Travelling Home

4/10/2010         
We left for the airport in a hired car accompanied by two of our friends from JSS who spent the night.  We left at 5:30 in the morning, after staying up until midnight or so.  I figured if anything, it just meant that I could sleep during my marathon travel session: 2.5 hours to Raipur, 1.5 hour flight to Hyderabad, SEVEN HOUR LAYOVER!, 24 hour flight to Chicago (with two stopovers), a visit to my grandmother in Chicago, followed by a four hour drive to visit my other grandmother in Dubuque, IA.  All told, over 50 hours of moving around.

From the outside, the Raipur airport looked like it could have been a train station.  In fact, the terminal and parking lot were smaller than those at the Bilaspur train station.  There were more police guards than passengers.  To get into the terminal, you had to either have a plane ticket, or buy a pass to enter (30 rupees),, so we bought the passes and went in.

The airport reminded me of small airports I had flown through in Montana.  The luggage scanner was between the lobby and the check-in area, and it was generally empty and laid back.  No lines anywhere.  We saw a newspaper that had a giant picture of dead policemen, with a headline saying that Naxals had killed 76 policemen in Dantewada.  Maybe that was the reason for all the security… although given how particular Naxals are at targeting policemen, they may have been making the airport more of a target.

Slowly I was moving towards Western-style civilization. There was AC, though not strong.  The toilet was still a squat toilet, but it had a flush, and there was a hand dryer in the bathroom... a rare thing in Bilaspur.  I was the last to enter the boarding area, spending the last moments with Dolly (who is staying behind, probably until the end of the year), until the hostess prompted me that I had go.  To board the plane, I walked out onto the runway and continued on about 100 yards to the only plane on the tarmac.

Upon arriving in Hyderabad, the walk across the tarmac had been replaced by a shuttle bus ride, and the bathrooms had been upgraded to western toilets with a choice of spray nozzle or toilet paper.  I collected my luggage and exited the terminal, and found that not only do I have a 7 hour layover, I can not even enter the international terminal for the first four hours.  Luckily, I have my computer for entertainment, and a fully charged battery, so I started writing for this blog, while curious people are rubbernecking to stare at my screen.  They most likely can’t read this, though.  (Curious about laptops means they don’t have the social status that English fluency would bring)

-

Now inside the airport.  I have gotten away with no excess baggage fees for my 31kg suitcase and 10kg guitar.  On the domestic leg, I was expecting to get hit with a bunch of fees, and I also thought the 31kg suitcase would attract a charge on the international leg… but the domestic leg applied international restrictions because I was connecting, and they both used a total baggage/weight limit.  Score! I did have to pay a $25 tax that wasn’t included in my ticket – I think based on the amount of time I had been here, but I was expecting to pay up to $100 for my bags between the 2 legs, so I ended up ahead.

I also made it through immigration much easier than I thought.  I wasn’t worried, but I thought the combination of a tourist visa and residence permit might raise some eyebrows.  I had everything stamped and signed, so I wasn’t worried, but they didn’t even ask for my permit.  Just a dead-eyed stamp stamp stamp.

Now its an hour wait until check in, a hop to Bombay, where all told its two hours on the ground, then Frankfurt, then Chicago.  I’ve been traveling for 14 hours and am still just starting, but the next parts should include beverage service, in flight entertainment, and the opportunity for ample sleep. 
  0 comments
0 Responses

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)