Plans are progressing, although at the moment I feel more like I am just in a holding pattern.
I completed and mailed my India visa application yesterday. Barring complications, which I do not expect (but as a worrier...I am also worried they may arise), I should have the visa back by the end of next week.
When it arrives, we will buy my tickets.
I am planning to depart on 13 October and arrive in Mumbai the evening of the 14th.
I know all too well from last year that it will take as long as five days to recover from jet lag, so I plan to stay in Mumbai til at least the 21st, maybe as long as the 24th.
I've made some new contacts from Mumbai on twitter, so am hoping to meet them when I get in town.
I've begun preliminary planning for the trip to Delhi and on to HP.
I've also started with pre-travel shopping as there were so many miscellaneous things I could not find on my first trip that I really wished I'd had access to, such as Ziplocs, garbage bags, and anti-histamines.
I recall thinking it strange how easy it was to find some things and not others which seemed more everyday practical to me.
But then, nothing about India can be anticipated, except that something unexpected will surely happen!
I found my main notebook from the last leg of my first visit and was browsing through it last night. It also contains all my notes from when I first began studying Buddhism. A timely find. I've been so in need of resuming practice, and could not get my head around it. Now I can see how I did it the first time and get back on the path.
If all goes according to "plan", in less than seven weeks I''ll be on India round two! Cannot wait to see what happens this time, to visit all my friends, to explore new places and aspects...
Follow me.......
