The Wall or черный чай с молоком , пожалуйста ...

Well, I'm happy to report that the Tilak-wagon made it through the mind-boggling maze of traffic that is Moscow.

Interminable Moscow Traffic winds along for hours. But the Tilak-Wagon forges on.

I had never heard of TransAero airlines before and suspect you haven't either, but that was our next stop. On this flight I would be traveling with Indulekha Devi, a talented film director from Russia. She was checking in a dozen high definition digital projectors for the fulldome project--no small feat. 

At the TransAero counter. TransAero?

I, on the other hand, was a seasoned traveler by now. I'm traveling with one checked bag and one carry-on. I know exactly what to do to get through check-in, customs, immigration, security, a second security check and final boarding.

The only problem: I had flown in from Kiev yesterday and by now I was having a hard time remembering where I was. Was I still in Mexico? Maybe all this was a strange dream. Kiev? No, that was yesterday. I said goodbye to Alakananda and Asutosh Krishna. Petersburg? A distant memory. No, this was Moscow. It was my birthday and I was on my way to Bangkok again.

Happy Birthday. 61. I hit a wall.

You young people out there probably don't understand this completely, but when you reach a certain age, miracles aside, your body reacts differently. After a complete 24-hour cycle of airplane travel, talks and lectures, and contemplative walks in the Moscow snow, I was exhausted. I hit a wall. I didn't know if I had the energy to walk back to TransAero and find Indulekha, Muralishwara, and Gokula Taruni. It was my birthday. I am now officially 61 years old. In Cuba they have some cars my age, but they are museum pieces. I really had no idea how to drag these sorry old bones through security and strap them into an airplane seat for a 12 hour flight to Bangkok.

 It was time for a cold, freshly squeezed glass of apple juice with plenty of foam, followed by a shot of black tea with milk no sugar, (черный чай с молоком , пожалуйста ...). 

Would some divine power descend from the heavens and give me the strength to walk another mile?