In Antigua - Rastaman

Im Now sitting in an internet cafe , next to the fed ex building in St John's.

.... The plane trip from gatwick was pretty uneventful , except for the fact that I couldnt drink because was on my last dosage of antibiotics, everyone around me was getting wasted , and I was drinking ORANGE JUICE !!! (despecable)!!, Landed at barbados at about 1432 hours and caught a connecting flight to Antigua at 1645 hours with Liat airlines , my original flight was at 1930 hours , but the carribean people are incedibly helpful and friendly , all I had to do was request an earlier flight and I was prepared to pay extra for it , but they didnt charge me a penny!!! ( are you listening british airways!!). Landed in antigua at about 530 pm , the people from my hotel were there to pick me up even tho I had arrived 4 hours before schedule !! (once again a phone call and no extra payment)!! , I was given a ride to my hotel by 2 incredible Antiguan women Ann & Heather, who talked non stop and kept me entertained through out.

Antigua is a beautiful little island, and the feel of it is very indian , I almost felt like I was back home !!. There is music all around , every car , every house has reggae blaring from it , some of the cars have their volumes up so loud with boom boxes that they set off the alarms of cars as they pass by ( no kidding!!).

Went to Kings casino in st johnsin the evening where I met up with a few of the bharat army fans I had tied up with over the internet . the seem ok , except for a bloke called balbir , who is obsessed !! with sex and women , he kept asking every woman he saw to marry him !! and the drunker he got the louder and more ''pls marry me '' he got !! ( I soon ditched him) lol.

There is partying all around , even though the feel of the island is very indian , the youth atmosphere is very ghettoish , I felt i was in some rocking reggae filled ghetto in upstate new york and expected someone to pull out an uzi and start having pot shots at me !. but no, they are all incredibly friendly people even tho they all look bloody mad .
Ended up in a club on the waterfront called ''Coast'' , the bar was a pick up truck OUTSIDE coast , which was probably more well stocked than any bar in the world , and the barman was a cool ass MF , who when I asked him where I could sit promptly offered me the drivers seat so I could sit and chill. (thats how nice these people are)

There are a lot of Indian fans here even now , all looking a bit lost and sad , my brother arrives from cleveland today , and I will meet up with him . The first game is tomorrow , and I shall be supporting Bangladesh even tho I know Aussies will absolutely murder them !!

...right!!! now its 930 am , and Im off to have breakfast .... more later.

Train to Destination - Gatwick

Right folks !! after years and months of anticipation and waiting the time is nigh!!. I remember paying for these tickets in a lottery system last year , hoping that I would get one !!. little did I realise that after the exit of pakistan and India from the WC, tickets would be going at throw away prices on Ebay. but such is life eh?

On the brighter side I will still get to see Australia knock the stuffing out of Ireland (what a mouth watering prospect) come on the irish !!

back to the nitty gritty , Since none of my ''mates '' are willing to drop me off to gatwick at 4 AM in the morning (lazy fekkers!!) , I have to now catch a train at 4 change at clapham junction , then catch another one to Gatwick (told to me by a robotic voice on the automated system, for some reason they are always scottish voices).

Even though India is now out of the cup , Im still going to have a very wild time , have tied up with fellow countrymen  to meet up with them in antigua, my brother is flying down from the USA with 5 fellow doctors ( no chance of alcohol poisoning then), And my girlfriend is flying down to barbados to be with me on the 10th . so all in all I have about 12 days to go completely crazy befor she gets there :) .

My India supporters shirt is packed , my Indian flag is packed ... a few t shirts ( about 20) a few shorts (about 10) , sun protection cream (never used it before) , flip flops .... and away I go

If Chris and the rest of the team are reading this , I also have the club shirt with me !! along with the duck hat !!, keep an eye out on your screen guys , I will be in all the games in Antigua and Barbados. look for the signs for ''The DADDY'' , or as a few of my other friends know me ''Desi_Daru''

next addition shall be from the sunny shores of Antigua.