Travel to Mumbai

Nothing turned out how we envisioned. The hotel yoga session from 6-8am was a complete mystery. Luckily, James ran into the yogi at the gym and was able to get a private intro lesson. Breakfast was our usual full display of food and juices with many attendants.

Although seeing the Taj again would have been nice, the fog does not permit optimal viewing until the late afternoon. Thus why we went so late in the afternoon the day before. Our hotel had a Taj observation deck though, so we thought we should check it out before we left for the airport. Visibility was surprisingly decent! However our luck quickly changed.

When we arrived at the airport we checked our names off at a security checkpoint. Something that all airports should consider. We said our goodbyes to Rampel and waited for the check in desk to open. 30 minutes before our flight was supposed to board, they cancelled it due to poor visibility. There is one flight a day out of Agra and it had apparently been cancelled the last 4 days.
Rampel returned and we braced for another 4-6 hour drive back to Delhi. Unfortunately this also meant we would miss the wedding cocktail reception. I thought if we hustled we might be able to make an earlier flight, but the roads were not on our side. We caught a later flight and buckled in for an hour and a half…or at least we thought. An hour into the flight, the pilot tells us we are going into a hold pattern for and additional 45 minutes. There’s nothing more painful than watching the little airplane cartoon loop around 4 and a half times on the in-flight map and the time to destination slowly increase.

As you all can guess, I was pretty much a basket case. The only thing missing was the airline losing my luggage. Not only did we spend 12 hours traveling, but we also missed the first big wedding event.

We are all settled in at the J.W Marriott in Mumbai, probably one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed at. Hopefully things can only go up from here.