Ah the joys of the domestic terminal at Bombay. I'm here, in one piece, I still can't hear anything, but the flights were fine--great even, given that they were two long flights with 8 hours in London in-between. I can highly recommend the quiet waiting area at Heathrow Terminal 4, where you can sleep almost horizontally in quiet and low light--I got a good three hours of sleep there before getting on the flight to Bombay. I am now in the "iway broadband internet cafe" inside the domestic terminal, where there isn't really a cafe at all, just some computers, but I will say that the broadband is definitely in evidence and a huge improvement over earlier internet kiosk experiences I've had in India. It is Bombay, after all.
The Aurangabad flight is (natch) delayed, but there is (natch) a fabulous bookstore (in a space smaller than most bathrooms) which has every postcolonial/contemporary INdian novel you've ever seen, including the new Rushdie which may have to be one of the things I lug around this trip.
Tomorrow is the 5th century excavated Buddhist and Jain caves at Ajanta all day, so wish me luck!
2 comments:
Hmm...with 10 hours and 40 minutes of layover in Heathrow myself, I was planning on getting out of the airport and doing something. What, I'm not exactly sure, since it's the wrong time of day for theatre, I'm not going shopping at the very beginning of a month-long trip, and my interest in most museums is honestly not enough to keep me upright and engaged after a relatively sleepless night in a sardine tin. I must be getting old. On the other hand, spending 29 straight hours in airports and airplanes without a break sounds deadlier than stumbling, semi-conscious, for a few hours through what will doubtless be a rainy winter's day in London. Any suggestions for innovative, warm, relatively low-impact entertainment?
My primary advice is this: if you go into London, splurge and take the Heathrow Express. It's lovely; it will save you 45 minutes each way on the tube; and a day return isn't that bad. After that...well, you know London better than I. Perhaps a stroll through Blackwells (look for Rebecca's book!), or if the weather is nice a walk along the Thames and a glance into that brilliant installation hall at the Tate.
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