Flying south

Today was one of those long travel days that have to be endured . Having said that, it got off to a good start, with a non-rainy morning comprised of Gaz’s run along the beach, a tasty breakfast over some travel magazines, and then a stroll along the coast, dodging the incoming tide and taking time to watch the incoming and outgoing waves hit each other.

We checked out at midday and caught a taxi to the airport. No dramas as we got onto our first flight of the day, from Goa to Bangalore. We hit the Coffee Day café on arrival and had samosas and muffins (east meets west) before a bit of shopping and our next flight – Bangalore to Kochi. This flight was a little rougher, with the plane flying through some pretty hefty storm clouds. However, both flights were almost empty, so we got to enjoy the turbulence with some arm space…

We got a taxi from Kochi to Fort Cochin. With the incessant rain, honking horns, tight traffic and neon signs flanking the roadside, it resembled something out of Blade Runner. We were glad to arrive at the Old Harbour Hotel just before 9.00pm. It was a haven of calm and luxury. We dumped the stuff in the huge room, took an outdoor shower (complete with teeny baby frogs), then went for an expensive, but extremely tasty, dinner. We even splashed out on some Indian white wine, resulting in our low tolerances leaving us fairly shedded by the time the concierge showed us the way back to our room with a torch. Overall, a nice end to a taxing day….