To India...eventually

04 April 2005

This morning we trudged through the pouring rain to the post office to offload a bunch of stuff we have accumulated over the last several weeks. Since we hadn't been to the post office since Siem Reap, Cambodia, it was quite a package. But the post office was easy to find, and hassle free, so we were happy. We checked out of our hotel, had our last street pad thai for lunch, then went around to try to sell off some books and cheap clothes. We finally found someone to buy it all for just less than we wanted (400 baht), which was good. We wasted some time on the internet before catching our ride to the airport.

After a quick ride to the airport that would make Mario Andretti jealous, we were dropped off at the departures gate and proceeded to Thailand's VAT office. Tourists can claim the tax back from purchases at certain stores around the country. Luckily for us, we had spent enough at these stores to be eligible. So, we got about AU$10 back, which is still AU$10 to us. We headed to the Cathay Pacific check-in with our fingers crossed that our booking was valid. No problems. We waited for a few hours (Bangkok airport sucks-there is nothing to eat, no beer, and no internet) before departing Bangkok around 6:45 pm. We're off to Delhi, via Hong Kong of course.

We made it to Hong Kong on new, clean Cathay Pacific planes, with excellent, friendly service, good food, and, most importantly, TVs in the back of the seat with heaps of channels! We had about an hour in Hong Kong before boarding our flight to Delhi. Once all of the passengers were on the plane, the (Aussie) captain announced that due to an electrical problem with the entertainment system (Gasp! Oh NO!!!), we would be changing planes for the comfort of all the passengers, since it would be a long flight without a working entertainment system (Whew! Thank goodness!). We were more than happy to get off the plane and wait about an hour before finally taking off for India.