After supper we chat with Shukla, the lovely lady who owns/runs Lutyens Bungalow, and her daughter. The conversation gets to including showing pictures of Alex & Craig's wedding and then onto the subject of marriage itself. The Emirates car, a very smart BMW SUV arrives promptly and we are soon in Terminal 3 at Indira Gandhi International. This has changed out of all recognition since our first visit in 2011. Even the security checks seem to have got slicker. Shortly after midnight we are in the Emirates Lounge and have the place to ourselves. There is wine, gin & tonic, and even a cheeseboard with proper cheese! We doze fitfully and wake up to find there will be a short delay for our flight. This delay grows as it takes an age to get everybody boarded. Clearly there is no enforcement of the rule on cabin bag size and the staff have to spend ages finding homes for enormous bags out of the economy cabin. It's not as if Emirates are mean with hold baggage allowance...
Our 5 am pick up is waiting at the gate and driver Chaminda greets us warmly. We have the gypsy to ourselves this morning and have less distance to travel. The driving is much more sedate this time and before too long we turn into the Bundala National Park access road where we pull up. We are just over the road from a temple and less than a hundred yards from another. The two seem to be in a volume contest and the cacophony is immense. Regular readers may recall that we are very definitely against mixing religion and amplification, particular in the hours before dawn. The sky lightens and we move along the single track road away from habitation. A few other gypsies have joined us but there is nothing like the mêlée of yesterday morning. At the gate we are joined by a chap who introduces himself as a volunteer guide, and whose name escapes both of us. Our first stop gives us a view over an area of marshy looking ground towards a small lake. The sun is just creeping over the hor...
We always seem to spend Leap Year's Day in India. In 2012 we slept under the desert sky and went camel riding. http://radinja2.blogspot.com/2012/02/wednesday-29th-february-camel-riding.html In 2016 we spent the day on a hellish bus trip through the minor foothills of the Himalayas that a "friend" had persuaded us would be a breeze. http://radinja6.blogspot.com/2016/03/on-buses-leap-day-special-episode.html He is still a good friend and today we have arranged to meet him for culture and lunch. But first shopping. Breakfast at Lutyens Bungalow is always a delight and even better now that they have started baking their own bread. We are in no hurry and step at a few minutes before ten. We haven't walked thirty yards when an auto driver approaches. "Metro" is the answer. "Oh no sir. Crowded and dangerous. Better by auto." What he doesn't know is that when D checks the other, even older Metro Travel Cards, they have a balance of Rs 178 on...
hallelujah
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