Well, DANGEROUS it would be, even more than that...
On Monday, November 30 of 1992, I did drop Pieter off at the Atlanta airport for his solo flight to India, due to specific problems in which I could not consult.
So he flew on KLM Royal Dutch Airlines to Amsterdam, The Netherlands and on Tuesday he stayed at the Ibis hotel.
On Wednesday, December 01, Pieter flew non-stop to Bombay, now Mumbai, on this new flight.
He was seated in seat 9B, just behind Royal Class - our Courtesy Card always yielded good seats and often an upgrade!
Pieter also had booked the flight for Dad in March, with 10% senior discount for fl 1,074.00.
He arrived around 23:30 in Bombay and had to wait rather long before his red-white-blue banded suitcase appeared on the luggage carousel.
They did drop him off at the luxury hotel Centaur, Airport in Bombay, India.
Formerly known as Centaur Airport Hotel it is now renamed Hotel Sahara Star Mumbai, India click link.
What a luxury!
But on the way from International Airport to the hotel, Pieter did for the 1st time see Asia's most densely populated slum area...
India has such STARK CONTRASTS!
INDIA, the SLUMS of MUMBAI (BOMBAY) seen around the AIRPORT and after take-off, incredible views! Just click the link for a video...
At the time it were 2,000,000 people living in shanties on 1.5 square mile.
We all cannot realize enough how fortunate we are for enjoying such preferential treatment in this world!
~
It has changed our lives forever... and we both have great difficulty each year when the Holiday Shopping Frenzy starts... All about $$$ and WANT!
And click here: Death-trap toilets: the hidden dangers of Mumbai's poorest slums.
On December 2, Pieter woke up early due to time difference and he did travel that day by plane to Coimbatore and than on by car into the mountains to Ooty.
With such a direct, non-stop flight to Mumbai, travel was a lot more relaxed!
That was Thursday...
Sunday, December 6, Pieter went very peaceful to a Catholic Church in Ooty.
But in the north of India this would turn into a Barbaric Sunday... with the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
Rioting also had spread to Bombay, as published in our Dutch/US bi-weekly paper The Windmill
By Thursday, December 10, the Indian Government halted ALL traffic!
On Monday, November 30 of 1992, I did drop Pieter off at the Atlanta airport for his solo flight to India, due to specific problems in which I could not consult.
So he flew on KLM Royal Dutch Airlines to Amsterdam, The Netherlands and on Tuesday he stayed at the Ibis hotel.
On Wednesday, December 01, Pieter flew non-stop to Bombay, now Mumbai, on this new flight.
He was seated in seat 9B, just behind Royal Class - our Courtesy Card always yielded good seats and often an upgrade!
Pieter also had booked the flight for Dad in March, with 10% senior discount for fl 1,074.00.
He arrived around 23:30 in Bombay and had to wait rather long before his red-white-blue banded suitcase appeared on the luggage carousel.
They did drop him off at the luxury hotel Centaur, Airport in Bombay, India.
But on the way from International Airport to the hotel, Pieter did for the 1st time see Asia's most densely populated slum area...
India has such STARK CONTRASTS!
At the time it were 2,000,000 people living in shanties on 1.5 square mile.
We all cannot realize enough how fortunate we are for enjoying such preferential treatment in this world!
~
It has changed our lives forever... and we both have great difficulty each year when the Holiday Shopping Frenzy starts... All about $$$ and WANT!
And click here: Death-trap toilets: the hidden dangers of Mumbai's poorest slums.
On December 2, Pieter woke up early due to time difference and he did travel that day by plane to Coimbatore and than on by car into the mountains to Ooty.
With such a direct, non-stop flight to Mumbai, travel was a lot more relaxed!
That was Thursday...
Sunday, December 6, Pieter went very peaceful to a Catholic Church in Ooty.
But in the north of India this would turn into a Barbaric Sunday... with the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
By Thursday, December 10, the Indian Government halted ALL traffic!
Plants and offices had to close...
They were trying to calm the whole nation down! So far hundreds of dead from the clashes between Hindus and Muslims.
Pieter got instructed to remain inside the hotel, people from Pond's India staff, came to him, walking for still getting some work done and problems solved.
It was a scary situation!
They were trying to calm the whole nation down! So far hundreds of dead from the clashes between Hindus and Muslims.
Pieter got instructed to remain inside the hotel, people from Pond's India staff, came to him, walking for still getting some work done and problems solved.
