Flying home

Up at 5.30; tea at 6.15; met Kinley and Tsering at 6.30. A quick drive brought us to the airport and farewells and thank yous to the two of them. We joined the queue to get through security, then checked in for Kolkata on KB120. Through to departures and more security; out on to the tarmac to identify our luggage and confirm it is going to Kolkata, as most people are staying on the plane to go to Bangkok. After a short wait we were boarding, sitting in E & F 21, next to the last row, with all the Kolkata passengers. On the plane we saw Kachenjunga (8598m) gliding by. Kanchenjunga is the easternmost of the 8000 m Great Himalayan peaks and the third highest mountain in the world. Arriving in Kolkata, we cleared passport control, collected the bags and changed some money. It all went well, but outside there was no sign of Blue Poppy’s agent. A huge storm was approaching rapidly with gusting winds, so Alan negotiated a taxi to the hotel for about £3. The taxi is a yellow Ambassador with a plastic quilted and buttoned ceiling. As we left the airport, we entered a cacophony of noise – horns, hooters, engines and the general melee going to Kolkata! The hotel is less than 20 minutes from the airport and we checked in, finding our room with the help of very pleasant porters. The first room wasn’t any good (why?) so they moved us next door, putting on the a/c and ceiling fan. We went to breakfast at 10.00 – just juice, coffee and toast; then putting our feet up in room 704. A call came through to say our driver had arrived, but obviously this was where the mix up was, and we didn’t need him now. So we got out the books, my Palm etc. and put some cricket on the TV. It was very wet outside, which took some time to clear. It was 15.00 before we took a break and went down to the restaurant for a snack. Alan fancied a cheese butty and I had seen that they did spring rolls on the room service menu. We also ordered coffee. When it eventually arrived, we had a huge loempia each with salad, which wasn’t quite what we had expected. Nevertheless, it was very good, so no problem. We wandered back upstairs for more of the same, but as it got dark, there was a series power cuts. Was this the hotel or general? We had torches with us, which was lucky.
By 9pm we decided to eat again, so went down to the restaurant. Alan decided to order beer while we looked at the menu – but they can’t serve beer there. The waiter decided to take us to their other restaurant on the first floor. When he opened the door, we were deafened by the live music; so he decided to take us to yet another place on the fourth floor! This is the Aranyak restaurant! Here we could have a relatively peaceful meal with a beer, although there were people smoking. You can’t have everything! We had Black label beer, tandoori chicken, paneer tikka masala, raita salad and rice, which was delicious. At last, we returned to the room for further rest before leaving in the hotel minivan for the airport at 4am. We travelled the first 200m on the wrong side of the dual carriageway!! Still, safely deposited and nothing to pay, we entered the airport a bit too early for check in, but still queued up ready for the flight opening. We travelled business class and our seats were on the right of the plane. We were so lucky as we had the most stunning views of the Himalayas including, we think, Everest (Sagarmathan (n)and Quomolongma (t)) (8848m) and Macchapucchre (6993m) to name but a few. Photographs were taken! Then we tried to sleep, which we were a little short of!

Blue Poppy Tours and Treks