From memory I think my last post was in the hotel room in
Reading three weeks ago so I’ll pick up the story from there.
Reading to Heathrow
The taxi arrived on time and we lugged the cases down to the
foyer, it was 8:30 a.m. and by now I was wide awake having been up since 2:30.
I had popped out for breakfast in MacDonald’s at 4:30 with the last of the
die hard clubbers while Sarah slept on. It was an experience to say the least
but it passed an hour or so.
Now it was time to journey on and my main concern was were
we going to be able to fit all our luggage and us into one taxi? Fortunately
they had sent a large BMW estate so we were fine. Check-in was a breeze but we
had 3 hours to kill before our flight time. We cleared security without too
much phaffing about and so we were soon munching away on tikka and samosas in
the Air India lounge. Next the mandatory duty free shopping 2 bottles of Bombay
Blue Sapphire and two of Smirnoff Blue label (you are allowed 2 bottles of duty
free each if you are flying to India),
the lady at the checkout looked at us with concern and tried to explain
the “internal flight problem” we had previously encountered in April. We told
her we had it sussed and packed all four bottles in a rucksack filled with
towels.
In no time at all the three hours flew by, helped by the odd
complementary V&T back in the lounge. What? Ok it may have only been 10:00
BST but I was already on Indian time and it was 14:30 there.
Once on the plane it was time for lunch/dinner, depending on
which time zone you were in, and then a nap. I’ve given up trying to watch
films on flights, I tend to fall asleep anyway and miss the ending.
Mumbai 2:30 A.M Indian time
We arrived at Bombay Mumbai (Airport identifier
still BOM) having had a good sleep and
well fed ready for the excitement which is Indian Immigration, Baggage
Handling, Transfer and Customs. This is a game everyone can play (in fact it’s
mandatory if you want to get into India). If you have never tried it you have
absolutely no idea or reference point to compare it with. Those of us that have,
have a common bond, we approach it with a battle scared look in our eyes and a
knowing nod to each other, it requires an inner calmness and at no point should
you show fear or concern for those that fall by the wayside as there will be
many. You know you have one mission and one mission only, to get to your final
destination with as many of your traveling companions and/or bags as possible.
Dare to dream of “All” but be prepared to settle for “most”.
Here are some tips to get you through –
- · Pre Flight Packing – never put all your undies/pairs of shoes/tablets in one bag and always have a change of clothes in your hand luggage so when your case is lost you can at least survive for 24 hours (This is the time it takes for a new complete wardrobe to be made from scratch in India and any meds needed dispensed).
- · Consider having your children(or elderly relative) micro chipped/attached to long dog walking leads/handcuffed to your luggage trolley – In Mumbai, the chances of keeping any family of greater than four together in baggage reclaim and transfer are slightly worse than keeping your luggage together.
- · Karma and baggage reclaim – Those of you who got to the airport early to get the seats with extra leg room are now about to be paid back for your “comfortable” flight as your bags were first onto the plane, they will be last off, except for one bag which will somewhere in the middle to give you a false sense of hope then make you wonder where are the rest.
- · If the unthinkable (inevitable) happens and you are left staring at an empty carousel long after everyone one else has gone to join the customs queue don’t panic. Walk up to the nearest baggage assistance kiosk, explain the circumstances, be prepared for much head wobbling, It may be some kind soul has unloaded your bag and put it somewhere else if not – its only a bag and depending on your final destination may still get there before you do. (the same applies to children and relatives), above all BE NICE… you may be sleep deprived, frantic about what you have in your case and want to kick the nearest person but remember s/he has to work in this 8th level of Hell 6 days a week.
Trivandrum
Airport security wanted to do the “you give me all your duty
free routine” again but we are old hands at it now and just checked it into the
hold. We both managed to sleep the two hour flight down to Trivandrum and
arrived relatively awake and ready to go. In baggage reclaim all our bags had
arrived and were on the trolley in under 10 mins of touch down – a new All
India Record or us.
Unfortunately two other travelers weren't so lucky a mom
and her daughter on their first trip to India stood looking more and more
worried as the carousel of bags got smaller and smaller, emptied and stopped.
None of their bags had made it from Mumbai and they were heading off to Vakulla
for a two week holiday. All they had were the clothes they stood up in and a
couple of Toblerones. All we could do was offer sympathy and point them towards
the luggage desk. When last seen they were deep in conversation with an Air
India official head wobbling set to maximum.
We loaded our trolley and moved outside the terminal where
Chris one of our friends had agreed to pick us up. With a certain amount of
pushing and judicious strapping on of cases on the roof he managed to fit us
and our ridiculous amount of luggage into an on a medium sized hatchback. In
India there is always enough room, I have regularly seen entire families, papa,
mama, 10 year old child and baby in arms along with the weekly shopping on a
scooter. Things you wouldn’t get into your people carrier are regularly moved
by motorbike. It’s the norm here.
There is no experience like landing in India or the first
drive from the airport, the transition from air conditioned aircraft and
airport to the chaotic hustle and bustle of the roadside. We have been doing
this for 7 years now and it still literally takes our breath away. Everything
is turned up to 11, the bright colours, the smells, the noise, the number of
people, the intensity that is India, cows alongside brand new 4x4 Landcruisers,
the iconic white Austin Ambassador taxis and the yellow and black three wheeled
tuk-tuks and the people. If at any point you are considering driving yourself
while here I suggest you do the following:
- Buy a copy of the local paper
- Sit down with a coffee or chai and read it from cover to cover
- Count the number of roads deaths on that one day
- If you are still thinking of hiring a car – hail a tuk-tuk and ask him to drive you across the city at noon
- Realise just how stupid an idea that was then hire a cab for the day, it should cost you about a tenner.
It was during the drive from the airport Chris dropped a
bombshell, we couldn't have our house. i.e. we were homeless. The local
authorities in the part of Kovalam we had hoped to stay hadn’t got round to
granting the licences for the owners to rent out their properties yet. We could
store our cases, use the washing machine in fact do anything we liked there
except sleep.
If we had never been here before this might have been “a tad
worrying” but we knew the score after all it is why the wobble head was
developed a practical and philosophical response to everyday life here. We
dropped our bags at the house, headed to our favorite restaurant, had
breakfast and within 20 mins had a clean, large hotel room with balcony, 100
meters from the sea, cost - £2.50 per person per night. We then set about the
important job of “doing nothing while the papers were sorted”. This involved,
sunbathing, swimming in the sea, rediscovering restaurants, catching up with
friends, listening to old podcasts of the News Quiz, reading worthy and not so
worthy novels i.e. we did the holiday stuff and acclimatized to the heat.
By the end of two weeks we had had enough of waiting and
decided it was time to move on, as lovely as the old house was it was looking
less and less likely we would be in it anytime soon so reluctantly we decided
it was time to play “A House in the Country” and go and look for somewhere else.
Chris came to our aid once again and off we went, but more of that next time.
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