Traveling

Flying is such an adventure.  You never know what will happen and you must depend on other people and nature to get you to your destination.  As I now sit in my hotel room, I think about the marvels of modern air travel.  One minute you are in the comforts of your own home, a few hours later you are halfway around the world.

My flights to Delhi were somewhat uneventful and that's a good thing.  During my layover in the Tokyo airport, I did witness an unfortunate incident.  One passenger was yelling at the airline gate agents as he waited for a flight from Tokyo to Chicago.  Apparently, the inbound flight from Chicago was late because of problems at the Chicago airport and therefore, the passenger's flight to Chicago would be late leaving Tokyo.  For some reason, the passenger did not understand that this problem was not the fault of the gate agents.  You can't fly a plane that isn't available.  But the passenger was ranting and cursing and really making a spectacle of himself.  In fact, the police were called and seven policemen showed up to ensure that the situation did not get out of hand.

My idea of getting a seat in the back of the plane for the Tokyo to Delhi flight was shared by many other people.  By the time I checked, all empty rows were all taken.  However, I did have an empty seat next to me so I was able to get a few hours of sleep.  About 30 minutes before landing in Delhi, the flight crew came through the cabin spraying disinfectant.   Flight attendants suggest that you cover your nose and mouth as they come through.  This has happened each time I have landed in Delhi and still am unsure why it is done. 

Beginning

As I now sit in the Seattle-Tacoma airport, I am listening to some live guitar music.  The terminal is busy with travelers going to all corners of the world.

My trip to India will take about 22 hours:  10 hours from Seattle to Tokyo; 4 hour layover; 8 hours from Tokyo to Delhi.  I chose my seat assignment so I would have some extra room.  Usually I try to get a seat near the front of the plane, but I am in no rush.  According to the seat chart, I should be able to find an entire empty row!

Good to Go

I am always a bit anxious when I wait for my visa.  The main reason is that my passport is out of my hands.  To get a visa to India, you must fill out several documents, include color photographs (don't wear glasses!), and mail the package with your passport to a service that works with the Indian government.

If all of the documents are in order, then a visa is placed inside your passport.  Then the passport is mailed back home.  In my case, a small package with my passport was not placed in my mailbox.  Rather, the passport package was just sitting outside the front door of my house when I got home from work yesterday.

But getting the visa is one of the final steps in preparation for the trip.  The next step is packing! 

Preparation

I am still waiting for my visa to get into India.  I hope things will get cleared up next week, but I do not like waiting. 

In preparation for my presentations to the monastics, I have been reviewing my slides from last year.  All of the slides were translated into Tibetan and I do not plan to change too much.  The Tibetan text looks beautiful, but because I cannot read any of it, I have "mirror" slides in English that I will use.

Here are examples of slides that have been translated (click on the slide to enlarge it):

Ticket; Now Visa

Getting all of the paperwork for a trip to India is quite a chore.  Last week I hunted for flights from Seattle to Delhi.  I thought I had found one on Delta Airlines.  The flight left Seattle at a good time, had a relatively short layover in Paris, and landed in Delhi just after 10 pm.  As I worked my way through the airline web site to purchase my ticket, I entered all of the requested information.  For the last step in the ticketing process, I entered my credit card information and hit the "continue" button.

To my surprise, instead of charging my credit card, the airline informed me that the cost of the ticket just increased by $400.  My options were to continue and purchase the ticket with this new price or look for another flight.  Not only did I look for another flight, I looked for another airline!  I decided to fly over the Pacific Ocean with a stop in Tokyo (Narita) on All Nippon Airlines.

After purchasing the ticket for the flight, I turned my attention to getting a visa to enter India.  I have always requested a 6 month visa, although longer term visas are available.  Obtaining a visa is easier now compared to the first time I participated in the Science for Monks program.  In the past, to pay for the visa, a cashiers check was required.  This required a trip to the bank.  Now, the fees can be paid online using a credit card.

The paperwork for the visa is the same:  official visa application, copy of visa application, copy of driver's license, copy/proof of flight, passport, two color photographs.  All of these materials were placed in a large manila envelope and mailed to San Francisco.  I hope to get my passport with the visa back in about two weeks.with a stop in Paris

Returning Again

It looks like I will be returning to India again later this year for another workshop with the monks.  This time the workshop will be held in Dharamsala, India.

Because most of my slides have already been translated into Tibetan, I will not have as much preparation to do compared to previous visits.  However, I will try to update the material to let attendees know about the most recent developments in neuroscience.

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