Another 5:00 am wake up, despite the fact that our luggage is not due until 7:00and we do not have to checkout until 10:00! Cuppa in bed then down for breakfast by 6:30, so that we can be finished before bag delivery.
WhatsApp from Adrian, asking when we were due back home ( perhaps he should read our log). The upshot is that we are looking after Amandine and Julian for the next few days! Walking Julian will be a great way to lose some of the pounds we have acquired during our holiday.
Our laundry and tidying up after the decorating will have to be done smartly!
Our suitcases arrived promptly at 7:00, but when we got them back to the room, we realized that our scissors, of course, were inside, so we had to borrow scissors from the concierge to cut off the security tags.
All now repacked so just one item of hand luggage each and its 2 hours before we have to go to the Aurigny desk to drop our bags. To while away the time, Pete tried to set up the TV to display our photos, it of course it’s not network connected, so screen mirroring would not work and we probably don’t have the right cables to connect the iPad to the TV inputs, even if they can be used.
So it was breakfast news … the first item we have looked at TV in three weeks, but we have not missed anything! But all of a sudden, Alison said “its 11:45, we should have checked in”, “no it’s not” says pete it’s only 10:45. We had been looking at the bedside clock in the hotel room which was still on summertime!
On our way to the Aurigny desk, we returned the scissors to the concierge and dropped off the room key. Bag drop was straightforward and in security they had a new machine, which meant that nothing needed to be taken out of hand luggage. However it was Pete this time who got the full scanning treatment.
Alison did her harrods shopping, then off to Pret for a coffee, before heading off to buy papers and then to gate 3, where alison had to be manually checked through the gate.
Back to Guernsey on time, picked up by Paul and to a very nicely redecorated kitchen and stairway. Our for dinner tonight as no food in the house!
Overall impressions of India: very much a mediaeval culture coupled with modern technology!
Seeing the magnificent architecture, scientific achievements and heritage, coupled with the opportunity to view the big cats and other rare species of fauna and flora was fascinating.
Everyone was genuinely pleased to see us and all the staff in our accommodation and at the tourist sites were keen to help us enjoy the experience.
But there is a vast disparity in wealth and standard of living between the various sectors of the population. Managing the transition to a modern economy is clearly going to be a challenge.
We are so pleased that we chose the golden triangle as the highlight of our golden year and as always were impressed with the organization of our tailor made holiday.