The End of the Adventure - The Prodigal Returns

Well the great adventure is finally over! I've been back now for 2 weeks and this evening (17th October), Ian arrived home. Charlie came along with me and we met Linda at the airport and there he was, in Indian top and shawl, but all in one piece and none the worse for wear after the long flight home.

No doubt Ian will have a lot of tales to tell of his trip to Igatpuri and the meditation course and there will be laughs all 'round. Like me he was glad to be home and it's a genuine emotion after being away from the familiarity of home for so long. But I suspect that also like me, after he settles back into life here, he will often think about those little things that made a lasting impression in India. Whether it's the morning throat clearing of a few hundred people that comes to mind, or the farmer ploughing his small plot of land with a couple of bullocks in the middle of Andra Pradesh, the memories will come floating back even if only for a fleeting moment.

India is like that. You can cringe at the thought of the most foul filthy scene you've ever seen and wonder why in the hell you ever went there, and then you smile and remember all the other things and you realise that it's all those extremes that make India unique.

One thing is for certain, neither of us will ever forget. 

It's the People You Meet Who Make the Trip

We travel to see different places but more often than not, it's the people we meet along the way who make the lasting impressions and make our trip unforgettable one way or the other.

... See my Tabblo>

Home and a Surprise

As we are vectored for an approach to Sydney's runway 25 (that's the roughly east-west runway) I can pick out the lights of Bondi Beach and soon after the welcome sight of the city and the Sydney Harbour Bridge lights come into view. I don't care where you go, flying into Sydney at night has to be the finest view anywhere in the world.

Our Malaysian B777 touches down at 8:15pm and it's then that I realise that my trip of a lifetime is over. I feel a little sad that my travelling mate Ian is still 10,000 km away, back in Mumbai, but I am sure he'll have a lot of adventures and stories to tell when he returns.

By the way, leave all your booze and perfume purchases until you reach Sydney. The Duty Free stores in Arrivals before you reach Customs etc are as cheap as anywhere else and you don't have to lug it far.

Sydney Immigration and Customs are a breeze and it's nice to be able to line up in the "Australian Passport Holders" queue while the bulk of the passengers head for the "Others". The Immigration Officer seems a little grumpy but I pass through ok and collect my bag from the spotless arrivals hall and venture out to a sea of ... not Indian faces, but a mixture which includes Liz, Tip, Charlie, Heidi, Annie and Simon.

Frankly I don't think they thought I'd ever make it ... almost four weeks in India with a hip which needs replacing, a daily inventory of about 10 tablets for heart and diabetes and of course anti-malarials and anti-traveller's diarreah etc etc. But make it I did and I'm thankful that Ian was with me most of the way. It just made things so much easier.

I'm blown away by the traffic in Sydney as Tip drives us home ... no honking, no near misses, no autorickshaws, no cows, everyone in their lanes and with their lights on ... a totally relaxing trip. I tell them all about the traffic in India and the near misses etc.

Once we arrive home it's confession time ... what I was not told while I was away was during the first Sunday while we were in Darjeeling, Liz and Charlie were heading out to her mother's home in Charlie's 4WD and he lost it in the wet and rolled a couple of times. Liz and Charlie walked away from the accident but the Toyota was a total write-off!

The second surprise wasn't really a surprise as they'd told me about it while we were in Darjeeling. Tip and Heidi announced their engagement and apparently Tip proposed on an early morning Virgin Blue flight somewhere between Sydney and Coolangatta. The big day is set down for 30th September 2007. Congratulations and good luck to both of you.

So ... That's my trip of a life time. Ian, now it's your turn to continue the Blog and keep us up to date.

Will I go back some time? Stay tuned.

The Final Leg

My flight out of Chennai for KL is scheduled for 22:00 (10pm) so I have a long wait in the international departure lounge but have a Bulgarian ships engineer for company and we chat for about 5 hours about India and the world in general.

The international departures lounge at Chennai, and in fact at Kolkata and Delhi, reminds me of the overseas terminal at Sydney back in the 1960s. Very basic and very dated, no air-conditioning and a bloke with a backpack sprayer wandering around spraying mosquito repellant on all the seats and on the just polished floor. We've managed to steer clear of the malaria-carrying buggers for almost 4 weeks but I'm eaten alive in the terminal. I just hope the Malarone does its job and it's too late for the mozzie net, I sent that home in a TNT pack from Puttaparthi.

Security is tight here, as it is at every Indian airport, and 2 hours before departure we are herded past sub-machinegun toting soldiers for our luggage to be screened. Several people are frantically stashing liquids like aftershave and perfume into their already overloaded checked baggage. I'll wait for the duty free in Sydney.

I haven't got my old partner Ian with me on this flight so I get to sit next to a young Indian guy who says nothing the whole 4 hour flight to KL. I don't even get a thank you when I wake him for the inflight meal or the landing. Very unlike most of the Indian people we have met on the trip.

KLIA at 4:20am is still busy and transit passengers try and sleep where thay can. At least it's got air-conditioning and no bloody mozzies! KLIA is a magnificent airport but thankfully I pre-booked into the Transit Hotel which is right next to the boarding gates and there's no need to go through immigration and customs and all that rubbish. I get a comfortable room for $40 with a bathroom and all mod cons. This is the only way to transit through an airport on these long flights.

I get about 3 hours sleep and my 8:30am wakeup call gives me time to shower and wander leisurely down to Gate 35 for my final leg home. I'm just wearing underjocks and throw open the curtains to be greeted by the nose of a 747 parked about 30 metres away. I hope the view doesn't put the crew off their game!

I pass the final security check and we depart KLIA at 10:05am headed for Sydney. It's an 8 hour flight and we'll pass over Indonesia and then make our Australian landfall in the far northwest, near the Kimberleys. The inflight data screen gives all the information to show exactly where you are and how long to go etc.


Right on cue we pass over the Australian coastline and the rugged north west of Australia unfolds for hour after hour. It seems there is nothing down there but the arid brown dirt hides mineral riches which are the backbone of Australia.


We're heading away from the sun so twilight comes quickly and makes for a final shot of the Boeing 777 wing set against the setting sun. That's home down there!

I Still Can't Figure It Out!

As I pack for my trip to Chennai to catch my late night flight to KL I look down from my hotel room window on the traffic below and after almost 4 weeks in this country, I still cannot figure out how it works! If you look closely you'll see the traffic is going in three different directions. No yelling, no screaming, no road rage, no cops, no traffic lights, no road rules and no obvious accidents. It's all done with horns and a generous amount of patience and courtesy. It is one enduring memory of India I will never fathom and never forget.

Ian and I have seen many close shaves ... we've almost been killed several times ... we've seen swerving, honking and near misses every time we've ventured out into India's traffic, but it was on my last trip to Chennai airport that I actually saw metal touch metal. As Ali my driver turned across the incoming traffic ... 3 motorcycles ... I just knew we were going to hit! The riders all pulled short ... except one who braked hard, swerved, held his balance, and didn't fall off but kissed the front of Ali's ageing Ambassadore with the front tyre of the bike. In Sydney this would have demanded a punch-up or at least 5 minutes of unprintable verbal abuse but here in India, a wave from Ali and a stern look from the rider we were in the airport carpark. I still can't figure it out!