Onwards to Mumbai, on the 13.30 IndiGo flight from Terminal 1 at Delhi Airport. So, naturally, one should aim to be the airport well in advance, right? And, if travelling in a city you don't know particularly well, you would make sure of your route first, wouldn't you?
I am not a huge fan of airports, so I left my hotel at 11.15 after a leisurely breakfast (of which, more later), allowing an hour and a quarter to get to the airport, with the intention of arriving an hour before flight time. It was one of those days, however, when everything seemed to travel in slow motion, and it was 12.35 by the time I reached Delhi Aerocity to catch the shuttle bus to the domestic terminal. Ten minutes until close of check-in (45 minutes before departure) so still hope maybe?
That hope was quickly extinguished, as I was confronted with an elderly bus with a missing driver, so my ten minutes was down to three, with the bus ride ahead. As it turned out, it was a circuitous bus ride and it was 12.57 when I reached check-in. With the air of a condemned man, I approached an IndiGo staff member who pointed me to check-in zone G, where I could be helped. I was not optimistic...
And then, to my surprise, hope. An IndiGo staff member saw me, brought me to the right desk, bypassing the queue, to a man who looked at the booking on my iPhone. It was 12.59. Without batting an eyelid, he said yes, printed off a boarding pass and handed me back to his colleague.
The world then became a blur, as the queue for security was ignored, my briefcase was placed on the screening belt and I was escorted to a seemingly express gate for personal screening. I was then led to my gate. From arrival to gate in ten minutes, in India of all places, and a flight caught against the odds. And, at the end of it, an exit row seat with extra legroom (which I hadn't paid for).
And so, I am in Mumbai, in another hotel room. Next stop, Eagle's Nest...
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