Monday, December 18

 

 

We woke up as we began the descent into Dubai. Because we will change airlines we have to immigrate, collect our luggage, and then emigrate.

To our surprise the whole procedure worked extremely smoothly. We went through security in less than ten minutes and found our luggage almost as quickly. We then had four hours to wait to check in for our Indigo flight to Trivandrum.

The handle on one of the older, larger suitcases got stuck as we pulled it around the airport. We tried to collapse it, and in the end Irma emptied the case so see if this would help. It did, because Naa then successfully retracted the handle. However, in trying to close the case again the sheer volume of contents made this almost impossible, and eventually broke the main zipper.

Irma and Naa trotted off to a suitcase shop we had passed earlier to return fifteen minutes later with a suitcase and a free gift: a rucksack.

Now we have checked in and sit waiting in Terminal 1. Everyone feels lost in time and space; half asleep and half awake. I wander around for a few minutes to keep myself awake. I notice a view of the airport through the windows behind Yo Sushi. Not much appears to happen out there at the moment. It still counts as a view of Dubai though, so I photograph it.

We will have the front row again on our Indigo flight, and all fall asleep moments after we take off. We will sleep for almost the entire flight.

Anib will meet us at Trivandrum airport. His big car has gone to the garage for repairs so he will order a taxi for Irma, Naa and the luggage, while he and I will take Puru’s little car. He will tell me a lot of interesting stories on the way to the house.

Asha has cooked us some home-made food including a fantastic chicken biryani, which we will eat with gusto. Anib has stocked the fridge with Kingfisher Ultra, so we will then have a beer or two before retiring to bed and sleeping for twelve hours.

The sleep will start as soon as our heads hit the pillow.