"We will stop at a nice hotel this evening." Bhupen's wide smile was reassuring. On a trip like this, there was always going to be some variability in the standard of hotel bedroom - and especially, bathroom. The promise of something pampering inevitably delivers a frisson of excited expectation.
After Ben's driving gymnastics all afternoon, we stopped at a stunning viewpoint. Bhupen got on the phone and called this new hotel to confirm. It's location. And he frowned. It seemed we had driven right past the entrance.
We turned back and headed uphill for a kilometre before we saw the turn: a dirt road, steeply uphill, no sign.
Okay.
Negotiating a 9 point turn, Ben inched the heavy truck forwards and back (under my experience supervision) to within a metre of the precipitous road edge on one side and a cliff on the other. I jumped back in and Ben gunned the truck in lowest gear up the loose dirt road. Dense forest on either side yielded to the first signs of human activity: half built houses.
Okay . . .
The conception of the hotel was grand. The workmanship, unfortunately, left something to be desired. The state of completion was far from the finished product promised. The swimming pool was a rough hole in the ground. Many bedrooms, in bungalow style, were half built. The main reception of the hotel was covered in a film of plaster/cement.
Okay.
My bedroom was enormous. Interestingly, the bed base and mattress were installed without the usual legs so sitting down you wondered would you ever manage to stand again. Having said that, I had a most comfortable sleep.
If anyone had a sense of humour it was the interior designer. He must have been deprived of electricity as a child. The desire to compensate was scary. There were no fewer than 18 switches to play with. Of course, not everything worked although the two red wires hanging limply over the bathroom mirror looked promising.
In fairness, the staff were delightful and the food delicious. No sign of Basil or Sybil. A nightcap of surprisingly good Indian Scotch (an intriguing oxymoron) finished off the evening in style.
Ben had insisted that overland travel required three things:
- a desire for adventure
- patience
- a sense of humour
He wasn't kidding.
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