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Tagne 2001 |
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Dan's DiaryDay 46 - Sunday 12th August 2001
It was midnight by the time we made our way across to the lounge by gate four. We waited there for an hour reading books and using the spare rupees to buy flat Cokes and Pepsis. It wasn't until 1:10am that the gate opened and the call came out for woman and children first. Once everyone else was called, Alan, Steve and Andy joined the queue. Jon and I sat it out, amused at how slowly the queue was moving and how people panicked as they wouldn't be let on because their hand luggage didn't have the right sticker on it or they had got the wrong flight. Jon and I joined the receding queue at 1:45am and walked almost straight on, having our passports and hand luggage checked. We walked down the gangway and onto the Jumbo. I found my seat, 45F, which was towards the back of the plane, after doing battle with everyone who had hand luggage that was too big to fit in the overhead lockers. Eventually everyone sat down and fastened their belts, with the excess luggage having to be put under the seats. The plane left Indian soil at 2:10am. The stewardesses brought around our first meal almost before we had started to level out and had had any chance of nodding off. Enclosed in the tiny plastic dishes all neatly fitting into the moulded tray this time was a spicy chicken pasta, a roll, some rice balls with a sauce and a salad. My stomach welcomed the food but soon after, everything was cleared away and the movie started to come on my eyes gave up and I soon drifted off into a sleep. It was 7am the next time I came around. I drifted in and out of consciousness for the next hour or so. Eventually I summed up the energy to visit the toilet but I had to queue for what seemed like ages. Having relieved myself I sat back down, after getting a few drinks from the trolley and started to watch Crocodile Dundee.
London time was four and a half hours behind Indian time so I reset my watch to 5:50am just as we were served breakfast. I got the English breakfast, which consisted of sausage, bacon, omelette, a roll, a yoghurt, fruit salad, tea and Himalayan mineral water. We started our descent barely before they had finished clearing away our breakfast things. The pilot informed us the weather was cloudy with some drizzle and a low 16oC. We had to wait and circle a few time because we were early. The plane landed on time at 6:50am BST. I had no urge to join the long queue to get off the plane, so we sat still and waited ages until the aisles cleared - we would all have to wait for our luggage anyway. At 7:05am we left the plane, thanking the BA staff and then up the gangway into the terminal building. We all got through customs no problem and met up again at the baggage reclaim area, conveyor belt number one. I went to get a trolley, but ended up exchanging it as it had an annoying squeak. Our luggage took a while to come through, but once it did we weren't waiting long. With everything accounted for we loaded up the trolleys and made our way out into the main terminal where family were waiting with "Welcome" signs. We were home at last!
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© Copyright Steve Jolly 2001. |
