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Chennai

Late last night I arrived in Chennai via a delayed Jet Airways flight from Delhi. All very civilised at the pointy end of the plane. Unusually, they had a separate bus for the Business Class folks and 'priority' luggage actually arrived on the carousel first. Simple walk to meet my driver and off to The Raintree Hotel on St Mary's Road - apparently this area is the Bollywood hangout in Chennai. Clearly I'm going to fit in well with the locals. Above is a pic from my bedroom window. There's a terrace and a pool on the roof, and I can report that the wooden decking was way to hot to walk on bare foot, but the water was fabulously cool.

Rajiv Gandhi

Today marks the twentieth anniversary of the death of Rajiv Gandhi - India's sixth and youngest Prime Minister. He was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers in a village near Chennai [I'll be flying to Chennai later this evening]. I only know about this thanks to the ten or so full and half page tributes in today's Times of India.

Hair Cut

Quite a few big hotels have a hairdresser connected with their gym or spa or whatever, so I decided to have a go. My friendly barber - Santosh - was very chatty and smiley. Much to my alarm, he was determined to use his cut throat razor to tidy up all the loose ends, and insisted on trimming any wayward wiry hairs on my eyebrows and ears. All very neat, and a bit of a bargain at about three quid. And like almost every other transaction in Indian hotels, I was asked to fill out a customer satisfaction survey sheet.

Tourist

Tuk Tuk

Automated Rickshaws, or Tuk Tuks, are everywhere in Delhi. Having seen the way they're driven, I've not been brave enough to use one yet. This morning, though, most of the drivers went on strike - I've no idea why - and I'm told that as a consequence it was bedlam trying to get into work.

Chor Bizarre

Chor Bizarre is an 'amusing' restaurant on the ground floor of the building where I'm working this week. This 1930s Ford is part of the decor... and this fellow in the hair net thought I wanted him in the photo.

Twinkle Toes

My driver for the week is Dan Singh...

Hello Delhi

Changed hotels rather rapidly after a quick visit to where I was supposed to be staying. Grim doesn't even begin to describe the location or the hotel itself. Unfortunately, this same hotel is where I have to go each day for this week's work. Pictures to follow...

Bye Bye Mumbai

So farewell LaLit Hotel in Mumbai, and hello LaLit Hotel in Delhi. Flew to Delhi this morning.

Poolside

Friday was a bit of a write-off thanks to the follow-through of a minor bout of Delhi Belly. But Saturday is a day off, so managed to spend some time by the pool, and even a bit of a swim. Thanks to all the foliage, you wouldn't know that the hotel next to a main road, but the palm trees really look good. Lots of green coconuts waiting to ripen.

Thursday Night

Thursday night - Dehli Belly night. Bugger!

Leopold's

Went to the Leopold Cafe on Wednesday night. Chicken Tikka and a couple of Kingfisher's. This is one of those old colonial hang-outs. It's also one of the places where the terrorists started their madness back in 2008.

The rush hour here goes on until 23:00. So it took 90 minutes to get there and not much more than 30 minutes to get back. Went via the Bandra-Worli Sea Link bridge - quite a marvel in these parts.

Mumbai

This is 'home' for five days in Mumbai. It's the InterContinental hotel near to the airport in the North of Mumbai - so some distance from the 'fashionable' centre which is in the South.

Visas

The first three destinations of this tour all require a visa - and for me, on this occasion, that's a business visa. For India, the going rate from the UK is £107.00 for a multiple entry [as I may be going back there later] yearly visa. For Vietnam, the rate is £65 for s single entry visa. And for Russia, who the heck knows as there are so many elements in the process [I'll report back when it's all done, but I remember from the past that it can be absurdly expensive.]

For business visas to each of these countries the start point is a letter of invitation from your firm [if you have an office in these countries, which I don't] or your local client. For Russia, this needs to be formalised in Moscow first, and then scrutinised again at the Russian Consulate in London. All in all, quite a lengthy process. So, in recent years, to make it all a bit simpler, I've used an agency - DJB Passport and Visas - who are based in Shoreditch, the hip yet grim hinterland of the City of London. There's a handling charge and, if you want it, a courier charge. But it's all so much easier that doing it all yourself.

Preparation

Over the next 12 weeks I will be travelling to India, Vietnam, Russia, Cyprus, Spain and France, with the odd few days back in England. So right now, it's some 72 hours before the taxi takes me to Heathrow, and I've set up this wee blog to keep a record of my travels.