So far it's been quite eventful with a 7 hr flight from sunny old brum to even sunnier Dubai, 3 hr break then another 3 hour flight from sunnier Dubai to rainier Mumbai (Bombay).
Flight 1: Birmingham International:
The star of our first leg, Emirates Airbus 330-300
Flight 1 was mainly a breeze. a seat next to the emergency exit with extra leg room and a lovely window seat. flicking through the movie channels and come across a little gem; Outsourced ! You couldn't write the irony without the help of Alanis Morrisette.
Unfortunately the guy next to me was in training for the World Snoring Championships 2008. He sounded like a chainsaw descended through a pile of blackboards. There would be a respite of a few moments of dead calm, then "HNNNNNKKKKRK-ZZZIIII-ZNNNNNAWWW" . As you can tell this means I had time for other thing's, mainly pictures:
The view just after dusk from my window.
The seat was well worth the extra time waiting in the airport (Thanks for the great book btw dad! :D), being more room than a stampeding elephant:
More legroom than the average bear!
The headphones did there best to cancel Mr Snory's nasal symphony but it was like trying to empty the ocean with a thimble. The flight over the majority of Europe was overcast so I didn't get chance to take many pictures. I spent my time eating Fox's Glacier mints ranked on size and deformity, what a bored mind does! I tried reading the In-flight magazine (why do they provide these things! Is is so if the plane falls into the sea you have something to bore the sharks to death with?) and the only thing I found of mild amusement was an advert for Imperial Tobacco with the following warnings: "You shouldn't provide cigarettes to children" and my instant favourite: " Don't buy cigarettes for non-smokers!" I thought this was patently obvious but you never know with some people.
As we crossed over the Black sea the plane finally caught up with the sun and suddenly it was looking out the window again (By this point I was tired of the channel's of chick flicks and US grade comedy).
See below:
Dawn from my window.
Lovely view of some mountains after we crossed the sea.
As we crossed over the Black sea the plane finally caught up with the sun and suddenly it was looking out the window again (By this point I was tired of the channel's of chick flicks and US grade comedy).
See below:
Dawn from my window.
Lovely view of some mountains after we crossed the sea.
There are 30 odd more identical shots but i wont bore you with them.
After a few hundred miles of identical mountain's we reach the Gulf. The water's were crystal clear and made the giant haulers freighters look like little toy boats in a shallow lake:
More Clouds
After a few hundred miles of identical mountain's we reach the Gulf. The water's were crystal clear and made the giant haulers freighters look like little toy boats in a shallow lake:
Just coming into The Gulf
The clouds were amazing, all different layers looking like they were rushing away from you.
More Clouds
After this I had to put the camera away as we were coming into land in Dubai. There's one word for the journey from the plan to catch our connecting flight, LOOOONG. It took nearly 10 minutes in a thankfully air conditioned bus to the airport. The arrivals process at Dubai was pretty straightforward then it was on to Duty Free for L to pick some bottles up for one of the Mumbai trainers.
The weather in Dubai was HOT, considering it was 8am (local time) when we arrived and 10 am when we left the heat was unimaginable.
The weather in Dubai was HOT, considering it was 8am (local time) when we arrived and 10 am when we left the heat was unimaginable.
The view from Dubai airport at our check in desk.
The airport at Dubai was in itself long, as usual our gate was at the extremity of the building, Gate 42. On the way we stopped off at Dunkin Donuts as A had a hankering for some, since you can no longer get them in the UK. 6 donuts for £4, bargain!
After we finished checking in it was another epic journey to the plane, A and N got preferential Business Class seats randomly allocated but L and I had to slum it in Economy whilst they got free champagne, the sods!
The flight was another eventful one. As soon as the plane got into the air the gentleman (in the loosest sense of the word), preceded to jam his chair back all the way into my kneecaps, which meant I spent the entire flight being able to give a quite close folical examination as he was almost in my lap. My misery was then compounded with the guy behind me thinking this was a good time to get up and turn around to speak This put me in the position of a circus contortionist, in which I was remain for the majority of the flight.
About 30 minutes into the flight I had the worlds weirdest cooked breakfast consisting of the following:
3x Chicken Sausages
2x Omlette cut into swiss roll style with tomato sauce.
1x portion of cabbage
1x portion of sweetcorn
Not your standard breakfast!
