IPL Season 4

Day 17 – 20th April – 41 sleeps to go

Up at 4am – jeepers this is getting repetitive – for the flight to Chennai. This time however we left on time. I was travelling on my own so I booked a cab. The usual two cell-phones and the hotel wake up call did the rest

The flight was fine and we seemed to come into Chennai in a different was as we flew over the stadium. It really is an awesome stadium and I have to say it is still my favourite.

There is a definite routine to things now as I have visited all the cities and venues that I will be covering in the league stage. The car was as usual an old ambassador and the doorman at the hotel smiled at me like an old friend. Even the bell boy said hello Mr Ron from IPL.

These early mornings and late nights ere killing me so I decided to take the morning to myself. I caught up on some paperwork and then headed off to see a Jain temple. It was only a few kms away so I walked through the streets of Chennai like a real tourist. Some of the areas I visit are so far off the tourist norm that I am the only white person there. I cause quite a stir in my shorts and polo shirt, trying to look casual and almost to fit in but failing 100%. Maybe because no one here wears shorts apart from the tourists.

One of the most complicated logistical operations I have ever been involved with has been sorted. All the shooters are hitting the venues. They are on time and in the right place. Cool.

This is the most expensive part of the project and as I say the most complicated. To ease the burden I employed a local travel agent who did all the bookings and negotiated a discount based on the quantity of travel and accommodation nights. They have invoiced me for part of the fee and the balance is due later on in the tournament. So I do an online, overseas payment via the bank and it is refused. It takes 48 hours for the payment to be refused. Due to money laundering regulations payments over a certain figure have to be approved. The invoice I have is a pro-forma invoice and so does not detail all the travel. The bank want everything on the invoice, names, dates, costs, hotels, flights and airlines before they will accept it. So the phone rings and the bank want info.

Quiet morning shattered I return to the hotel to make the necessary arrangements and send the info.

It takes all day to sort. Loads of phone calls and emails and BBM messages before finally at about 6pm Indian time it is resolved and the payment is made.

These banks are impossible. In SA they charge for everything. So much so that they even charge you a percentage to pay your money IN TO the bank. Unreal!!

So now we can almost relax. There are two games today, one in Mumbai and one in Kolkata. I am on picture desk duty so keep an eye on the pics coming in and make sure everything is running smoothly. We have an issue on the site at the moment with there being a delay in images going live and thumbnail generation. I have requested for this to be resolved many times but there is a delay in communication with the US and so I have to make each image live as it is uploaded.

Finally with two really close games the day ends and I am ready for bed at 01:00

Tomorrow will be a lot quieter as there is only one match in the evening.

Cities Visited: Chennai

Tried anything new? A new beer 6000 it’s called. Not very nice, almost a sweet flavour.

Total flights so far: 12

Advertisement