Phew. This blog has been in hibernation for two long weeks. Sacrilege. This has not happened ever, not since the time I started blogging nine years back. But then it is not everyday that one gets a chance to go on a week-long trip with your girlfriends! The days prior to the trip went in preparations and the days after (only a couple of them, of course) in settling down. Anyways, here I am, ready to start from where I left off.

So tell me, what would  be the odds of three out of a group of four going on a tour not being able to make it (well, almost!) at the very last minute? You are not going to believe what happened to us when we were set to go on that much looked forward to trip. By ‘us’ I mean my blogger friend Sandhya, a friend from army days Meena, and Meena’s daughter.

The night before leaving for Chennai, which was where we planned to meet and proceed, I could not find my ID card which I had kept away safely. Having booked my ticket in the defense quota, I absolutely needed the card to prove my identity. I checked the inside of my purse where it was supposed to be, again and again, but to no avail. When one is the sort of person who always keeps things where they are meant to be, one is totally lost and can’t imagine where to look for something gone missing. The L & M was promptly called on to the scene. He ransacked almost the entire bedroom while I grew more and more agitated (what if I missed my flight?) and also impatient (what’s the point of looking in drawers and bags which were earmarked for other things?). Half an hour later we found it. It was exactly where it was supposed to be, inside the purse in the rack where I had kept it with other *important* cards. The problem had been that we had been looking at the wrong side of it, and been putting it aside. Can you believe that?! Sheesh.

The d-day dawned at Chennai. We got up early enough and were ready quickly. There was still time for the driver to turn up and Sandhya’s husband and son insisted that she do a last minute inventory of required documents when much to our shock we realized she was carrying her old canceled passport. I stood around twiddling my thumbs as the family went about searching for the missing passport. It was a tense half an hour, but I must say Sandhya, bless her soul, never lost her cool and was smiling throughout. I still remember her laughing out and telling me, “You will have to go without me!” The *truant* passport was eventually tracked down to the scanner, and we had five more minutes to spare before the driver rang the doorbell, right on the dot.

With many a sigh of relief we left for the airport, our mind boggling at the thought of what would have happened if the discovery had happened too late while at the airport. Soon Meena joined us with a despondent look and she gave us the worst news. Her daughter, who was supposed to meet us at our destination, had missed the flight. Uh-ho. Hurried phone calls went back and forth to arrange things suitably, to our satisfaction, and once that was done we sighed and relaxed for a bit, waiting for our flight to take us to our destination, and hoping no more *hurdles* awaited us.

Can you guess where we went from the pictures below? In case you cannot, go and read this post written by Sandhya, the first in a series of travelogues about our holiday.

Oh, before I forget, my thanks to Govind, who suggested making this trip and also started us off on it.  We may yet pester him for more suggestion of places and also seek help with planning future holidays. 😉