Homeward bound

I'm leaving the hotel in around thirty minutes. This was always going to be a flying visit (I've been in Dhaka for less than 48hours) but it's gone quicker than I even expected

After arriving around 10am on Tuesday we've seen five customers and I've had dinner twice with clients too. Getting around here is hellish with some of the worse roads in the world and I've seen incredible scenes on the road even by Asian standards

Jet lag hasn't been too bad but I feel tired (the clock on my computer says 1-33am) in spite of six hours sleep last night. I'm looking forward very much to a quiet weekend at home!

Four Tops

I heard this on the radio this morning while driving to Manchester airport. Great stuff!

Upgrade

I've just checked in for my flight to Dubai and got an upgrade to Business Class. Is 10am too early to start drinking champagne?!

Walking on sunshine

All change

I got an email after I'd blogged on Friday saying there was a general strike in Bangladesh called for yesterday and today and warning me that working life in Dhaka would be at best very difficult and realistically impossible. Following this and several phone calls I cancelled my planned trip and therefore I've been at home unexpectedly all weekend!

The good news is not going away as I'd organised originally meant I had chance to see Dave and Sara yesterday and enjoy some time with their families celebrating Douglas' first birthday. We had a lovely hour outside eating birthday cake and drinking coffee before the rain set it but it was great to see Douglas, who was in good form and recovered now from his bout of chicken pox

My new plan is to go to Dhaka tomorrow via Dubai and return on Friday. India has been postponed for the time being. All change!

On the road again

It's my last day at home today before setting off tomorrow to Dhaka in Bangladesh via Dubai, then moving on to India next week for a few days in Delhi in the north and Bangalore in the south. I've been to Dhaka in the past for business, but not for three years or so. I've not been away since going to Vietnam in March and I've got trips lined up to go back to Vietnam towards the end of next month plus China (Shanghai, I think) in early September too

My flight is tomorrow evening so I've got this afternoon and most of tomorrow at home. I started my dreaded pre-travel ironathon this morning but still have a few more shirts to do plus my packing. The iPod is charged, the airport car-park is booked; there's just a small matter of my passport being in the Bangladeshi embassy in London still. It'll be a stressful wait for the postman in the morning, while I wonder whether my passport complete with new visa is delivered as promised!

River man

Dream baby dream

Wagon and Horses, Oxenhope

Our club run last night started and finished at the Wagon and Horses above Oxenhope. I arrived there early and about half an hour before our usual starting time it was absolutely throwing it down with rain. However, the weather cleared up around 6-45pm and 19 or 20 of us had a lovely run round a route put together by Charlie which included parts of the Yorkshireman marathon, the Howarth Hobble and the Wadsworth Trog

We passed by Fly Flatts reservoir which has been hosting good numbers of wading birds recently. The Calder Birders blog has been recording regular sightings of ringed plover, sanderling and common sandpiper along with local specialty twite. A group run isn't an ideal scenario to check out the birds on the reservoir but there appeared to be a group of birders at the other end of the reservoir doing just that

After the run beer and crisps were taken and I was glad there was a fire lit near where we were sat as I'd got quite cold on the run in spite of wearing my OMM jacket. I've lost 17 pounds in weight since Christmas and think I'm missing a bit of insulation now!

The pact

There was an interesting feature on radio the other day about nostalgia. It highlighted to me my love of old music and relative disinterest in current bands and singers. This is an exception; I love it!