Oh Ms. Brown I have a message...

"There has been a seat change on your flight from Vancouver to Hong Kong, come this way." I went from "Economy Class" to "Business Class!" Sa Weet! Now that is the way to start a 14 hour flight. It was fabulous! The seat fully reclined into a bed and was wide enough for two of me, there was loads of food and drink plus a goody bag of Dermologica products! Not sure how the upgrade happened except when I picked up my new boarding pass the lady who checked me in orginally gave me a big smile!

The six hour flight from Hong Kong to Mumbai was a smidge different... I was next to a screaming, yelling and kicking kid so it was nice to finally land. Getting from the airport to the hotel was painless and my requested early check in at 4am was not a problem. It is now just past noon and I have only slept for a couple of hours. The day is nice and the city is getting back to normal since the attack- whatever normal is with a population of 19 million!

I have a few great pics but the internet cafe where I am is not allowing me to upload them... Damn! I would love to show you the open air barbershop next door! It feels great to be here and bright and early tomorrow morning I catch the train to Goa to sit my ass on a beach and relax!

Breathe...

Hello my friends and family. If you are wanting me to tell you that I am changing my flight please wait for the next blog posting. For the rest of you, I have been keeping an eye on the media and have talked to several travel sources and I have decided to continue as planned. Many of you would expect nothing less from me! Of course, I will travel safe (as always) and will not be anywhere near where the attacks took place. Please know, this is not a flippant decision but I also do not let the "what ifs..." control my travel plans. As you are reading this I am on my way and will blog again when I arrive at my safe hotel, in the safe area, safe.

Love Tracy xoxo

Mumbai Attacks

Nothing like gearing up for a trip with a terrorist attack.. I have had lots of emails, texts and calls asking if I am still going. My answer is that I am following what is happening and will make an informed decision as time goes by.

Fortunately, I do not carry a British or American passport nor will I be staying at affluent hotels. I have reserved at Hotel New Bengal which is a Bengali run hotel and will cost 1150 Rs/night versus 17000 Rs/night which is the going rate at the international run Taj and Oberoi hotels. I realize these are not the only two sites that have been attacked but the security over the next while will be heightened.

I will keep you posted.

India: Third time around!

Brown/Tracy Ms 28Nov YVR

Cathay Pacific 28Nov Vancouver BC Hong Kong 230P 855p
CX 839 Friday Intl 29Nov - three days and counting
L Economy Terminal M Terminal 1 - with the masses
Non Smoking Dinner/Lunch Non Stop - no smoking during meals
Reservation Confirmed 14:25 Duration - hopefully no crying kids
Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A340-300 - movie screen in seat
Seat 31K No Smoking Confirmed - back of the bus and smoke free!!!

Cathy Pacific 29Nov Hong Kong Mumbai 955p 200a-early
CX 683 Saturday Hong Kong Intl Chhatrapati Sh 30 Nov
L Economy Terminal 1 - new terminal to explore
Non Smoking Dinner Non Stop - smoke free meal again
Reservation Confirmed 6:35 Duration - 21 hrs of flying :)
Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A340-300 - Bollywood films??
Seat 32A No Smoking Confirmed - the end of 'no smoking'

I get a lot of funny and perplexed looks when I say I'm going back to India for the third time! Besides the obvious that it is a very large country with many states to visit, I am going again because India for me is sooo good for decompressing. It is also far away and very different from my day to day life. There is something magical about India's spirituality, almost like an open air church! The culture fascinates me and it is a land of great diversity; poverty and richness, love and hate, tolerance for most but yet a caste system which is alive and thriving. I feel like I learn so much about humanity when I am there and it gives me time to continue to learn about myself and life in general. How good is that? Mother India here I come!!!