The 'stans from the air

I'm going to say this is Afghanistan. I'm biased, because S. comes from there. He has shown me aerial pictures of Kapisa province. I recognised the mountainous terrain. Afghanistan and Pakistan are not included among the Stans of the Silk Route. These are:
 Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. 

It was about 3.15 am and the cabin crew was serving breakfast. The sun was up. Totally Amazing landscape to look down on.


We landed ahead of time. All totally A-OK at airport and in Mumbai. I shall have to write more later, as my body clock is totally out of sync. I thought it was actual morning in Mumbai now, but it's not. I need to go back to sleep for several hours.


Update: the airport is amazing! Very green, lots of trees, a large waterfall outside, glass everywhere. As you walk along Arrivals for miles, you pass an "art wall" that is 5 stories high and has Indian artifacts embedded in it. Took five years to build. It's like a museum installation. At the Chai stall, the group leader, Camilla, was waiting for me. The others on the BA flight had arrived not long before me. We took two cars to the hotel, which was a long way out in the suburb of Chembur. An Indian suburb is what I'd call a neighbourhood: it's not the city centre, but has streets and shops and buildings that are on a more human scale. Still incredibly vibrant and bustling. 

The roads were quiet, apparently, because it was Friday Prayers time, and the PM was about to open the new 26 km Atal.Setu bridge that leads from Sewri, South Mumbai to Nhava Sheva, Navi Mumbai (new Mumbai). It is India's longest bridge. I'd call it a causeway. It is going to reduce average travel time between the two points from 1.5 hours to just 20 minutes. It certainly looks good, glistening, even!

The hotel is wonderful. Check in for the six of us took half an hour. Bureaucracy is a Thing here. Then we met the other four members of the group: three from the US, one from Stroud. That makes ten of us, and Camilla and her husband, who is Indian. We went round the corner for an Indian veg lunch at a local cafe, and later to a Thali restaurant, also veggie/veg. One thing I'm noticing is that there won't be any/much time for resting between activities on this trip. The pace is cracking!  Any of that remaining time will be used in having a shower (cold because I can't get the water to get hot). Mumbai is unseasonably warm and humid at 33 degrees. Please forgive me, therefore, if I am always late with my blips. (,I'm writing this add-on three days later)! 

Extra: from the Times of India concerning the Bridge