It rained in the morning. We had an Indian breakfast of idly and banana fritters. The youngest girl did a little dance for us. We said goodbye to the homestay family and got on a motorboat. The rain continued to spit and sputter. When it cleared, I got on the upper roof deck for the view. We passed by big riverside buildings that were schools and churches, people doing their washing in the river and houseboats tied together. There wasn't much river traffic until we got closer to the jetty, where Babu met us and drove us back to Casa Linda.
We had our last group lunch and discussed our trip highlight. It was interesting that everyone had different highlights. Mine was Periyar and the spice garden. We surprised Holly with a birthday cake. Christine had paid for and asked Ravi to organise it earlier. Holly was very surprised and seemed very pleased :-).
I had a hurried shower, repacked, and said my goodbyes. I shared a taxi with Holly and Karen to the airport. The others are leaving at different times or staying for another day or two.
We left plenty of time to catch our flights and arrived at the airport within the estimated 1.5 hours including traffic. We went to the international hall-they asked us to go to the domestic hall, and Holly and Karen were then asked to go back to international hall. As I was early, I waited 2 hours to check in. The Jet Airways 1.5 hours flight to Chennai was uneventful. At Chennai airport, I had to go to the international hall, wait for Jet Airways to bring my luggage from the domestic to the international hall, check in with my luggage at the Malaysian Airlines (MAS) counter, even though MAS has a code share with Jet Airways.
I then had a 3 hour wait for my 1am flight to Kuala Lumpur (KL). There was no air con in the waiting hall, only fans. I was very sleepy because of the late night and some medicine I had taken for my cold but I had to stay awake in case I miss the flight.
I felt such relief at stepping on to the MAS plane at 1am. I was almost home. I knew what to expect from a MAS flight. It would be clean. The service would be friendly and efficient. And it was. The chatty lead air stewardess chatted about independent travelling in India and getting tanned. I got fed but didn't sleep much on the 3.5 hours flight.
Landed at 7am KL time. Body and soul intact-checked. Passport and possessions intact-checked. Happy to be home-checked.
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| Downpour, Kerala backwaters |
We had our last group lunch and discussed our trip highlight. It was interesting that everyone had different highlights. Mine was Periyar and the spice garden. We surprised Holly with a birthday cake. Christine had paid for and asked Ravi to organise it earlier. Holly was very surprised and seemed very pleased :-).
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| Happy birthday, Holly! |
I had a hurried shower, repacked, and said my goodbyes. I shared a taxi with Holly and Karen to the airport. The others are leaving at different times or staying for another day or two.
We left plenty of time to catch our flights and arrived at the airport within the estimated 1.5 hours including traffic. We went to the international hall-they asked us to go to the domestic hall, and Holly and Karen were then asked to go back to international hall. As I was early, I waited 2 hours to check in. The Jet Airways 1.5 hours flight to Chennai was uneventful. At Chennai airport, I had to go to the international hall, wait for Jet Airways to bring my luggage from the domestic to the international hall, check in with my luggage at the Malaysian Airlines (MAS) counter, even though MAS has a code share with Jet Airways.
I then had a 3 hour wait for my 1am flight to Kuala Lumpur (KL). There was no air con in the waiting hall, only fans. I was very sleepy because of the late night and some medicine I had taken for my cold but I had to stay awake in case I miss the flight.
I felt such relief at stepping on to the MAS plane at 1am. I was almost home. I knew what to expect from a MAS flight. It would be clean. The service would be friendly and efficient. And it was. The chatty lead air stewardess chatted about independent travelling in India and getting tanned. I got fed but didn't sleep much on the 3.5 hours flight.
Landed at 7am KL time. Body and soul intact-checked. Passport and possessions intact-checked. Happy to be home-checked.
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