My last morning in India I woke up at 5:00am and ate breakfast. My hotel in Cochin had arranged a taxi to take me to the airport. The ride was dreamy. A thin layer of fog hung in the air as the rising sun coated the tropical landscape in its orange glow. The fishermen were slowly venturing out in the canals with their boats while crowds gathered in the churches and temples for early morning services. It was a perfect end to a great adventure.
At the airport, I checked in and napped while waiting for my plane. The first stop was in Mangalore. The ride over it was lush and green and filled with rivers. Very inviting. The next stop was Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay). The flight over Mumbai was incomprehensible. There were miles and miles of slums. 55% of the population lives in slums and the average daily income is less than $3.00 but seeing the massive slums brings those facts into undeniable visual reality. Click on the link to see a video flying over Mumbai: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM4DbzzydSY
After disembarking in Mumbai, I had a long wait. My layover was about 12 hours. I had planned to find a place to store my luggage and check out Mumbai a bit. I rode the shuttle to the international terminal, meeting a fellow solo female traveller from Israel. We tried to check in for the next flight but all counters were closed. We asked about a place to store our bags and they said there weren't any. It wouldn't be much fun hiking around with all my stuff and it was expensive to get a taxi into Mumbai proper so we decided just to wait it out in the airport.
We found a place to sit and were soon joined by other travellers: another solo girl from Israel finishing 5 months by herself, an overly paranoid girl from Thailand now living in Brussels who decided she was too scared to do India alone and was leaving, and a young Indian man who lives in Chicago. The airport was rather boring. There was a lot of construction and only a pizza stand for food. We were trapped in the airport also. Security guards were stationed at all entrances and wouldn't let us go outside. (Due to recent attacks in Mumbai, I guess). It was a long wait but at least I had company.
Finally it was time for me to check in and I bid farewell to the others. Then I had the 14 hour flight to Newark, New Jersey. On the plane, there was an Indian guy on my left going to a university in Indiana and an Indian girl on my right attending a university in New York.
Landing in Newark, it was snowing. Awesome. I think I have only seen it snow once before. I was very excited to watch it from inside the warm airport since it was 27F outside. Before taking off we had to have the plane de-iced. They sprayed a bunch of fluorescent green goo all over the wings.
After about 36 hours since showering and leaving the last hotel, I finally landed back home in San Diego where my sister was waiting to pick me up for a delicious, welcome home, bean and cheese burrito.
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