Final day in Ahmedabad

I've more or less reached the end of my extended business trip now. Its been brilliant. There are so many memories I will take home with me. 99% of them really good.


The bad ones I have are mainly of a toiletry nature, or having to share my bed with cockroaches on the trains... The bunk can be seen above. Cramped, hot and uncomfortable. I'm sitting up on this photo and you can see my feet are nearly at the end of the bunk. Lying down one has to keep legs bent all night and try not to turn over or you end up on the floor of the train which I did very nearly once or twice.

The whole trip has been better than I could have ever imagined. It all started ages ago in Dhaka. I was impressed by Dhaka, not because it was so lovely, but because it wasn't half as bad as I expected it to be. It was friendly too and very different from other places I've been.

The hills of Tamil Nadu is what I remember most fondly. They were stunning. The people were the poorest I've ever met and still so dignified, welcoming and friendly. A superb experience.

The last couple of days with Mahesh and his project team have shown me some amazing skills. To organise a project so well is superb. I take my hat off to him. He only started in February. Wow.

I've spent the day in some hotel in Ahmedabad, grabbing a bit of sleep, getting clean and sorting my bags ready to fly. I've caught up on some of the huge email back log I have, chatted to some colleagues, family and friends and now am counting down the hours to get home. I can't wait to see my wife and kids again.