Thursday, December 28

 

 

We woke up about 7:30 and Irma got up to book us a hotel in Dubai, after days of trying to contact the hotel we had booked, only to have our booking cancelled because the hotel and bookings.com seemed unable to work together. She ended up getting a suite in the Star Metro, which we used last year and the year before. We would have booked it originally except it claimed to have no available rooms. Now it does. Now we will stay there.

At 11:30 a large, white, air-conditioned car arrived to take us to Trivandrum. We had booked the car Anib had suggested, and off we went.

The driver took us to a bookshop we didn’t want to visit and then to Pothys, which we did. We spent a couple of hours there, starting at the top and then working our way down to the food hall in the basement.

We then went to Style Plus to spend another hour or so looking, and trying, and occasionally purchasing,

Finally we popped into the Modern Book Centre where I bought 50 Self-Help Classics and Naa bought another novel. I also looked at 50 Spiritual Classics but decided that I didn’t need summaries of Be Here Now, Journey to Ixtlan, or Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Driving down MG Road from the bookshop I take random photographs of the street and the people. We pass many women on scooters, and then I notice people passing a bank and some shops. The car stops for a second because of the traffic, and I take this image.

As we leave the main road and drive slowly towards the house, I will notice Bruno exploring in some bushes. I will stop the car, get out, and call to him. Bruno will turn to look, and race to me, leaping up and barking with joy.
The car will carry on and I will point to the house in the distance. Bruno will start running home, stopping every now and then to look back and check that I have kept up.

When the car stops and Naa gets out he will race up and jump all over her.

We will unpack, look at our spoils, and then sit on the balcony with the happy dog. Irma will make a pasta salad with fresh vegetables from Pothys, and the evening will pass merrily by.