This is a sequel to my last post. My list of the ten best experiences I had during those trips round the world.

1. Friendly Immigration Staff

Immigration desk is one dreaded moment, where you feel that you are virtually at the dock, teetering between the ship and land. You feel like a person awaiting the judgement in the court. With such thoughts in mind, when I stood at Aus Staff, I loved the way he welcomed me – “Hmm, first time to Australia? You’ll love it here” – with a broad smile. Wow, I felt like I was a visiting dignitary. New Zealand too was great. The staff said they love the Indian Masala! Whoever says Aus are racial should stand at the US immigration; to them we are aliens until we get the stamp of approval! Not just I, even Bill Bryson thinks so.

2. Concerned Airline Staff at Hong Kong

It was my first flight & I did not know the difference between transit & immigration area. A friendly Sri Lankan passenger directed me to the United Airlines counter. She was a concerned mother hen. She showed me the transit boards and asked me to return back to the counter if I couldn’t find the area. I loved the pampering especially when you are travelling alone with no family or friends.

3. Upgraded to a First Class since the Economy was full.

This happened at the LA Airport. The flight was overbooked (don’t ask me how). I had a valid economy ticket to Delhi but there were no seats! The harried lady said that she’ll put me on the flight if there were any cancellations or else they would have to accommodate me on the next flight. Someone in the First Class cancelled and I was upgraded, much to my surprise, without any extra amount!

4. Heavy baggage checked, without any fine.

It was in Frankfurt, the most harried transit stop in the world. My cabin luggage weighed a lot. I would have to shift it to cargo if asked. But the sweet staff person just told me go ahead.

5. Lovely Weather at Los Angeles

Wearing a pink Salwar Kameez , sitting in a window seat of a small plane as the sun shone brightly, it could have been a flight from Mumbai to Bangalore; except that I was flying from LA to San Diego and felt completely at home. That’s the thing about California.

6. Fantastic view of the land below. Worth getting that the window seat.

If you fly from India to Europe in daytime, don’t sleep. Get a window seat – a ring view to the colourful landscape of Europe – the plains, the Alps, the huge lakes. It’s a free National Geographic documentary without the TV.

7. A friendly conversation that cuts the travel monotony.

An old Chinese saying says that a good conversation can cut the travel time(atleast that’s my bad attempt at translation). I have never met a handsome dude, on any flight, who charmed me with mentally stimulating talk, a la romantic novels. But the most memorable conversation was with an uncle whose daughter taught at UCSD, San Diego. His vivid description of UCSD almost made me want to enrol as a student once more.

8. Engrossing movies on long journeys.

I watched a Bond movie, Friends episodes and an interesting French movie on this flight. I was so engrossed that I missed a meal!

9. Widely spaced seats even in Economy so that you can stretch a bit.

This must have been on an US airliner. It was a Boeing. Wonderfully, the economy seats were spaced a wee bit away from the usual ‘packed sardines’ type of model. Believe me when I say even a few inches away is good.

10. Hot Idlis for breakfast on the last mile back home.

It was a long international flight that landed in Mumbai at Midnight. Early next day, I was on a Jet flight from Mumbai to Bangalore. The stewardess brought hot steaming idlis & lovely coconut chutney for breakfast. I was home.

Many of us from India would have travelled around the world, thanks to the IT industry(simply put Computer Programming). Being a geek, rather an ex-geek,  I have clocked many air miles in different airlines, all in economy of course.

There have been some great experiences and some not so great ones. My list of ‘Murphy’s laws’ on Air Travel – is what I call the troublesome, awful or ‘Oh my God’  moments; would love to exchange notes if you have had the same feeling or you would add to this list.

1. You are late for the flight and your suitcase handle gives way.

You’ll be lucky if you find a friend or a fellow passenger to help you with the suitcase until the cargo belt. Else it’s      quite an exercise.

2. Getting the last seat in the Airplane.

You might be the first to be served, but remember you’ll also be sitting next to the toilet door that’s being swung  open approximately every 15 minutes and continuously after meals. Ugghh. Worse, the person in front of you swings back his seat to sleep and you can’t do the same since yours is the last seat!

3. Your incoming flight to the transit airport has been an hour late. You have get a boarding pass for a connecting flight.

You are standing in a long queue behind six footers, vainly trying to get the over worked staff’s attention that you incoming flight was late and the connecting flight leaves in 15 minutes!

4. Touring a city on transit visa. You reach the airport an hour before the plane leaves.

This happened to me at Bangkok. Just as we entered and took our boarding passes, I noticed that the Airline had advanced their time by an hour, which meant I had to rush to the boarding gate!

5. Sitting in front of a family of boisterous kids.

The parents are fed up. The children restless and you are kick boxed whenever they are restless. Happens everytime I fly Air India.

6. Sitting on the aisle side, next to a passenger who loves his drink.

This means he/she visits the toilet often. This means you have to get up and give room every time they have to go.

