Though this entry is titled homeward bound its a bit of a cheat really as we have been home for nearly 4 weeks. Since we got back we have been very busy on a number of projects, so I haven't been able to post the final entry for this trip until now.
Anyway, Goa was beginning to warm up. This was quite noticeable, particularly in the heat of the day, and even the locals were ducking for the shade. We were both feeling tanned and relaxed but, conscious of costs and with the worst of the winter apparently over at home, we decided to return. After paying £50 to a licensed bandit otherwise known as Kingfisher Airlines not to take a flight I had already bought and paid for, we set off on 8th Feb for our journey home.
Our route took us from Goa to Mumbai and then from there to London. We knew that there was a decent distance between the domestic and international terminals in Mumbai, and we had maybe 5 hours between connecting flights, so rather than lob into the international terminal we decided as a last extravagance to drop into a posh hotel for breakfast.
So it was, dressed like aged hitch-hikers, that we fell, with all our luggage, into a cab at the domestic terminal at Mumbai and said "Meridien Hotel please, close by the international terminal". Normally this is straightforward; all taxi drivers know where the 5* hotels are as they are the same places where the big tips come from. On this occasion it was clearly a mystery to our man. I said it again in that 'same but louder' way for which the English are renowned. His confused expression was a picture. We were in trouble.
This being Mumbai the traffic was mad and almost stationary at the same time. Our driver called out to other taxis to the left and right and enquired about our hotel and received universal and infectious blank faces and shrugged shoulders. As a last resort I web searched using my mobile (which costs a fortune when roaming by the way) got the number, rang the hotel and asked the lady to explain to our driver the location of the hotel.
The short conversation over our driver handed me back my phone and said,"You mean the Hilton!". I didn't but he said he now knew where to go. 10 minutes later we landed, dustily, at the Meridien Hotel - which used to be a Hilton.
Much confusion then as the beturbanned (if that is a word) door staff wanted to take our luggage indoors. We explained that we weren't checking in but were just coming for some breakfast. I think they wondered why we'd brought so much luggage if we were just coming for breakfast. No problem though, a receipt was handed over for each of the four pieces of luggage and in we bowled in after going through security. This was possibly the plushest hotel I have been in for years. Once inside (remember we didn't look like 5* guests) a nicely turned out man answered my question about breakfast by escorting us to the restaurant and bidding us good wishes and for the next 3 hours we read papers, drank coffee and worked our way through the very extensive breakfast buffet. All fabulous except they couldn't get coffee hot and the bacon, like everywhere in India, was not bacon. Otherwise service was fab, fod was good and fresh and plentiful. All in all a terrific and unhurried breakfast and certainly more pleasurable than being in an airport terminal. It wasn't cheap, by Indian standards, but was reasonably priced and very good value by UK standards.
We retrieved our luggage, took a 5 minute taxi ride to the international terminal, checked in, got on and flew home. Once again the in flight entertainment system on the Kingfisher airlines flight to London was not working properly, but the seats were comfy and the flight was otherwise uneventful. Also, once more, there was a large number of babies and kids under 2 on the plane. They howled, but fortunately they weren't too close to us. We arrived at Heathrow 30 minutes late after a fabulous circle over central London at night. Our taxi home stopped at Tesco so we could get the necessities and it was for both of us a nice feeling turning the key in the lock after nearly 3 months away.
Bloody cold though!
Next stop - South America in the summer hopefully so watch this space.
Anyway, Goa was beginning to warm up. This was quite noticeable, particularly in the heat of the day, and even the locals were ducking for the shade. We were both feeling tanned and relaxed but, conscious of costs and with the worst of the winter apparently over at home, we decided to return. After paying £50 to a licensed bandit otherwise known as Kingfisher Airlines not to take a flight I had already bought and paid for, we set off on 8th Feb for our journey home.
Our route took us from Goa to Mumbai and then from there to London. We knew that there was a decent distance between the domestic and international terminals in Mumbai, and we had maybe 5 hours between connecting flights, so rather than lob into the international terminal we decided as a last extravagance to drop into a posh hotel for breakfast.
So it was, dressed like aged hitch-hikers, that we fell, with all our luggage, into a cab at the domestic terminal at Mumbai and said "Meridien Hotel please, close by the international terminal". Normally this is straightforward; all taxi drivers know where the 5* hotels are as they are the same places where the big tips come from. On this occasion it was clearly a mystery to our man. I said it again in that 'same but louder' way for which the English are renowned. His confused expression was a picture. We were in trouble.
This being Mumbai the traffic was mad and almost stationary at the same time. Our driver called out to other taxis to the left and right and enquired about our hotel and received universal and infectious blank faces and shrugged shoulders. As a last resort I web searched using my mobile (which costs a fortune when roaming by the way) got the number, rang the hotel and asked the lady to explain to our driver the location of the hotel.
The short conversation over our driver handed me back my phone and said,"You mean the Hilton!". I didn't but he said he now knew where to go. 10 minutes later we landed, dustily, at the Meridien Hotel - which used to be a Hilton.
Much confusion then as the beturbanned (if that is a word) door staff wanted to take our luggage indoors. We explained that we weren't checking in but were just coming for some breakfast. I think they wondered why we'd brought so much luggage if we were just coming for breakfast. No problem though, a receipt was handed over for each of the four pieces of luggage and in we bowled in after going through security. This was possibly the plushest hotel I have been in for years. Once inside (remember we didn't look like 5* guests) a nicely turned out man answered my question about breakfast by escorting us to the restaurant and bidding us good wishes and for the next 3 hours we read papers, drank coffee and worked our way through the very extensive breakfast buffet. All fabulous except they couldn't get coffee hot and the bacon, like everywhere in India, was not bacon. Otherwise service was fab, fod was good and fresh and plentiful. All in all a terrific and unhurried breakfast and certainly more pleasurable than being in an airport terminal. It wasn't cheap, by Indian standards, but was reasonably priced and very good value by UK standards.
We retrieved our luggage, took a 5 minute taxi ride to the international terminal, checked in, got on and flew home. Once again the in flight entertainment system on the Kingfisher airlines flight to London was not working properly, but the seats were comfy and the flight was otherwise uneventful. Also, once more, there was a large number of babies and kids under 2 on the plane. They howled, but fortunately they weren't too close to us. We arrived at Heathrow 30 minutes late after a fabulous circle over central London at night. Our taxi home stopped at Tesco so we could get the necessities and it was for both of us a nice feeling turning the key in the lock after nearly 3 months away.
Bloody cold though!
Next stop - South America in the summer hopefully so watch this space.
