We boarded our buses this morning for the one hour drive to the bonded warehouse where our cars were being held. Our car made the sea journey with no problems. She started on the first try and after we completed the paperwork we headed out into Indian traffic.....unlike anything I've ever experienced. No one stays in their proper lane; everyone honks incessantly; and the roads are under a constant state of disrepair. Add to that a 30 minute wait in line at petrol stations and you realize that the most important commodity on this trip will be patience. The 50km (approximately 35 miles) trip back to the hotel took us about 1 and 1/2 hours.
Back at the hotel the car went through a safety inspection; no problems. We signed on, received our road books and maps and had our Garmin GPS loaded with the route maps.
Time to pack up our gear and load the car.
Tonight there will be a mandatory driver's meeting followed by a fancy Welcome Dinner. Our car number is #22 so we will depart in the middle of the pack tomorrow.
Oh yes, one more detail. We were presented by our friends, Lars and Annette a small statue of Hindu God Ganesh. This god has the body of a man, but the face of an elephant. This is the Hindu God who can remove obstacles in your life so you can become successful....
our small statue of Ganesh will ride along with us and we can only hope that he will work his magic for us.