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.
One response to “Southern India - 4-5 February 2012 (2)”
I entered India at Chennai about 3am! It was all hustle and bustle even at that time - you definitely know you're on the sub continent.
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