Going to India

ATL->JFK
We had to check in at the international desks. Its been a while since I have checked a bag. Apparently 50lbs is the max weight, which I think is ridicules for international flights. If you go even 1 lbs over this limit its $150.00 extra, Me being a good employee trying to save money I took my jacket and toiletry bag out. 48lbs! made it! Delta uncomfortable flight to JFK.

JFK Terminal. 8PM
Its been a while since I have flown into JFK. Its normally LaGuardia since my propose to of going to NYC is to go to Manhattan or visit family in Queens. They have done a lot of construction at JFK and built nice new terminals. I have never needed to go to the international terminal so it was a bit confusing. You have to take the tram to a different terminal. We couldn’t find signs that said anything about that. When we got there we found our airline check in counter and started waiting in line. We were approached and asked where we are going, “India!” We said, then they said to come with them and we were escorted to a ticket agent with no line. Somehow I lost my boarding pass from my first flight so. Well I didn’t know I was going to need it again. It got me on the plane right? Well they needed it to transfer my luggage to the international flight to Qatar.. oops, is this going to be a problem? The agent was nice and was able to cal Delta to get it transferred. I was worried about my luggage the whole trip. Then you get to go through security again. This one took a while. Grant thinks the metal detectors where set extra sensitive, I just don’t think international people don’t know the us rules. It was a long process. Later I think I figured out why it took so long at security.

JFK->DOH
This was on a 777. This is the biggest plane I’ve ever been on and it was awesome.The plane was new and state of the art. Economy class was almost as good as first class on domestic flights. All the seats had access to entertainment systems. It helped that the plane wasn’t full and there was an empty seat between me and the person on the aisle. I got 2 hot meals the dinner was a bit exotic some kind of mango chicken and rice, but for breakfast I had pancakes. I also got to enjoy the ice cream social and snacks. I watched 3 movies, a lot of TV and listened to music. This was a 13 hour flight and I think secretly I didn’t want this to end since there were more movies I wanted to watch. My only complaint was they needed to add some foam to the seat and also my seat cushion kept moving around. Qatar Airways is very nice.

DOH 7PM
The airport in Qatar doesn’t have gates that the plane goes up to. You walk down the ramp from the 777 and get on a nice bus in the middle of the tarmac. It was dark out so I didn’t know where we were and where the terminal was. You take what seemed like a long bus ride to the terminal. Then you go through security where you don’t have to take off any shoes or laptops out of their cases. I didn’t even realize it was a security check point. Then you go upstairs and go find the gate for your next flight. You wait at that gate until they are ready then they check you in a heard you downstairs to get on another bus to go find your plane. Once we pulled up to the plane we got to stand up on the bus for a good 20+ minutes while they waited to start boarding.

DOH-> MAA
This was 4.5 hours in a fairly packed Airbus A321 and I felt every minute of it. All the luxuaries of the prevous flight are gone and while it’s a newer plane, it was very basic. The food starts getting a bit more interesting and somewhat spicy. You get some kind of chicken in a red sauce or a vegetarian plate. Also, a lot of people take off their shoes (and socks). I didn’t watch the movie but Grant did and it was India movie with English subtitles. It was a wacky movie about an arranged marriage gone all crazy and awry and Bride A wants to be married to Groom B and Bride B wants to marry Groom A. Dad and father-in-law have it out and everyone ends up happy. I guess you have to see it. I have no idea what it was called. Once the plane was at the gate we must have waited there for more than 30 minutes. Then it started . The guy sitting next to me starts farting. I knew it was him because I could hear it and smell it, and his wife slapped his knee. Then we got introduced to a new first when near the end of the flight an announcement comes on saying they are going to spray the cabin with a pesticide and asking of this is going to be a problem for anyone but before the announcement can finish the pilot breaks in saying something I couldn’t understand but by then one of flight attendants is walking down the aisle with three aerosol cans above his head fogging upward.

MAA arriving at 3:30 am
After being on the plane at the gate for more than 30 min and the humidity level rising on the plane, I looked out the window hoping to see my luggage, but the windows fogged up and I couldn’t see anything after a while. Then they finally let us out, down the ramp on to some really old crappy non air-conditioned busses (compared to the ones in Doha). I pointed to a building and said watch they are going to take us there which was 30-40 yards away to the terminal, ha I was right! It was a very short ride, why did we have to take this bus. We made it through customs and found our driver just outside the airport. Driving in the car was interesting. Our driver was a normal taxi type driver going fast and dodging traffic along the way. I guess there are no driving rules in India since the lines on the road meant nothing. Cars drove in the middle of the lanes and motorcycles just kind of went around everyone. I kept waiting for the area around me to become nicer but it never did. Everything looked run down and old, lots of trash and rubble in some places. We get to the hotel and stopped at the gate the driver turns the car off. Grant and I look at each other and think are we supposed to get out. Grant goes to open the door and the driver yells “wait!” Some men come out and open the hood and roll a mirror under the car and a dog sniffs around the car to look for bombs and stuff. Then we get through the gate to the hotel and load our luggage onto another x-ray conveyor and walk through another metal detector before being allowed in. nape time. It was probably 4 or 5 am by the time I got to my room.