Monday 25th Feb - Day 22

So far this travelling caper hasn't been too bad. I've been guided or have been with someone local most of the time. But it's to get a little more real soon.

At a local travel agent I book a flight to Kochin, Kerela flying from Delhi. And from Trivandrum in Kerela. I am to fly to Colombo, Sri Lanka on March 6th.

I must say goodbye to my Uncles, Aunts and everyone before I leave. In the Indian tradition I'm given money my them. It can be a little difficult sometimes to accept money, but at the same time I shouldn't offend people by ignoring tradition, although it is polite to refuse.

My flight is to be at 9:45am the following morning, but I am to have a demanding journey to Delhi airport. It starts at 7:30pm. I've still got Lallit as my bodyguard. We get on a basic bus/coach for the first time; there's not much room and if you're over about 5ft 10' I'm not sure how you can sit with so little leg room. After about an hour or so we arrive in Chandigargh. We now have to take a tuk-tuk/auto/3-wheeler to the next bus stop. This is the first time I've been in one of these, it's not to be my last. It's quite cheap to take the bus. It only cost about 60 Rupees to get to Chandigargh. We splash out about 250 Rupees on a 'Deluxe' bus for the 8 hour journey to Delhi. Unfortunately, this blasted bus has non-working shock absorbers on the back axle. The 8 hour journey is a pain in the neck - litrerally. In Delhi we have to take another tuk-tuk to the airport. There's always an element of bargaining with tuk-tuk drivers. Our driver tells us we are not allowed at the airport more than 2 hours before the flight and is willing to take us to a cheap hotel for a couple of hours. This is a complete lie. I wonder how many people he has conned before us.

11 and a half hours after the journey began I'm at Delhi airport. I thank Lallit for his help and send him back home. Thankfully, he is to have an easier journey back. I have to wait another 3 hours before my flight leaves.