur

Good morning,

I went to meet my aircraft the other day, it involved flying 2 hours to a city called Raipur, then since there was no regular air service to where I was headed (place called Jagdalpur), had to travel by hired car another 6 hours across the country side. There were thousands of road hazards we had to dodge; bikes, motorbikes, cars, people, trucks and cattle. The cattle had not a care in the world, they mosey wherever they please and nap wherever they please. Sometimes on the side of the road, sometimes on the road, the driver had all 4 wheels screeching a couple of times when we would come upon ol Bessie chewing her cud, half on the road, half off. Didn’t help that we had to travel mostly in the dark. People just let the cows do whatever they want; no one attempts to move them and heaven forbid you hit one with the car.

We made it to the company guesthouse finally about midnight, after a quick bath I hit the sack; 15 minutes later the power failed, no AC and no ceiling fan, it’s still about 90 and the mosquitoes are hungry. Everyone has disappeared. I throw a sheet over myself and lay there listening to hungry mosquitoes.

A lot of vegetarians in the country, I suppose to spare all those precious cattle, the restaurants sometimes only have veggie dishes available. Chicken farming is huge, though I haven’t seen any coops, at least not like GoldnPlump, you could eat yourself silly with chicken. I met a young lady in Delhi who showed me in the Bible, Genesis, (thanks Sandy) where it says “He provided fruits and plants to eat” but doesn’t really say go ahead and eat ol Bessie or Rocky the Rooster. Nonetheless I’ll still have a nice steak or chicken noodle soup, if I can find it.

The culture in this country, among a great many other things, includes the entering of ones room without knocking or seeking some kind of courteous permission. While writing this in my favorite birthday suit (sorry about the visual), room service had me jump out of my skin when upon bringing me coffee, barged right in, good thing a towel was handy. The same thinking applies in their driving, when merging with traffic or a “four corners” situation, they just plow right on through and everyone is on the horn, swerving and dodging. I’ll be riding in the back, holding on to anything solid, with my foot trying to hit the brake that’s not there.

Be well everyone,

Mike