A bit of luxury to kick things off
We left home just after 2.00 am. Yesterday was beautiful Hannah’s 18th birthday. So lots of festivities. Mum & Dad are holding the fort while we are away.
We officially handed over the master bedroom to Mum & Dad yesterday and so I slept on the floor with the boys and Lara slept with Gracie. Sleeping with the boys was like the boys dorm at Beach Mission - lots of laughs and banter. There was even talk of making it a weekly activity!
Saying our good-byes this morning was very hard. Fair to say that we both hated leaving. We are definitely home-bodies.
We got picked up in a big fat Caprice (per kind favour Emirates) and we checked in without incident. We kept expecting them to send us back to economy check-in, but they didn’t! So, we waited for the customs area to open. With our express departure cards in hand we headed willfor the Emirates First-Class lounge. We so appreciated every one of Lara’s carefully preserved frequent flier points.
The trip to India was an all-time highlight. First Class travel is RIDICULOUS. We had breaky in the Emirates lounge which was ace. We then boarded our A380 and we were directed to the very front of the plane. It was like nothing we had ever seen. Hardly anyone else in First Class. We ate, drank mocktailes, watched movies, slept (a little bit) and even had a shower. I could so get used to this way of travelling. We were allowed to do everything except fly the plane.
When we got to Dubai, we had 90 mins or so to kill. Of of course we spent that time in the Emirates lounge. We ate, drank & Lara even got herself a fat ice-cream.
The next leg was on a 777 - it was Business Class which felt a little underwhelming after our experience in First. Comfortable, but without the craziness of First. Flight took around 4 hours. When we arrived at the airport in Delhi we were met by a fat BMW and we were delivered to our Hotel. Once again - thanks Emirates for your thoughtfulness and attention to detail.
Slept ok - room was really good. Had breaky with a number of the crew - was ace catching up with Rob & Trev Pell at breakfast time. So surreal to see them in this setting.
For the morning, we travelled by Bus into Delhi, had a look st a Sikh Temple, went to a pretty crappy market and then returned to our Hotel to pick up our bags and head to the airport. We then boarded a 70 something seat plane (THAT HAD PROPELLERS) and flew to Bhopal. It’s about 120 mins south of Delhi. Quite rural in parts. Crazy traffic. We are staying in an old palace which is sensational. Big chandeliers and quite British in its appearance.
We headed out for tea which was lovely. We ate in a train carriage and had some lovely curries. It was an eventful trip home. The first memorable moment was getting caught in a wedding celebration. The revellers set off s massive firework in the middle of the toad. After popping and banging, there was then a massive Roman Candle within metres of our bus. I thought the bus was going to go up in flames. Following that, the driver drove with plenty of purpose. As he approached our Hotel, he pulled a wild manoeuvre. The driveway to the Hitel was on the opposite side of the road and separated by a concrete barrier. To save driving past the Hotel and doing s u-turn, he simply found a break in the concrete barrier and drove down the wrong side of a fully divided road. While cars made way for us, it was quite terrifying as some cars swerved quite late in the piece. He drove on the wrong side of the concrete barrier and directly into the path of on-coming traffic for 500 metres or so. I’m pleased that it was Trev riding shotgun and not me. Home safe now and off to sleep. It was a busy day and everyone is super tired.
We officially handed over the master bedroom to Mum & Dad yesterday and so I slept on the floor with the boys and Lara slept with Gracie. Sleeping with the boys was like the boys dorm at Beach Mission - lots of laughs and banter. There was even talk of making it a weekly activity!
Saying our good-byes this morning was very hard. Fair to say that we both hated leaving. We are definitely home-bodies.
We got picked up in a big fat Caprice (per kind favour Emirates) and we checked in without incident. We kept expecting them to send us back to economy check-in, but they didn’t! So, we waited for the customs area to open. With our express departure cards in hand we headed willfor the Emirates First-Class lounge. We so appreciated every one of Lara’s carefully preserved frequent flier points.
The trip to India was an all-time highlight. First Class travel is RIDICULOUS. We had breaky in the Emirates lounge which was ace. We then boarded our A380 and we were directed to the very front of the plane. It was like nothing we had ever seen. Hardly anyone else in First Class. We ate, drank mocktailes, watched movies, slept (a little bit) and even had a shower. I could so get used to this way of travelling. We were allowed to do everything except fly the plane.
When we got to Dubai, we had 90 mins or so to kill. Of of course we spent that time in the Emirates lounge. We ate, drank & Lara even got herself a fat ice-cream.
The next leg was on a 777 - it was Business Class which felt a little underwhelming after our experience in First. Comfortable, but without the craziness of First. Flight took around 4 hours. When we arrived at the airport in Delhi we were met by a fat BMW and we were delivered to our Hotel. Once again - thanks Emirates for your thoughtfulness and attention to detail.
Slept ok - room was really good. Had breaky with a number of the crew - was ace catching up with Rob & Trev Pell at breakfast time. So surreal to see them in this setting.
For the morning, we travelled by Bus into Delhi, had a look st a Sikh Temple, went to a pretty crappy market and then returned to our Hotel to pick up our bags and head to the airport. We then boarded a 70 something seat plane (THAT HAD PROPELLERS) and flew to Bhopal. It’s about 120 mins south of Delhi. Quite rural in parts. Crazy traffic. We are staying in an old palace which is sensational. Big chandeliers and quite British in its appearance.
We headed out for tea which was lovely. We ate in a train carriage and had some lovely curries. It was an eventful trip home. The first memorable moment was getting caught in a wedding celebration. The revellers set off s massive firework in the middle of the toad. After popping and banging, there was then a massive Roman Candle within metres of our bus. I thought the bus was going to go up in flames. Following that, the driver drove with plenty of purpose. As he approached our Hotel, he pulled a wild manoeuvre. The driveway to the Hitel was on the opposite side of the road and separated by a concrete barrier. To save driving past the Hotel and doing s u-turn, he simply found a break in the concrete barrier and drove down the wrong side of a fully divided road. While cars made way for us, it was quite terrifying as some cars swerved quite late in the piece. He drove on the wrong side of the concrete barrier and directly into the path of on-coming traffic for 500 metres or so. I’m pleased that it was Trev riding shotgun and not me. Home safe now and off to sleep. It was a busy day and everyone is super tired.
Can’t wait for the next instalment!
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