Incredible India...

A few weeks ago, mid-march, I had the pleasure of going to Chennai in India for business.

Ever since I joined The Company I haven’t stopped hearing horror-stories about Chennai - how it’s not as clean, efficient, safe, easy, etc. as Denmark or Singapore - or anywhere, actually... Stories about how people got food-poisoning and died before anybody had time to call a doctor; stories about how the traffic is so bad you need a tank to go anywhere; stories about a bureaucratic system where it’s impossible to get anything done in less than a month - and where you need to fill out ten forms to get a piece of paper to feed the printer...

So although I never really believed all of it to be true, my expectations were not super high! And that’s usually the best way to travel, as I got super positively impressed by almost everything!

The traffic is bad, but it’s nowhere near as bad as I expected - it’s a big mess of small cars, trucks, bikes, tuk-tuk’s, cows and people, but it actually moves and it’s possible to get around without feeling too unsafe (read the first link!). True that the infrastructure leaves a bit to be desired - public transport is virtually inexistent (bar the overcrowded 30-year old busses that run sporadically in the 40-degree weather without air-condition), and as an example the ‘Information Highway’ - a major artery where our company is located together with a lot of American and European blue-chip companies - is only semi-paved (from unpaved two years ago), and that only for the first 20km or so...

Sure, one also has to be careful what and where to eat - and the first question people asked me when I got back to Singapore was “How long did you last before you got delhi-belly?”... However, as I found, there are plenty of places that offer food for the ‘untrained’ western stomach, and the local food is delicious. So I admit I was quite selective, but it paid off and hence - No, I didn’t get sick :-).

I had been warned that not all neighbourhoods were equally safe and that as a white boy I should expect to pay overprice for everything - but this didn’t seem to be the case (apart from one museum where the ‘tourist’ price was 50 times higher than the ‘local’ price - I am still annoyed at the $1.90 I could have saved if I had an Indian passport!). People were very nice, friendly and helpful though, and most speak perfect English. So yet another prejudice proven wrong.

I left Singapore very very early Sunday morning, after a major D&D (Dinner & Dance) organised by The Company Saturday night. I made my flight, and because of the time difference it was still quite early when we got to Chennai. We were greeted by a driver from the hotel, who took us through downtown to the newly build hotel on the Information Highway. After checking in I got another car, and went back downtown to meet Palle from Portland, who is now living in Chennai.

We then immediately headed for lunch, at a nice expat- and tourist-resort on the beach a bit south of town, as I hadn’t eaten anything all morning. After marvelling at just how beautiful that spot was (and an immaculate brunch), we went back into town where Palle had an appointment to see a flat (he is still staying in a hotel), and then we took the big sightseeing tour - more beaches, temples, shopping centres, and even a museum. As it was my first visit to India, I just wanted to get a feel of the city and suck up as much of the ambience as I could, and I think we managed pretty well considering I only had one day for sightseeing.

Monday through Wednesday we participated in intensive training - it was a technical course for engineers - and hence I didn’t see much except the hotel and our offices, but I did manage to get a tour of the factory as well. It was a fairly interesting couple of days, and hard work as always ;-).

The flight back was possibly the worst scheduled route I have ever flown - it leaves Chennai at 2330, and lands in Singapore 6am! However, taking just less than four hours, even though it was flown by Singapore Airlines and I was lucky enough to be upgraded, it was a tired me who got back to Singapore.

My arrival back at Changi Airport nevertheless showed me once and again how smooth and efficient this city really is (although I guess the impression is reinforced after four days in ‘real’ Asia :-)): We touched down at 5:57 (scheduled for 6:00), by 6:10 (!) I collected my luggage from the belt after getting off of the plane, clearing immigration, and buying my duty-free booze. I walked straight into a cab, and by 6:30 I was at home, getting ready for a nap... Not many airports can compete with that!

Next: 48-hours after getting back from India, I was off to Palau Bintan in Indonesia!