Eric's 2nd Big Adventure - Part 1: The Trip

My second world-wide journey, a little more than 2 years after my first world trip, is literally and figuratively a trip around the world. There are two primary destinations this time around, the first is our Delivery Center in Pune, India and the second is our Delivery Center in Manila, Philippines. The itinerary was as follows:

- Depart on Friday, Nov. 7th Tampa to Washington (Dulles) then Washington to Frankfurt, Germany and finally Frankfurt to Pune, India, arriving on Sunday, Nov. 8th

- After a week in India then on Nov. 14th we travel from Pune to Chennai, India then from Chennai to Singapore, Changi and finally Singapore to Manila, Philippines, arriving on Saturday, Nov. 15th

- After a week in the Philippines we return home on Friday, Nov. 21st going from Manila to Los Angeles, CA and finally Los Angeles to Tampa, FL, arriving on Saturday, Nov. 22nd.

Unlike my previous world trip where I traveled by myself, this time I am with my colleague and friend, Alex Nesturrick. Together we are prepared for an adventure unlike anything we've seen before. Alex has created a blog as well and he welcomes you to view it at the following address:

http://topdownviews.blogspot.com

The first leg of the trip was an uneventful trip aboard a TED flight from Tampa to Washington - Dulles. Typical of American domestic trips these days the service included beverages and snacks for sale, but no real food to eat.

Upon arrival in Washington we killed time in United’s Red Carpet club along with 500 of our closest friends. We wandered around the room searching desperately for two unoccupied chairs and finally spotted several which were relatively close together. Knowing that we were headed into foreign lands with unknown menu items, Alex and I gathered the complimentary crackers, cookies and cheese like a squirrel gathering nuts for the winter.

After a short stay in Washington we boarded a United Airlines 777 headed for Frankfurt, Germany. The Business Class section was divided into two parts and we were in the forward-most section closest to the first class passengers. The first thing we noticed was that the biggest difference between first class and business class was the lay-flat beds provided to the first class passengers. Not to complain with the business class because it was like sitting in a high-tech lazy boy recliner, complete with a personal audio-video system.

Alex and I were sitting aisles across from each other with Alex in seat 9B and me in seat 9D (see seat map). We had no sooner taken off the runway when Alex leaned over to me and said “I hope I don’t have to listen to this the entire flight”. That’s when I realized the passenger sitting next to him was already using the air sickness bag. That guy proceeded to get sick for the entire 7+ hour segment of the flight. Thank God for the Bose noise-cancelling headphones that we both were wearing.

Dinner aboard the plane was served shortly after take-off and turned out to be quite tasty. We both ordered the sirloin steak which was topped with blue-cheese crumbles and served with a wine sauce served with baby potatoes and a squash medley. The level of service the flight attendants provided was very good and when we had our fill of food and drinks it was time to catch a movie and some sleep.

Somehow Alex managed to cope with the guy throwing up next to him but nonetheless he was glad when we landed in Germany and left his new friend behind. We didn’t get to see much of Frankfurt while we were there. The airport seemed to be remotely located from town so we couldn’t see much of the city from our vantage point. There were plenty of shops at the airport but the Euro seemed to be too strong for the U.S. dollar and therefore bargains were difficult to find.

We once again killed time in the Business Class lounge, this one operated by Lufthansa Airlines. There was a decent selection of snacks and drinks so we found a couple of chairs and settled in for a two-hour layover. There were plenty of foreign newspapers to read and I was not surprised to see how many of them had articles about Barack Obama. Inside of one of the German Sunday papers there was a magazine which mostly featured two naked people running around in various spots in the country. I could only think to myself that if that insert was placed in an American paper that there would be an uproar from so many people they’d have to shut the paper down.

The final leg of our journey to Pune was aboard a Swiss-owned airline called PrivatAir. The plane was a uniquely modified Airbus A319, which was configured entirely of 48 business class seats in a 2x2 arrangement. This leg of the flight featured the best food of the trip with an appetizer of Jerk Chicken Roulade with Yogurt Sauce and Mango Ginger Chutney. The main course was a tasty dish of roast goose with red cabbage, potato dumplings and herb crumb butter.

The flight arrived in Pune around 3:30 am after an 8+ hour flight and we quickly found ourselves going through the Customs check. All of the other passengers on the plane passed through the checks without issue but of course they took a special interest in one of my bags and wanted to search. My camera was in the bag they were checking and the custom's agent wanted to know all about my camera: How old was it? How much did I pay for it? He checked it over for at least one minute and then returned it to me and gave me permission to leave.

We were greeted at the airport by our friendly host and Accenture Team Lead, Sarang Munshi. While we were loading up the vehicle we discovered that the guy sitting behind on the flight worked for Accenture in Frankfurt and that he and his girlfriend were traveling to India for a 3-week vacation. Sarang helped them with some directions and then it was off to the hotel for some rest.