After a few emotional goodbyes, ample photos (making sure to include every possible combination of family) and 'the last supper' (courtesy of mama & papa thorp/sri-path, the three of us scuttled through security before emotion got the better of our mothers.
A few hours of your typical duty free browsing...sun glass hut, headphones book store drill and off to departures. Here we were met by virgins. Finest staff. 3 beaming ladies informing us that they had the pleasure of upgrading the 3 travellers to 'premium economy'. Queue too many excited hi-5's and immediate condemnation of all the poor regular folk. I mean as Virgin's marketing gurus will tell you...who doesn't pay that little bit extra to turn a seat into a space!
The 8 hours spent on the flight was in stark contrast for what hit us on arrival. Will, sporting what he would describe, as 'the finest' of straw hats made an immediate target for the touts. Me and rhys not far behind with our looks of utter bewilderment. After a failed attempt to board the defunct metro we ambled over to the 'Delhi police pre-paid taxi kiosk'. Will quickly learnt that there are two prices in India. 1. Small note price 2. Large note price. Luckily, this KPMG accountant wasn't in any frame of mind of lose this mental arithmetic battle. And after a bit of finger wagging correct change was extracted from this hustler.
Any pleasure I gained from witnessing this was short lived. To my horror a small tug on the sliding door to the 'official delhi taxi' and the handle cracked right off. Heart racing, and visions of a 'million rupee repair job' I was relieved that he barley seemed to notice and I was able to bury the offending article deep under a seat. He had his sweet revenge however. Those of you who know me might have witnessed my terror when in the car with maniacs, (charlie LPT), or in an old skoda with no mirrors (fabian M-F), but this guy didn't hold a candle to the previous experiences. Swerving in and out of traffic, no lane discipline and screaming tales/ excuses of 'young blood' and every indian driver is michael Schumacher. Anyway, we made it to a hostel, somehow.
Shaan
A few hours of your typical duty free browsing...sun glass hut, headphones book store drill and off to departures. Here we were met by virgins. Finest staff. 3 beaming ladies informing us that they had the pleasure of upgrading the 3 travellers to 'premium economy'. Queue too many excited hi-5's and immediate condemnation of all the poor regular folk. I mean as Virgin's marketing gurus will tell you...who doesn't pay that little bit extra to turn a seat into a space!
The 8 hours spent on the flight was in stark contrast for what hit us on arrival. Will, sporting what he would describe, as 'the finest' of straw hats made an immediate target for the touts. Me and rhys not far behind with our looks of utter bewilderment. After a failed attempt to board the defunct metro we ambled over to the 'Delhi police pre-paid taxi kiosk'. Will quickly learnt that there are two prices in India. 1. Small note price 2. Large note price. Luckily, this KPMG accountant wasn't in any frame of mind of lose this mental arithmetic battle. And after a bit of finger wagging correct change was extracted from this hustler.
Any pleasure I gained from witnessing this was short lived. To my horror a small tug on the sliding door to the 'official delhi taxi' and the handle cracked right off. Heart racing, and visions of a 'million rupee repair job' I was relieved that he barley seemed to notice and I was able to bury the offending article deep under a seat. He had his sweet revenge however. Those of you who know me might have witnessed my terror when in the car with maniacs, (charlie LPT), or in an old skoda with no mirrors (fabian M-F), but this guy didn't hold a candle to the previous experiences. Swerving in and out of traffic, no lane discipline and screaming tales/ excuses of 'young blood' and every indian driver is michael Schumacher. Anyway, we made it to a hostel, somehow.
Shaan
An emotional goodbye indeed :( So glad you have all done this but hard to watch you go. Have an amazing time and take care all three of you. xxx
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