12 Nov 2013 Kumarakom Lake Resort, Kottayam, Kerala, India

We woke early, as we do when we have to get away early. The rain was still with us and the whole mountain top was shrouded in mist and clouds. We were up at the office area around 6:30, hoping that breakfast might be able to be done early for us. 
We eventually saw someone with a little authority and they put the wifi on for us and said breakfast would be at 7am, 1/2 hr early, we were very thankful. After wolfing down our cornflakes we were on the road by 7:20am. Our driver had previously told us this would be a 7hr drive, but we had to be at the resort by 12:30therwise we would be locked out until Charles and Camilla arrived and settled in. During a call last night from A&K telling us about this requirement, Deb told them our driver was slow and asked if they would get him to  go faster.
It seemed to have worked, the drive he said 2 days ago would take 7 hours, today took him just 4 1/2 hrs!!
After negotiating several road blocks about 10km away from the Resort, and a small army of security, police and armed services, at the front gate we got into the hotel without any problems ahead of the cut-off time.
Going into the hotel was probably easier than any other we had stayed at, no bag scan (that we saw)  and the metal detector was more of a joke than the others.
Camilla arrrived at about 4:10, while we were having a swim in the rain. Apparently there was a scream of sirens to announce her arrival, and then she was greeted and shown to their private area. A lot of our waiters and waitresses were involved in the meeting and were very chuffed with the experience, our waitress, Sumu, put a flower garland  aroung Camilla’s neck  and a Tikka on her forehead. She was bedazzled by it all, a very happy girl. 🙂
Charles was due to arrive at 5:30, after  visiting an old Royals Hunting area that his grandfather had  visited,  to see elephants. He eventually arrived at about 7:15. While we were waiting we met another couple from Australia, Melbourne, and had a drink with them while we waited. We also met the owner of the resort and all kinds of others.
When Charles arrived we were inside the foyer, I think the hotel liked the idea of a group of westerners being in there when he arrived. So we got a good view of his arrival and welcome. On the way passed he jokingly asked, “Do they do a good steak here?” and that was that. We went for dinner with Peter and Jane, the couple from Melbourne, at the seafood restaurant here. The food was good and we had an enjoyable evening. They head off tomorrow for the north.
We enjoyed a late refreshing swim in our pool before we went to bed, we are looking forward to a totally unplanned day tomorrow.
As we wont be doing anything much, we probably will not do a blog for Wed 13 Nov, unless of course, something very interesting happens, and you never know with Chuck and Cam.  Oh, it’s Chuck’s birthday on Wed, he will be 65, so they are having a cake  for him on Tues as they leave on Wed, we haven’t got our invitation yet, but there is still plenty of time. 🙂
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