Sunday, January 10, 2016

1976 Roberta's India Letter -Jan.13


January 13,1976
Dear Family,

Hi!  Remember Nov. 13th? [Evidently the day Roberta flew from NYC to India]  As it goes now I plan to make reservations to fly to New York on March 13th – the last possible day my ticket is good for!  I won't be able to make reservation now till I get to Madras.

We are now in OTTY – the Shahs came with me and we've really been busy.  It's a beautiful area – we rented a taxi for a whole day and drove here & there.  We went to a spot that is 8,600 feet above sea level.  Otty is COLD – esp. at night – central heating and electric blankets do not exist in India!

There is alot to do here – today we had a full program (All the Indian people use that word – whenever they plan anything) we went horse back riding in the morning (3 hours) and this afternoon went out in a row boat.  I wrote J.B. and told him he missed some good laughs!

We got an adequate hotel room – 12 Rupees for 3 beds!  Hot water comes in buckets every morning.  For each person 1 free bucket – for extra 50 paisa (6¢).  Also we get hot tea about 7:00 AM served in room – 25 paisa (3¢).

We came by bus here – it was a beautiful drive – esp. after Mysore.  We went through alot of wild life sanctuaries but can't say I saw much except for alot of small monkeys and goats.  Alot of cows – but they don't even register w/ me anymore.

I sent you all a post card requesting that you send a BLACK FINE CROSS PEN REFILL to .... I had a cross pen w/ me & gave it to him for Christmas – and the refill in it was no good.  I would greatly appreciate it if you sent it AIR MAIL INSURED.  Also if you would enclose a note saying how much I enjoyed the hospitality of him & the Jhangiani family.  They really went out of their way to make me feel at home.  I've got to admit I miss the good homemade preparation – esp. the YOGURT!  I thought I would never like plain yogurt!  I sent this request on a postcard but I don't really trust the mail service here – but there is NO other way to correspond – at a reasonable price.

I have really enjoyed OTTY – I'm so glad the Shahs came as it is a place that would not be much fun by yourself – but in general I've been glad I'm traveling alone.

We saw an Amer. movie tonight McHALE'S NAVY – cost us 1.50 Rupees each (18 cents)

Write me – Bombay address –

Love, 
Berta

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