We left the hotel at 6:30 a.m for the four-hour drive with our driver and two guys from the agency that represents Ken in India. The highway travelled out of Dehli and through the countryside. The road and traffic was complete choas. The traffic included buses, cars of varying sizes and conditions (including a bazillion "took-tooks" which are not much more than upright go-carts), scooters, bikes and people on foot, and of course cows, horses, donkeys and goats from time to time. Since it was the beginning of the day, everyone was on their way to work, school, market, or wherever else people might be going. It was crowded and choatic to say the least. It's like one huge game of pole position, chicken and bumber cars all at the same time. Honking is encouraged. In fact, if you're not honking you're not really participating. At times the roads were paved and wide, and at other times they were narrow and not much more than rough dirt roads. New York cab drivers have nothing on drivers in Dehli. Then entire trip was a hoot. And not once did anyone seem irritated by the ordeal.
Coming home was an even bigger adventure since it was dark and traffic came to a standstill from time to time. And, I just have to note, that even in the middle of all that choas I had five bars on my phone and was responding to email on my phone. Technology is amazing.
At breakfast before we left, Ken told me that story of someone who visited San Francisco from India. Ken gave him a tour of the San Francisco area including the Marin headlands. In the headlands there is a one lane tunnel. At either end of the tunnel is a traffic signal where you have to wait for the green light to be sure the tunnel is clear before driving through. Of course, everyone waits for the light to turn green, patiently and in line. The visitor from India found this to be the most astounding of all the sights in San Francisco that day - everyone waiting in their cars, in line, for the signal to change and not honking. I now understand why that would be such a surprise.
Visiting the factories was really interesting. Of course, this is what Ken did constantly while he was at Pottery Barn, visiting all these factories, buying product, discussing some of his designs, and designing other products on the fly. We visited four factories; two of them out in the countryside and two of them in the city. All of them make beautiful products. It was interesting to see two factories that produced a lot of items for Pottery Barn, all sitting in their showrooms on display. I played the role of helpful assistant and photographer while Ken played big shot designer.
Arrived back at the hotel around 11:00 p.m. after a very long day. Cocktail in the bar, and then bed.
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