Going to Mumbai
Trip Start
Nov 15, 2007
1
6
16
Trip End
Jan 22, 2008
Delhi,
India
Monday, November 19, 2007
world. Most Indians can't afford air travel and travel even the huge
distances of this country by train. Most people travelling around India
will be doing the same (mostly for the experience). And of course,
international travellers will be using the international airport. Also,
Indian airports have a rule that you have to show your flight ticket
just to enter the terminal. Therefore, the only people inside were wealthy Indians and me and the calm after three days in Delhi was
almost eerie.
Checking in with Kingfisher was an almost European experience, being quick and efficient*. I was amused that it IS the same company that makes Kingfisher beer and that on the plane you get an introduction from Mr. Kingfisher himself. It's all very Virginesque - even to the extent that Mr. Kingfisher has a beard. Once on the plane, the sense of destressing was immediate. My stomach opened up and the inflight meal was the biggest meal I had eaten since leaving England. I'd left the chaos behind and was back in a familiar world. When Alison Limerick came on on the the dance music channel and sang 'Where Love Lives' I honestly nearly cried with the familiarity and joy of it all.
Let's see what Mumbai can do to me...
* efficient is a relative term here. The airport had at least three people to do one person's job but unusually for India, this resulted in each job getting done very nearly as well as if they only had one person doing it!
However, I did notice that it's child's play to smuggle anything that is small enough to fit into your hand luggage into your hold luggage. And this wasn't a one-off you can do this on is the same any flight originating in India if your hold luggage is a backpack rather than a suitcase. I wonder when the Pakistanis will realise this...
