Wow, this is definitely up there on my longest travel days of all time but I’m here, and I’m here safely. Let me tell you what the past 27 hours of travel has been like for me… I took off from LAX at 9:45am on Air Emirates 2 days ago to Dubai. 16 hours…. Nuff said. It was actually a pleasant flight because we all had our own TV with 600 channels and a plug for my computer. Needless to say, I was able to keep myself occupied. The only unpleasant thing about the flight was the gentleman who curiously farted in his sleep next to me. Thanks homie, that was a real cherry on top of my cake for the day.
I arrived in Dubai in the mid afternoon and had about 3 hours to kill before my next flight to Mumbai. Inside of the airport is like a shopping mall with all its designer stores, palm trees, and duty free shops so I wondered about to keep myself occupied. There even was a pink berry, which I thought was odd. I found a little spot to check and send emails to my parents and then Jamie whom I’m meeting in India.
Now, if you’ve known my luck in flying, there’s always something that goes wrong (emergency landings, lost luggage, cancelled flights, etc), and this is no exception. I boarded the plane to Mumbai. We are taxiing on the runway, about to take off when the pilot announces that there is some kind of mechanical issue with the plane (which would explain the thumping noise heard when we were taxiing on the tarmac). Now we have to head back to the gate where we sit on the plane for the next 2 hours while they fix it. I have no phone and no internet and I was unable to reach Jamie to let her no that Ill be 2.5 hours late. But we eventually took off. However, instead of arriving at a reasonable time of 8:30pm, by the time I disembarked, went through customs, got my bag, it was almost midnight. Awesome!
Now that I got my big traveling backpack, I step out to the arrivals plaza where this is just pure chaos. Very reminiscent of Cairo when I was there 3 years ago. There are people everywhere! I’m the only white girl and I’m by myself, completely exhausted and delirious… aka totally exposed. I have all kinds of people asking if I need a ride but I’m looking for Jamie. Little did I know that Jamie and her friend Shia (who we are staying with in Mumbai) sent a car to pick me up instead. I didn’t get the memo cause I was stranded without a phone or internet on my plane in Dubai. So I’m kind of freaking out because Jamie is nowhere to be found, I have no rupees (cause they wouldn’t let me go back inside to exchange my dollars), no phone, no internet. I do have a phone number so I decide to find someone who speaks English that I could borrow a phone. I find the super nice Finnish couple that let me use their phone to call Shia. Bless their hearts cause they were total lifesavers! Shia then explains to me that there is a driver there holding a sign for me. Long story short, I find the guy who then proceeds to drive me to Shia’s super cute apartment in the city.
Yay yay yay yay yay! Jamie and I are reunited! Unfortunately there is no Michelle yet, but we will meet up with her in Delhi on Friday when she arrives. She had a couple snags getting her Indian visa since she was in the middle of the jungle for the peace corps the past 2 years…. Not gunna really blame her on that.
Jamie and I are staying at Shia’s grandmas house that overlooks the sea of Mumbai/Indian ocean. What an amazing view! We have all the amenities we could possibly want from our own room (with AC… score!), a butler, maid, and a driver to take us around all day tomorrow.
Unfortunately, jet lag is a bitch and despite having not slept in 2 days, I could only sleep 4 hours last night. But I’m ready to get the day started see Mumbai! A quick foreshadow: gateway to India, Taj Majal hotel, shopping, and an authentic home cooked dinner. Stay tuned!
PS I left my camera cord at the apartment so Ill have to upload a couple of my first pics later.
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