Tuesday, 18 November 2014, Delhi and Varanasi
Pati and BeeBee were up early today to catch the flight from Delhi to Varanasi. They pared down their travel luggage, since they will be returning to the same hotel in Delhi on Thursday, and left the unneeded luggage at the hotel. On Thursday, they can merge their luggage back together for the flight home on Friday.
A representative from the travel company accompanied them to the airport, and left them at the entrance to Terminal 1. They checked in at the SpiceJet counter and exchanged their voucher for boarding passes. While waiting to put their carry-on luggage on the screening belt for the security check, the guard noticed that they were going to Varanasi and became quite chatty with Pati, advising him which temples to visit. Similarly, when BeeBee was going through the pat down that all women passengers get (in a separate small room screened by curtains), the female guard was quite matter-of-fact until she saw Varanasi on the boarding pass; then she, too, became friendly and advised BeeBee what temples to visit.
Once beyond security, they went to locate their gate (Gate 12). The gate and many others were downstairs, so they went down to wait. Once there, it was apparent that there was no place to sit, and besides, their boarding time was more than one hour away. In addition, at the entrance to the roped-off line to their gate was a sign: "You are in silent zone. There are no flight announcements." They walked back upstairs, past a man talking on a cellphone beside a sign stating that cellphones were prohibited in that area, to the general seating area and found seats. BeeBee listened to all announcements, listening carefully for their flight number and the word Varanasi. All of the announcements seemed to be coming from far away. Investigating, BeeBee learned that flight announcements were actually only broadcast in the silent zone.
When the time got closer to the boarding time listed on their boarding passes, Pati and BeeBee went downstairs again, resigned to waiting standing up until boarding was called. (The flight had already been delayed once.) Pati tried to get close to the electronic sign for their flight, which was inside the roped-off area and had small print difficult to read. One of the airline employees approached Pati, who asked when boarding would begin. An announcement would be made at 9 am, she said. They waited until 9 am, when BeeBee observed other passengers entering the boarding line. Without making an announcement, the employee had simply changed the electronic sign to say "boarding." Pati and BeeBee quickly got in line and were soon headed to the first of two shuttle buses. Reaching the plane, they were among the first to board. It was important to get on as quickly as possible, because they were seated in row 1, which (a) has no row ahead of it to stuff bags under and (b) has the most popular overhead storage bin on the plane, grabbed by the first person who needs just that extra bit of space for storing his/her excessive possessions. Luckily, the overhead bin was still empty, except for items belonging to the flight attendant, who preferred that bin to the storage provided in the flight attendant area. Pati quickly stowed their bags in the bin, and they settled in to watch the rest of the passengers board and search for overhead space.
Interesting fact about Indian domestic flights: Indian ladies fly holding their large purses on their laps. They are not required to stow them anywhere.
The flight left about 15 minutes after the already-delayed departure time. The flight was uneventful. When the flight arrived at the terminal, Pati and BeeBee were the first passengers off the plane. Since all their luggage was carry-on, they walked straight through the terminal and outside, where they were greeted by their local travel representative and taken to their homestay, Ashray Homestay.
Pati and BeeBee were up early today to catch the flight from Delhi to Varanasi. They pared down their travel luggage, since they will be returning to the same hotel in Delhi on Thursday, and left the unneeded luggage at the hotel. On Thursday, they can merge their luggage back together for the flight home on Friday.
A representative from the travel company accompanied them to the airport, and left them at the entrance to Terminal 1. They checked in at the SpiceJet counter and exchanged their voucher for boarding passes. While waiting to put their carry-on luggage on the screening belt for the security check, the guard noticed that they were going to Varanasi and became quite chatty with Pati, advising him which temples to visit. Similarly, when BeeBee was going through the pat down that all women passengers get (in a separate small room screened by curtains), the female guard was quite matter-of-fact until she saw Varanasi on the boarding pass; then she, too, became friendly and advised BeeBee what temples to visit.
Once beyond security, they went to locate their gate (Gate 12). The gate and many others were downstairs, so they went down to wait. Once there, it was apparent that there was no place to sit, and besides, their boarding time was more than one hour away. In addition, at the entrance to the roped-off line to their gate was a sign: "You are in silent zone. There are no flight announcements." They walked back upstairs, past a man talking on a cellphone beside a sign stating that cellphones were prohibited in that area, to the general seating area and found seats. BeeBee listened to all announcements, listening carefully for their flight number and the word Varanasi. All of the announcements seemed to be coming from far away. Investigating, BeeBee learned that flight announcements were actually only broadcast in the silent zone.
When the time got closer to the boarding time listed on their boarding passes, Pati and BeeBee went downstairs again, resigned to waiting standing up until boarding was called. (The flight had already been delayed once.) Pati tried to get close to the electronic sign for their flight, which was inside the roped-off area and had small print difficult to read. One of the airline employees approached Pati, who asked when boarding would begin. An announcement would be made at 9 am, she said. They waited until 9 am, when BeeBee observed other passengers entering the boarding line. Without making an announcement, the employee had simply changed the electronic sign to say "boarding." Pati and BeeBee quickly got in line and were soon headed to the first of two shuttle buses. Reaching the plane, they were among the first to board. It was important to get on as quickly as possible, because they were seated in row 1, which (a) has no row ahead of it to stuff bags under and (b) has the most popular overhead storage bin on the plane, grabbed by the first person who needs just that extra bit of space for storing his/her excessive possessions. Luckily, the overhead bin was still empty, except for items belonging to the flight attendant, who preferred that bin to the storage provided in the flight attendant area. Pati quickly stowed their bags in the bin, and they settled in to watch the rest of the passengers board and search for overhead space.
Interesting fact about Indian domestic flights: Indian ladies fly holding their large purses on their laps. They are not required to stow them anywhere.
The flight left about 15 minutes after the already-delayed departure time. The flight was uneventful. When the flight arrived at the terminal, Pati and BeeBee were the first passengers off the plane. Since all their luggage was carry-on, they walked straight through the terminal and outside, where they were greeted by their local travel representative and taken to their homestay, Ashray Homestay.
The silent zone is for immediate listening to announcements. There is no cellphone talking in this zone.
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