"Beast from the East" almost ruins Hens & Cats, (and Mumbai lives down to its reputation).

Talk about "touch & go"!

After packing a lot of deodorised shells and locating clothes for less pleasant weather Greyrocks made a quiet exit from Palolem - starting at 3 am on March 1st. This was to prove an "interesting" journey! We knew - of course - about the ongoing cold weather in UK and the threats of worse, but "needs must" - Ruth had a daughter's Hen Event to attend, and that is (we hope) a once in a lifetime prospect!

The taxi sped us to the airport, and we began the ritual humiliation that is involved. Hurdle 1 was the pre-check-in baggage scan, where there was a risk of seashell trouble, but we passed. On to Jet Airways check-in and different trouble: - the bags now weighed 34 kg between them - well under the limit for international - but overweight for domestic! We had not worried about this when packing as there is an exemption for those with subsequent international flights - or so we thought! It seems that BA is no longer a partner so we owe 1600 rupees. This is going to be a Greyrocks consumer dispute, but on the day it meant a hugely tedious wait to pay it, which was then followed by an SMS telling us of a delay in departure. At the other end (Mumbai) we had a long walk from Domestic Arrivals. This was fine :- we had ages to kill and a need for exercise, but were taken aback when the man on the mobility buggy offered us a lift! We declined and he told us what a long walk it would be!!

We now had hours in which to "enjoy" Mumbai airport's services! And we soon learnt it would be 90 minutes more than we expected as the Heathrow flight had a delay. The BA desk was not open for quite a while and when it was it was one of those badly managed queues without information, insufficient staff and a lot of passenger wobblers. Listen BA: Shameful,  arrogant, unnecessary, ..  no never again through Mumbai - in either direction!

We then got through Security and Immigration without event, but of course without any civility, and decided to pursue the Masala Chai saga. We had offered Chloë some flavoured teas as in Palolem several stalls were selling such delights as chocolate, rose, mango etc etc. She said she would prefer a big bag of Masala Chai. Ruth fiercely hates haggling, and on asking the price in the most promising place got a stupid one of 300 INR for 100 g. It is cheaper in Tesco, so she walked out, (which you are not supposed to do, but "life is too short") Hence we were in Duty Free feeling bad about failing to buy any.  Another ghastly thing about the wretched Mumbai airport is that prices are (if there at all) in US dollars. We find some masala chai. It seems to be on an offer so we ask - "no not that one" - it comes out at about 400 INR. We heave a sigh and think of the disappointment and our meanness. We take two packets to the checkout! An Indian woman ahead of us has two boxed bottles of spirits. There is a lot of staff activity: partly a dispute about her entitlement to a carrier bag, but mostly three staff members wrestling with a complex printed price list. It is 1st March so the whole merchandising IT system is down! We wait an age and are then told an even higher price. This is ridiculous, so we walk out tea-less! Then we think again and go into a shop dedicated to "gourmet" items, We find what we want and with gritted teeth go to the check-out. "If you want to buy that you must go to the main Duty Free, as I can't sell anything here!" Chloë did not get her "Gift from India"!!!

We still had many hours to kill, and did so by consuming overpriced beer and surprisingly reasonably priced masala dosa and samosas! Say what you like about the new airport (and we do) it is spacious and has plenty of glass, so we also watched apron action, take-off and landing through the dense pollution. The outside temperature was in the region of 34 degrees C, but we knew this would be the last we saw of that level for some time.


As we queue to board the plane the young Indian behind us tells that Heathrow is currently closed. His friend who works there has just sent a message! That was the last we heard of that, though and after a speedy flight with great (pre-booked) seats, some decent film/TV, adequate food, some nasty turbulence in places and some Spanish wine we landed to a temperature of -5 degrees C! In Baggage Reclaim we fished out warm clothes and shoes, and headed for M&S and the Hoppa to the hotel (the same as outward). It was shockingly cold and as we entered the hotel there was snow falling, but we felt lucky to be there! The traffic on the A4 on which we were situated was flowing freely. But what would the next day hold?

Thanks to the 5.5 hour time difference Greyrocks was awake early and on the National Express website, which seemed to suggest that things were operating normally as far as Bristol. We had tickets to make that journey at 1435. They had cost us GBP 2 each. We went down for our free breakfast and there was a certain air of panic around, and a coachload of older Welsh women waiting to rescued following a breakdown. We lurked there for a long time and more and more groups arrived - mostly folk with cancelled BA flights. We killed time in our room and descended again to find Reception in chaos as a huge group was being checked in for the night! We headed back to Terminal 5 fully believing (after recent research) that we would be alright for an afternoon journey and would make it to the hotel ready for Saturday's knees-up. We queued at the desk and were told our coach was almost certainly NOT running, nor anything else that day, and the next day's services would be filled with cancellations from earlier. Utter panic! We sent  a warning text to Chloë. The T5 land-side "pub" is now back open again so we held a crisis summit there. We had no chance of going home earlier than the Monday flight from Gatwick, so if we couldn't get to Bristol we would need two nights in a hotel near either of the airports.

M4 was similar to this!

We would be up against thousands of others with displacement stories - and most would be the responsibility of airlines. The Arrivals and Departures boards showed only very long-haul flights operating. Dana (soon to be designated a saint by Greyrocks) at the Hotel Reservation Centre told us one night anywhere near Heathrow would be a minimum of GBP 160 - if available - and Gatwick was no better. Greyrocks goes into a huddle to contemplate this - together with missing the "do". and Dana interjects that for the price of two nights we could be driven there, as the roads were still passable (live cam shots shown!) Archie/Alfie (?) takes over, gives us the quote and we go for it. Just twenty minutes later our highly professional Algerian driver appears and we travel down the M4 in a Jaguar, arriving outside the hotel at about the time previously specified. Chaos is all around on the motorway. Just two lanes open. and exits to many important trunk roads closed. But we made it!!