you can check out but you can never leave

Well, that was fun! I knew that I was in for a treat when I was getting ready this morning and Ismail called to tell me that I needed to leave quickly because the President of India was flying into Hyderabad this morning and consequently traffic around the airport would be bad. True to Indian form, the traffic turned out to be the least of my concerns--it was actually better than it usually is, which isn't saying much. I got to the airport with plenty of time, checked in easily, and sat down to wait. However, the wait began to stretch on longer than it should have, because the plane that I was supposed to take had not yet arrived. I finally asked one of the Jet Airways staff whether I would make my connection in Mumbai, since the plane was over an hour late and my layover was slightly less than two hours. In the States, an hour layover would still be enough, but Ismail told me that the international terminal of the Mumbai airport is seven kilometers from the domestic terminal and that I cannot take taxis (only the bus) because the taxis are 'danger'. The attendant initially said that I would make my connection--but then he found me ten minutes later to tell me that he was wrong. So, I went downstairs, where the real entertainment began.

The Jet Airways staff was friendly, and they were already harried by another guy who was supposed to be on my London flight and who was much less understanding than I was. However, they were also incompetent, as demonstrated by the fact that even though there is only one Jet Airways flight to London every day, it took them almost two hours to decide that the only way for me to get to London is to take tomorrow's flight. They initially looked into other airlines for me, telling me that they would refund my current ticket and let me purchase another airline's ticket (at a quoted price lower than I had actually paid for this ticket in the first place!)--but then they told me 45 minutes later that they would not refund me my money or pay for the new ticket, and so my only option was to let them rebook me on tomorrow's flight.

Despite that, things worked out fairly well. Ismail had a driver pick me up, and I took the liberty of stopping at Shoppers Stop (imagine running errands alone!), where I drowned my sorrows in purchasing undergarments. I spent as much as I would have spent on a trip to Victoria's Secret--but since everything is cheap here, I effectively doubled my lingerie stockpile, doubtlessly saving myself piles of money that I would have burned buying more underwear in London. I also found a Georgette Heyer novel ('Devil's Cub') that I've been looking for for ages. When I got home, Walter was able to rebook his flight so that he doesn't have to spend Friday alone in London, and I was able to switch my hotel reservation to the last night of my trip, rather than my first, thus saving myself a lot of money and a lot of headaches. Tomorrow, I can try it all again! Hopefully it will be fine--they booked me on an earlier flight out of Hyderabad so that I have more room for maneuvering in case there are more delays.

I just ate a lot of pizza and garlic bread from Pizza Hut--since that was my first really big meal since the Taj brunch/Peshawri's last Sunday, it's no wonder that it made me feel both great and terrible all at once. Now I'm going to lie on my bed, read my book, and enjoy the beginning of my vacation.