7. Talking to the Airport Staff in a non-English speaking country in English

Yes, English might be the most widely spoken language, but trying to understand whether whatever the Thai staff tells you is a question or a statement requires some practice. Same with the German Staff. Even their gentlest statement feels as if they are scolding ‘you brown Asian who took away my son’s job’. In Paris, don’t ever speak in English. At Heathrow, if you have to talk to a staff person who’s from up North or a Scot, you’ll wonder if what you learnt back home was indeed the same language!

8. Sitting next to a moony couple in the middle row with a hefty uncle who takes two seats on the other side.

You can’t budge. You can’t squirm. You have to listen to all that talk & other stuff. Worse, when you want to make that visit to the toilet, the uncle would be snoring on the other end and you don’t want to disturb the busy couple.

9. Your preference of Vegetarian is goofed up. Vegetarian spans across Fish, Egg, garlic based food, vegan, Indian etc.

The stewardess is usually helpful. She gives you some fruit, juice or a veg dish that she has somehow bargained with another passenger who doesn’t mind an occasional fish.

10. It’s a busy flight, you get the boarding pass in the last minute and after a really long flight, you find your cargo missing.

This happened on my first return flight back home. Get the form; explain to the staff and think of all the stuff that was in the suitcases can be quite draining, especially if you have to take one more domestic flight to head home. Also, it’ll be an agonising wait until it’s found and redirected.

Not all experiences have been bad. My next post will be the ten best things that happened to me during air travel.

My house in Cardiff, was by the river Taff, near the Bay area.

Brilliant Sun but no warmth

Very different in name and unlike our Ganga or Kaveri,  I never found out whether Taff was masculine or feminine. From my hall window, I have seen many a sunrise above the serene river. The chugging motors, the calm pace of the river always beckoned me to take a walk on its bank – which I did one weekend, when work was less hectic.

A view of Sophia's gardens

The river Taff is a confluence of 3 rivers – Taf Fechan, Taf Fawr and Taf Burgoed – that meanders through many cities starting from Corn du to Pontypridd. It enters Cardiff at Llandaff. In Cardiff city, it flows beside the Cardiff Castle, the Bute Park and Sophia Gardens

This is where Sourav Ganguly played county cricket

The Park is home to Glamorgan Cricket Grounds – a small stadium – where Sourav Ganguly played county cricket with the Welsh team

They play rugby here

Beyond the park,Taff flows beside the Millenium Stadium. Cardiff has more rugby fans than cricket. Unlike the English who love Football, the Welsh love rugby.

Houses by the bay

From the stadium, it flows beside these lovely houses and enters the Cardiff Bay area. The first photo is a shot taken near the busy A4232 motorway that crosses the river joining the Bay.

Dont be deceived by the bright sunny shots; Cardiff is still cold during early spring. We walked the trail from the Bay to Bute Park in bitter cold. But the Sophia Gardens made my day – the vibrant colours and the many hues painted a colourful welcome to the spring.

Hamilton
Hamilton is 2 hours drive from Auckland by car and I decided to visit its Botanical gardens, famous for its occidental and oriental gardens. Carrying a bottle of water was a good idea since the gardens can be vast and tiring. I immersed myself in the very English garden with a pool in the middle and hordes of tulips, bluebells dancing in the heat not knowing that they are a hemisphere away from home. The Chinese Pagoda architecture and the Japanese Tea Garden were breathtaking. I suddenly yearned for tea but that had to wait till I saw the Taj styled Indian Garden greeting me with roses in all hues. The Waikato river flowing serenely behind the marble structure reminded me of the Yamuna. By the time I finished walking through the rest I was famished and tired. So the Waikato river cruise with soothing music and warm food was ideal to end the day.

Rotorua
Rotorua is a tourist’s paradise. The city has geysers popping everywhere and is home to a volcanic history. Health Spas abound the city and the city was once famous for hydrotherapy.
As the Rotorua trip was with family, I managed to get a beautiful home stay overlooking a lake and with free access to the heated spa at the office next door. Te Puia is a traditional Maori village set amidst a huge geyser. As the Maori troupe in flax dresses performed the war dances clicking tongues out, it occurred to me that our Goddess Kali may have some Maori origins. The Maoris do not have a script and the beautiful kauri wood carvings represent the lineage and history of the village.

Walking down the path towards the geyser, we were greeted by an awesome sight. The huge geyser, around 4-5 meters high sprays water on the rocks and astonishingly, the spray is cool and not hot. This happens due to atmospheric air pressure that cools the water as it goes up. But you’ll find it hot if you sit on the rocks in front of the geyser. So once in my lifetime, I was both cool and hot!

Wellington
Wellington is located on the southern tip of North Island. Maybe its strategic location helped it become the capital of New Zealand, since Auckland outscores it in every other factor from economy to population. The Wellington Parliament is mix of new and Victorian architecture. The executive wing is built circularly and hence its name, the Beehive. Walking through the streets of Wellington in the hot autumn sun, the weather resembled that of our south Asian cities. We were obviously on the wrong day in Windy Wellington. Near the harbour, stood ferries to Picton in the clear blue Pacific waters. I was however going to fly south and watched them wistfully.

