This is where Pieter stayed and wrote this letter...
Thursday, 3rd December 1992
Dear lady,
It is possible that this letter arrives at the same time as me, but it is still worth trying; I think it would be nice for you to hear something from Bombay. (I changed my pen for a moment, because this one from the hotel rattled in its holder!). I've generally traveled well; from Amsterdam I had seat 9B so you know where I was, first row behind Royal class. We got no present, to speak with Dora, but we also have enough bags and toothpaste etc., I had already bought at Schiphol. The Ibis Hotel at Schiphol is a typical KLM place to stay; neat but nothing special.
No shampoo or anything like that, but good breakfast included (also well doable for $ 76.00). I left the leather jacket at Schiphol; it is not worn here in India anyway and then it only is a burden. The flight for Papa wasn't too bad for me; with a 10% discount for the elderly, for fl 1,074. Hopefully everyone stays healthy etc. so that he can really benefit from it for a month, I will find some work for him so he doesn't have to get bored. As mentioned, the flight to Mumbai went smoothly, we arrived on time, i.e. at about 23:30h. It took a long time before the red–white–blue banded suitcase finally appeared.
Customs didn't even look at me and there was someone from Pond's with a sign in his hand for Dr. Veddar. This hotel is quintessentially Indian; fancy if you don't look too sharply, that is. From what I saw last night from the airport to the hotel, it is at least as bad, if not worse than in the other cities. What poverty and rubbish along the road. We cannot realize enough how privileged we are. Most people who don't get any further than Horst or Dublin, for example, don't know what they're talking about, so you can't really blame them.
It is now 7:30 am, I woke up early, probably as a result of the time difference. The breakfast was typical continental but our problem is definitely not that we get too little, especially after such a flight. I'm writing right now with a cup of coffee next to me, so what more could a person want. I still have some time to kill; they come to pick me up at 9:30 am for the 11:00 am flight to Coimbatore, where we might arrive about 1–1.5 hours later. This way of traveling, i.e. with enough time between flights (sounds like mushroom language) is much less stressful. It's strange not to have you with me; we were so used to that by now.
I hope for both of us that time alone will not be too long for us. Of course, a little dispensing is allowed from time to time, then you will appreciate being together so much better later on. I'm looking forward to a few quiet weeks together and I hope Marion won't disturb this idea; at least I will do everything in my power to prevent that. Maybe that's why it would have been better to call them yesterday, then I might have heard something already, but I thought, Marion isn't here anyway and to just listen to Dora's ramblings for a few guilders didn't really appeal to me. I'll see them next Sunday when I'm alive and well. I assume you've been busy sewing and traveling to Macon and Atlanta (with Somai among others). Hopefully the weather was nice so you could enjoy the garden, including birds, squirrels etc.
Hopefully you'll have a great Rotary Club Lady's night too; I'm curious to see who will take care of you. I will think of you often sweetheart, of everything in this world you mean the most to me, but you already knew that! Lots of love and greetings from Mumbai and in the not too distant future you will hear from me again.
Goodbye darling of mine,
Your Pieter xxx
Read about the dangerous adventure here: Husband Pieter's DANGEROUS Trip back from India...
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