By the way, if you're wondering where the pictures are, this was a central aisle seat so not worth bothering with, sorry.
After the breakfast from the outer limits my stomach decided to protest. I made my way to the facilities, which were inevitably locked, all of them. Cue me with a scowl standing waiting for 5 minutes waiting for someone to leave so I could release my agony, as it were. Another 10 minutes, no sign of movement, the flight attendant then informed me she had forgot to unlock the toilets after take-off and gave me her apologies. After 15 minutes of looking like a lemon I was not best pleased, but as I had to use the facilities so bad, all I could do was put on my scowl.
I returned to my seat and coiled like an angry viper to make enough space to squeeze into. Then we buckled up for landing. As we approached I could see a sea of blue next to the airport through the front camera. I thought these were swimming pools but as we got closer I discovered it was blue tarpaulin. Apparently in the slum next to the airport it's traditional to break the tarpaulin out in monsoon season. I suppose it brought a bit of colour to the area at least!
The pilot came in the worlds weirdest approach angle. Basically ran parallel to the runway, to the left. Then a strong lurch to the right and the least smoothest landing since Apollo 13. I think he made the runway purely by accident as his intention must have been the slum nearby.
The weather was warm and humid, like being in a constant sauna. A bit of panic at the belt waiting for my suitcase, which some helpful person had taken off the luggage belt the other side which i couldn't see, hence me fretting that all I had was the contents of my cabin bag and the clothes I was wearing, eventually I was re-united and we trundled happily towards the waiting car.
Tune in tomorrow for the Journey from the Airport to the hotel and pictures of the hotel itself.
After we finished checking in it was another epic journey to the plane, A and N got preferential Business Class seats randomly allocated but L and I had to slum it in Economy whilst they got free champagne, the sods!
The flight was another eventful one. As soon as the plane got into the air the gentleman (in the loosest sense of the word), preceded to jam his chair back all the way into my kneecaps, which meant I spent the entire flight being able to give a quite close folical examination as he was almost in my lap. My misery was then compounded with the guy behind me thinking this was a good time to get up and turn around to speak This put me in the position of a circus contortionist, in which I was remain for the majority of the flight.
About 30 minutes into the flight I had the worlds weirdest cooked breakfast consisting of the following:
3x Chicken Sausages
2x Omlette cut into swiss roll style with tomato sauce.
1x portion of cabbage
1x portion of sweetcorn
Not your standard breakfast!
By the way, if you're wondering where the pictures are, this was a central aisle seat so not worth bothering with, sorry.
After the breakfast from the outer limits my stomach decided to protest. I made my way to the facilities, which were inevitably locked, all of them. Cue me with a scowl standing waiting for 5 minutes waiting for someone to leave so I could release my agony, as it were. Another 10 minutes, no sign of movement, the flight attendant then informed me she had forgot to unlock the toilets after take-off and gave me her apologies. After 15 minutes of looking like a lemon I was not best pleased, but as I had to use the facilities so bad, all I could do was put on my scowl.
I returned to my seat and coiled like an angry viper to make enough space to squeeze into. Then we buckled up for landing. As we approached I could see a sea of blue next to the airport through the front camera. I thought these were swimming pools but as we got closer I discovered it was blue tarpaulin. Apparently in the slum next to the airport it's traditional to break the tarpaulin out in monsoon season. I suppose it brought a bit of colour to the area at least!
The pilot came in the worlds weirdest approach angle. Basically ran parallel to the runway, to the left. Then a strong lurch to the right and the least smoothest landing since Apollo 13. I think he made the runway purely by accident as his intention must have been the slum nearby.
The weather was warm and humid, like being in a constant sauna. A bit of panic at the belt waiting for my suitcase, which some helpful person had taken off the luggage belt the other side which i couldn't see, hence me fretting that all I had was the contents of my cabin bag and the clothes I was wearing, eventually I was re-united and we trundled happily towards the waiting car.
Tune in tomorrow for the Journey from the Airport to the hotel and pictures of the hotel itself.
1 comment:
excellent writing mate :-) almost felt i relived my flight experience frm birmingham to mumbai three weeks ago INCLUDING the business class seat tat i got upgraded to :-) looking fwd to more blogs :-)
hw u enjoyin ur second day?jst relax dis wknd n we'l make some plans frm next wknd onwards.
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