Saturday, 2nd February

As my fears came true...

Well, today was the day and I had to say goodbye to Kerala and to India. But first, India had something else in store for me! Phew!

Trivandrum - Upon arrival at the airport, my two suitcases had to go through the scanner. Phew! I was already very relieved that I had passed this security check. Then I went to the check-in counter. And now it started. I was supposed to sort out the excessive weight of the two suitcases and leave it there! I stood at the check-in counter in shock and didn't understand the world. I mentioned that usually you just pay for overweight baggage and that's it. But apparently, this was not possible here and now. Reasons? There were none.
But when I had to make the big suitcase 2 kilos lighter (only 32 kilos allowed per baggage), with two employees watching me, they took pity on me. I could pay for it. But only until Mumbai. Because this flight was operated by 'Jet Airways' and the subsequent flights by 'Etihad'. That meant that I had to collect my baggage in Mumbai and check it in again. I was happy. Phew! And the 'penalty fee' was not significant.

Mumbai - The baggage arrived quickly and I went to the check-in hall. A mega beautiful and impressive building with a cool ceiling construction. Lots of glass, so it was very bright and friendly. At least. Because I had to spend 10 hours here....
First, I found a quiet corner and implemented my excess baggage strategy: I packed the heaviest items, the ones that I was officially allowed to take as hand luggage, into my hand luggage and put the clothes that I had taken out at the check-in counter in Trivandrum back into the now empty space in the two suitcases. So I suspected that I had saved a few kilos. At least I hoped so.
Then I sat down in the back corner of a bistro on a comfortable armchair, placed the luggage cart right next to me, and bought myself breakfast (1/2 liter of bottled mineral water: 200 Rupees, and in a PET bottle 60 Rupees! I had to find out for myself, after being initially handed the more expensive glass bottle without even asking which water I would prefer!). I started reading and time passed relatively quickly. Besides, my friends were very active again. They cawed loudly from everywhere and flew around the airport. One of them was so cheeky that it almost hit me with an old, holey mini juice pouch! No joke. The cheeky thing had grabbed the pouch from somewhere and flew towards the glass elevator shaft next to my armchair. Then it seemed to drop the pouch from its beak and bam, it crashed right next to my chair onto the floor!

When I really had to use the restroom, I asked two tourists who had also been sitting in the bistro for a while if they could keep an eye on my luggage cart. So I quickly went to the toilet and then past the monitor with the displayed check-in times. Oh dear! It had already started! So I immediately got in the short line. Everything went quickly. But then (I had already expected that I would be asked to pay again here) there was a longer phase for me: the weight had actually been reduced (well done Daniela) and the remaining kilos couldn't cost the world. I had already gone through the contents of my wallet earlier and knew how much I could 'invest'. But when he told me the amount, I was 'slightly' shocked. And within a second, I knew: I didn't have enough cash! So I went to the cashier and tried to pay with my credit card. Or rather, I TRIED to pay with it! Because it didn't work! And now what? Ah, withdraw cash... so I drove the luggage cart back to the ATM and tried to withdraw the amount. Not possible. Only a very small amount was available. However, I knew that I had money on the card! Oh no! What now?
Back to the cashier. On the way, my phone vibrated. I quickly checked and received a 'provisional' debit of the amount from my bank. Well then! It worked after all!
Or did it? The cashier said that the transaction had not been completed. I showed him the display on my phone. He said that the amount would be refunded to me by my bank, no worries. Well, that's nice. But now I didn't have enough money on my card to withdraw the same amount again! Bingo!
So, with my cash (Euros and Dollars and a few Rupees), I went to the exchange counter and had everything exchanged. It was not enough to pay the requested amount with it. The cashier advised me to reduce my luggage because this would also reduce the amount I had to pay. Clever guy! But first, I wanted to try the ATM again. So I pushed the luggage cart back to the ATM and tried again with a small amount (I only needed a few more Rupees). And the machine actually dispensed enough for me to bring the total amount together! YAY. So my luggage was settled and I could finally go through the security checks.
PS: Luckily, I didn't even think about upgrading my economy seat to a business class! It would have costed $1,200! lol
There was a complete chaos in the airplane. There was too little space for the numerous, sometimes too large hand luggage pieces and the crew ran back and forth, opening the same luggage compartment lid felt 100 times, stuffing it with whatever they could and in the end, some had to stow their luggage under the seat in front. Then there were the families with small children, the passengers who sat down in the wrong seats, individual cases who demanded a glass of water in this chaos (are you kidding me!!!). It was a spectacle that not only tested the nerves of the passengers! In the end, everything was ready to take off and the plane managed to lift its heavy belly just in time.

There would be much more to tell about the efficiency of Indian security checks (fortunately, I am still very relaxed from the last 4 weeks. smile), about the tolerance towards people who cut in line (!), about the enormously large whiskey shop, and about the most beautiful airport I have ever seen! But I will spare you the details.

Abu Dhabi - Well, here I am right now, writing the second last post in this blog and waiting for the final part of my journey back home. Boarding will start in 1 hour. I hope for a peaceful flight and maybe I can even get some sleep. Details will be provided tomorrow. Then from Switzerland, 30 degrees colder!