Southern India - 4-5 February 2012 (2)

Getting There (continued)

When we finally arrived in Mumbai, we had missed our connection by a long way.  There was no point in panicking, so I just proceeded through immigration and then took advantage of a surprisingly clean washroom in the corridor just past the desks to make myself feel a bit human again.

My rucksack arrived as soon as I got to the carousels and I passed through two rucksack scans and customs before finding myself at a queue for a check-in desk.  I was so impressed, because they already had boarding cards for us for the next flight to Chennai – at 2020.

I got the bus with Chris to the domestic terminal where we changed some money before proceeding through security.  I had been looking forward to an iced coffee in Café Coffee Day, but they did not have any ice.  They had no ice in the other coffee stall, so Chris and I returned to Café Coffee day and had a veggie puff, which was warm and very nice.

Other people came to join us, including Jen, who had been making the announcements on the plane, and Mike, who had been on more than 30 Explore trips.  Mike and Jen had been on the same trip before, but neither knew any people on my other trips who had clocked up a huge number of Explore tours.  Shona and Stewart, Kairan and Laurie also appeared.

We sat and chatted until after 1930, when our gate was called.  Sue and Martin joined our group – they had been travelling business class.  It was a long wait before we were eventually called and then a long slow bus ride to the plane.  This was full with all the extra passengers from the delayed flight.

Unlike my flight from Mumbai to Kolkata on my previous trip to India, when we had had to pay for a tasteless stale sandwich, the meal on the plane was included and was very nice.

In due course, we landed at Chennai and I was pleased to be reunited with my rucksack.  Lukose our guide was waiting for us.

It was a long walk to the bus, as we dodged vehicles moving round the car park.  Diane spotted a fence decorated with several “No Parking” signs.  An unbroken line of parked cars sat alongside it.  We were in India for sure.

The drive to the hotel took 45 minutes.  Chennai must be a flourishing city as I saw lots of evidence of construction, including a new metro system.  By contrast there were also small, very ornate and colourful shrines and temples.

Not surprisingly, I fell asleep and woke up at the hotel, the Hotel Marina Towers, Egmore.   I was sharing with Jen.  The hotel was nice except for the shower which left a lot to be desired.  Still, after 28 hours of travelling, even that shower felt good.