FLIGHT TO DELHI - FEBRUARY 1

This it the big day…. I drove to BB’s place last evening, right after work, as she lives not too far from the Lyon airport. Still, we wake up at 3.15 am….soooo early…. We drive to her sister’s place, about 30 minutes away from her place, but very close to the airport. There are snowflakes on the windscreen, but it soon turns into rain… We leave both cars there and her brother in law takes us to the airport, a few minutes away. We have two hours ahead, no need to rush…. Take off is scheduled at 7.15 and it takes 55 minutes to reach the Milano airport. We get beautiful views over the Alps in the morning light. It is foggy in Milano, but we land without problem. We head towards Gate B24 and soon, Jocelyne, Nr 3 of our team, greets us, wearing a beautiful shiny green wig… She flew in from Marseille a bit earlier.

After about two hours of waiting, we embark for our final destination, the plane being more or less on time. We manage to get 3 seats in a row in the Boeing 767. Food is OK and the flight is not too long (6 hours 40 mn). It is 22.15 pm local time when we land at Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport. It is cool in Delhi, good that we have our jackets on. The queue to pass immigration is endless, but we finally get over it and during that time, our luggage is there, waiting for us. After exchanging Euros against some Rupees, we get out and search for our driver. I soon find him, among a crowd of drivers waiting for their customers. Jessy is quite young and seems to be shy. He takes us to our hotel in the north of the city, the airport being in the southwest. The drive takes about 1 hour, though traffic is not too busy at this time of the night (around midnight). The hotel (Wongdhen house) is situated in the Tibetan Quarter of the city; it is like a small city within the city. We soon get our rooms and we can say they are very cold. No heating in India! Moreover, there is no hot water, it means, no shower tonight… We luckily have our sleeping bags, which prove necessary. Temperatures are much lower than usual in Delhi.