DebbyK’s Hip Surgery_ Eve of Day 6 Post Op_My Emerald City of Healing

HI Your Fit Day Friends!

OK, so driving to the Fisherman’s Cove Resort was pretty straight forward. Or so I thought. I mean, I asked the driver, the same one who picked me up from the Airport-who was digging my Extra brand peppermint gum-if he knew where we were going. Yes Mam, he said.  So, great, I assumed that meant, yes, Mam, he did.

So off we went.  As you saw in my last blog there was tons of traffic getting out of the city. Click here  to see me all dressed up on my last day at the Apollo, or if you just need a recap. And to check out how crazy it is driving in India, watch this video  of traffic coming head on into us as we are leaving Chennai !

Anyway, after driving for about 20 minutes as we made our way out of the city, we headed towards the beach resort areas. Along this stretch is where the film stars, foreigners, IT execs and the wealthy own homes.

There’s not much traffic, considering the one lane road, but even so the roadside is still lined with vendors, restaurants, and emporiums and lots of neon; as well as stray cows, cats and dogs. Really, we were dodging cattle who were just meandering down the road, just following the crowd. Occasionally they would break into a trot and head into the road. We actually had to dodge them.

I wondered how did they know where they were going. They just seemed to be following the crowd. Nobody tapping their butts or taking an interest in them. And when I looked back everybody was passing them. They were just following the crowd! Well, apparently they had better GPS than my driver…

As I shifted focus back onto the road I noticed that even along this stretch, away from Chennai, the buses were packed with commuters coming from the city. I mean, packed is an understatement.  Absolutely NO room. And everyone was just frozen into position once on the bus. But no matter. I don’t know how they did it but they would just make room at every stop for more  people.

And it seemed like nobody ever got off the bus…only on. So whoever is standing at the door just pulls the person in.  I mean the doors are closing and folks are just yanking bodies in, arms still hanging out the door. Packed… in 100 degree weather. Having good breath control would definitely be an asset here.

I bet we’d seldom see that in the U.S.. We’d  just wait for the next train or bus; or we’d be driving by ourselves in our minivan!

Follow The Yellow Brick Road

So, we’re driving along for about 35 minutes and it’s dark by this time and I’m looking at all the signs along the road. They were all really interesting to me.  And it’s also dark by this time. There’s also tons of visual stimulation and you either have to know where you’re going or be looking in 3 places at once, while driving. Well, I’m glad my driver was keeping his eyes on the road.

Anyway, right then is when I notice an overhang sign that says ‘Taj Vivanta’. It was obscure because every few feet there’s an overhang sign advertising resorts and restaurants, or whatever; and likewise, the roadside realty is littered with signs on the left hand side too. (Remember, it’s opposite over here in India). So you can pass your destination turn if you’re not sure of where exactly it is your going.

Hmmm! I thought, maybe we’re here. So I ask my driver how long it will take to get there,  and he says about an hour. Ok!… Maybe not.

Anyway, back to that sign I saw. There were some smaller words underneath that I could barely make out, but what I thought to be “Fisherman’s Cove”, the name of the resort. But I could have just imagined that, wanting it to say Fisherman’s cove. But my gut feeling was like, it was Fisherman’s Cove, and I thought… we missed the turn!

Not wanting to think my driver doesn’t know where he’s going, or give the impression that a hippy chick, who’s never been to India-but has great intuition-does, I cheerfully say, after seeing the sign, ‘So, have you been here before?’.

He says: NO!

Okee-Dokee! Thinking that there may be some other sign that is will jump out and say ‘Turn here for first timers’, I perk up a bit and have this inkling to pipe up and say, ‘Turn…back there’!. But I don’t, wanting to believe I can just relax; that he knows where he’s going. I mean he’s the driver after all, and this Apollo-to-Fisherman’s Cove transfer has been set up by the international coordinators at World Med Assist. So the driver must know where he’s going, right?

Well, after another 10 minutes he stops on the side of the road and leaves me in the car. ‘Right back’ he says. He dodges traffic, chats it up for a few moments with some men, dodges more cars coming back, and hops back in.

Meanwhile, even though I’m wearing those fashionable TED stockings for circulation and to prevent an embolism from sitting too long, my legs, feet and butt are starting to swell.

So, we make a U-turn India style, right into head on traffic, and head back. He says it’s back in the other direction about 5K and apologizes for wasting my time. Well, yes, I would have liked to have been at the Resort where my leg could be up and I was filling my hungry belly with some fresh seasonal fish;especially when check in was at 2pm and it was now pushing 7pm. But oh well. He got me here safely. And here in India I was learning to just ‘go with the flow‘. Nothing we can do to change anything now.

However, piping up was prudent at this point and so I put in my .02$ and said that I had seen a sign that said ‘Taj Vivanta’; and Fisherman’s Cove was a Taj Resort… so I would be sure to point it out to him.

Well, he was pretty surprised that I even saw the sign. But hey, I’m on an adventure and I’m looking at, and for, everything I can. And I just had this gut feeling from the beginning that I should be on the lookout.

So keeping my eyes out I piped up again when we approached it, and we made the turn…into a long stretch of darkness; what would be my paradise for the next five days. What I was expecting was a nicely paved road with well lit signs guiding us into my Shangri La.

Um, well…thank goodness for the late model Toyata minivan I was in and it’s superior shock absorbing suspension. Because with all the lumps and bumps in the road it literally saved my a#@!

But within moments we pulled into the land of OZ.

Here’s a video of my room, and a glimpse of what lies behind the curtain!

Oh!…and the beautiful gift I got from the Taj.

Oh! And  a picture of my friend Chef Manas Mallock,

the Bay View restaurant,

and my first meal, that was so yummy and to die for; and for which I’m desperately trying to score the recipe.

 

 

 

 

 

So stay tuned for Day 7, where my Emerald City of Healling awaits…

Thank you everyone for your support and kind loving words. You are my motivation. You are all helping me heal.

Your Trainer, Friend, and sometimes personal shopper,

DebbyK!

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