There had been some confusion; our flight out of Kochi was to be at 09h40 and we had been told that we would be collected at 00h30. By my calculation that would leave us sitting at the airport for seven hours and that wasn’t about to happen. Then I was told that the flight was leaving at 05h00 … Oh dear. Several phone calls resolved that the original flight time stood and collection would be at 05h00; a final phone call revised this to 06h00 as we had checked in online, so an extra hour in bed is always welcome.

And then the alarm goes quickly followed by a wake up call, then the knock on the door to collect the bags. Get dressed, check we’ve got everything, go to reception and see our driver so all’s well, load the car and get in, wave and we’re off. Phew.

Interesting early drive to the airport seeing Kerala come to life. Arrive and get the bags, say goodbyes, the local agent has arranged for a “fixer” to see us through the procedures (an enormous help) and suddenly we’re airside and on our way.

First leg is about four hours up to Dubai where we have time for a coffee and look round before the train ride to the other terminal and on to the next plane. There is no doubt that, sadly, there are some very rude people when it comes to traveling!

I read somewhere that airlines keep the air pressure low to keep the passengers torpid, I don’t know if that’s true but I do know that when I woke up from a sleep the air was so foetid you could almost chew it.

Nearly eight hours is just about as long a flight time as I would want and I was extremely happy when we descended into Birmingham. Straight forward through controls, collect the car and head off to Bath, arriving home at about nine thirty.

A lot of travel but not much action, several time zones and a car journey; exhausting.

What a fabulous holiday, it has exceeded our expectations and we have so many wonderful memories not to mention about a thousand photos.

But it’s always nice to get home.

24 March 2015