The ride home

After landing we cleared customs and headed toward the van. The only problem was that we couldn't ride in our van. Evidently there was squabble between the state we live in (Tamil Nadu) and the state we landed in (Karnataka) so getting from the airport to home was a bit tricky. Bhaskar arranged to have another driver he knew pick us up from the airport in a vehicle with Karnataka plates and take us across the state line since our plates have Tamil Nadu plates. There had been some trouble with people crossing the state line with Tamil Nadu plates so it was safer for us to cross with Karnataka plates. We had planned to go to the Hard Rock Cafe and have a late lunch but the van that we were in was so big it couldn't enter that part of the city. We were really bummed. But we knew there was a TGIFriday's that we could drive to, so off we went. We were so excited to be in an "American" joint and see American food! Wow, they had burgers (and not chicken but actually beef). The excitement soon dwindled when the food arrived and it just wasn't very good. In fact it was terrible. I am quite certain that is what I got so sick from.

After leaving the restaurant we headed towards the state line. We saw Bhaskar waiting beside the road. The luggage got loaded into the van just as an accident occurred right next to us. It appeared a bus ran into the median. There seemed to be some sort of trouble brewing so the van that we rode it took off and Bhaskar pulled on down the road...without us! So there we are walking down the road (just 75 feet or so) past policemen with loaded machine guns. One made some comment about us walking. We were glad to get in our van and head home! The nicest thing about going home was that India finally feels like "home" to us. It was great to get our pets back and sleep in our own beds!