It was a scary situation!
Pieter was unable to call with the USA... So he was forced to try via The Netherlands to leave a message for me with my Parents.
The female switchboard operator tried time and time again, finally she got through! Only to hear my Dad hang up on her, as he thought it was a wrong connection.
She tried again and Pieter could take over, so Dad recognized his voice and Pieter than explained him about the dangerous situation he was in.
Dad in turn called me in Dublin, Georgia/USA with the message that Pieter was stuck in the South of India and couldn't travel and that it looked rather dangerous...
Finally, Pieter managed to get through with a call to the USA and informed me that on Friday morning by 5:00 A.M. (which would be still Thursday evening here in the USA, 18:30 the staff would try to move him out to Coimbatore, even though driving a car was still prohibited!
But he desperately needed to leave the country!
The airlines in India were all on strike and also the trains...
The female switchboard operator tried time and time again, finally she got through! Only to hear my Dad hang up on her, as he thought it was a wrong connection.
She tried again and Pieter could take over, so Dad recognized his voice and Pieter than explained him about the dangerous situation he was in.
Dad in turn called me in Dublin, Georgia/USA with the message that Pieter was stuck in the South of India and couldn't travel and that it looked rather dangerous...
Finally, Pieter managed to get through with a call to the USA and informed me that on Friday morning by 5:00 A.M. (which would be still Thursday evening here in the USA, 18:30 the staff would try to move him out to Coimbatore, even though driving a car was still prohibited!
But he desperately needed to leave the country!
The airlines in India were all on strike and also the trains...
The evening of December 10, 1992, I had to go to a Ladies Night from Pieter's Rotary Club.
I'd handed the Rotary Club's President a note, requesting prayers for Pieter, who would be on the road at that time, trying to get out of India, somehow!
Pieter was in danger... and they sure did pray for him!
When I came home that night, I had a hard time to go to bed.
Next day on Friday, December 11, for keeping my sanity, I did drive all the way to the Atlanta Antique Show... and then I stayed up. Read all the magazines I had to still read, writing letters and stayed up with burning eyes till 2:30 on Saturday...
Calling once again with my Parents, but they had not heard anything yet... so I went to bed exhausted.
Then Mom called at 4:15 on Saturday, December 12, to tell me that Pieter had arrived at the railway station in Horst/Sevenum, The Netherlands and Dad was on his way to pick him up.
Pieter made it out of India SAFE!
By 5:15 Pieter called me and told me his incredible story.
Brother Martin gained a beautiful black lambskin jacket that Pieter had bought for him from Pond's Leather Garment Factory, just like his one from an earlier trip in February 1991. For only Fl. 200.00 quite a bargain!
Brother Martin gained a beautiful black lambskin jacket that Pieter had bought for him from Pond's Leather Garment Factory, just like his one from an earlier trip in February 1991. For only Fl. 200.00 quite a bargain!
~
Pieter had gotten the instruction to NOT talk at all, while they were driving the 2.5 hours down to the city of Coimbatore.
The driver, a courageous staffer from Pond's, would handle all the talking!
The driver, a courageous staffer from Pond's, would handle all the talking!
They got stopped by military a dozen times but each time they let them go on...
Also they passed through a rather dangerous area, where quite some turmoil was going on.
So they reached Coimbatore airport, but of course no flights and no trains either.
In such a situation it proves valuable for working under the umbrella of a big and good company such as Pond's, a subsidiary of Unilever. They have power in such a case!
Via the grape vine they learned that a high ranking military guy had to fly from Coimbatore to Bombay in a usual 2.5 hour lasting flight.
It took a lot of money for getting Pieter, together with some more stranded business people working for Unilever (from Great Britain and the US) on the same flight with that military guy!
It was a small plane and they'd bribed a pilote for flying from the military airport to Bombay.
But all was not clear yet, due to the domestic airport being completely shut down, they now needed approval for landing at the international airport!
With numerous phone calls, that got cleared as well.
When Pieter landed in Bombay, it made him instantly feel almost home because soon he would be under the wings of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and he would really be leaving!
Instead of the usual combi-jumbo for half freight/half passengers, used for this stretch, KLM had sent a full passenger plane because so many people got stranded in India during these riots.
What a grateful feeling for getting out SAFE!
The death toll had risen to 1,400...
On December 14, I could finally pick up my flying Dutchman at the Atlanta Airport!
END of a dangerous journey...