Christchurch & Mt Cook
There are two ways to reach south island. A ferry from Wellington to Picton and onward by bus is very picturesque and time consuming. The cheaper and faster way is to fly. It cost me 80 NZD from Auckland to Christchurch and I reached there in an hour. Getting down at Christchurch Cathedral Square, one can see why it is known as an ‘English’ city. Built in perfectly Gothic style, the Anglican cathedral stands at the center. The main square is cobbled and a tram runs through the major attractions of the city. The usher at the Millennium Hotel lobby was quite charming and spoke Her Majesty’s English. Hayes Park resembles Hyde Park of London. Even the rowdy weekend crowd could have been anywhere in London.

I had booked a day tour to Mount Cook. The peak and it surrounding ranges are unsurprisingly called Southern Alps! No points in originality for the homesick English in naming cities or regions. I liked Mt Cook’s Maori version – Aoraki (means son of Raki, the Sun God). The Alps is a creation of a collision of the Australian and New Zealand tectonic plates and is rising at a rate of 9mm per annum, which is a fantastic number according to the geologists.
The journey through the Canterbury plains revealed why New Zealand is a major producer of wool. Since most of the soil is volcanic and is not very fertile, sheep rearing is a major industry here. On the way to the peak, its picture perfect at Lake Pukaki, a vast blue expanse of water, with the snow-laden Mt Cook standing in the background serenely. At the church overlooking this view, the tour guide informed that many Japanese couples come to take their vows.
Mt Cook is where Edmund Hilary practiced mountaineering. The Alpine centre facing the peak has many Hilary videos & exhibits however the entry fee is 20 NZD! The view of Mt Cook from the Alpine center is breath taking; the snow laden peak reminded me of Austria. But the other peaks had little or no snow. The right time to visit the ranges is around June as the winter sets in. The snow-laden peaks and the glaciers bestow an ethereal beauty to the entire region.

New Zealand (or as the Maoris call it, Aotearoa, land of the long white cloud) is made up of two large islands (North Island and South Island) and many smaller ones; biggest of them is the Stewart Island that forms the southern tip.
The country has a population of 4 million and 40 million sheep. No prize for guessing its leading industry. With its varied geography marked with volcanoes in the North and mountains and glaciers in the South, tourism also plays a big role in the country’s economy.

Going to New Zealand

There are no direct flights from any Indian city to New Zealand. The airfare is inversely proportional to the transit time – the longer the wait, the lesser the fare. Thai Airlines offers the cheapest fare with transit time between 4 hours or an overnight flight. Added to this is Auckland airport tax of around 420 NZD (Rs 13500/- approximately). Flying to Auckland from Bangalore midweek and return, cost me 1800 NZD (Rs 60,000/- approx), including taxes, visa & insurance. The Bangkok’s swanky airport beautifully named – Suvarnabhoomi (Golden Land) is very beautiful and huge. One can pass much time by many a shop window, browse internet, call up home and when hungry, can walk into any food courts that serve wide-ranging cuisine, from burgers to traditional Thai.

Auckland

It is the biggest city in New Zealand with a population of 1.4 million and is the commercial and financial hub of the country. It has the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere – the Sky Tower (328 meters). All this was not enough to make it the capital city of New Zealand (that honour goes to Wellington).
I was dreading the cold since I was told it was autumn in NZ, and the world map told me how close it was to Antarctica. However as I stepped out of Manukau Airport, I was in for a pleasant surprise. The sun shone brightly in the sky and more importantly, it was as hot as the Indian Sun. Apparently, New Zealand’s North Island can never get very cold and its summer temperatures averages at 30 C
Walking through the city centre, I noticed that the streets have a lot of ups and downs and resembles the streets of San Francisco – this is due to fact that Auckland is built around 48 volcanic hills. The city centre is a melting pot of different cultures. I saw native Polynesian settlers (Maoris), Chinese, Koreans, Fiji Indians and of course the Europeans. Queen Street, the main street in the Central Business District (CBD), where I went to get my SIM card recharged, was full of Chinese shops selling everything from telephone calling cards to groceries.
Due to its large Fiji population, Auckland (and as I later found out, every other city in NZ) has plenty of ‘Indian’ restaurants largely run by Fiji Indian immigrants. So, my fellow countrymen and all you curry-loving Brits, you will never go hungry in Auckland. The Sky tower, (which you can’t miss from any view of Auckland’s city skyline) you can experience the country’s most famous adventure sport – Bungee Jump. People pay 150 $ for the privilege of being pushed off a ledge 192 meters high into oblivion with just a rope tied to your waist. In Taupo, a city south of Auckland, an extreme form is played with a rope tied only to your feet! These kiwis are crazy! Scared off more by the steep fee than the jump, I settled for the breathtaking views of the city from the tower’s observation deck. In the night, the dark expanses of water at the harbour amidst the twinkling city lights look spectacular. Walking on the glass floor of the deck, it’s a little unnerving to see the city traffic under your feet – from 328 meters above the ground.
Auckland city centre is right next to the harbour. In fact, if you live in the CBD you can see the yachts moored in the harbour. In sunny weather, the yachts bobbing in the shimmering water, one can see why it is called ‘City of Sails’. Auckland has many great view points. However, my favourite has to be the view of the city skyline at twilight from the Savage Memorial Gardens.