Abbu drove and Ammi accompanied me to the airport. We were there well before time. Just when we reached there the check in started. I bid farewell to my parents and went inside. I was wondering if I would know what to do to get my boarding pass and where to go from there. Thank God I was not dumb in there. I went to the right counter to get the boarding pass. Then after a secrity scan of my purse and a body search by lady police I climbed the stairs up to the departure lounge.
I was there around 9:00 am. The time of flight was 9:45. I waited impatiently for the time to pass. There was nothing to do there. I just took a seat in front of the schedule monitor and kept staring at it. Till the clock struck 9:45, I had gone to the help desk twice to ask about the boarding time. Finally after 45 minutes of doing nothing, there was an announcement that the flight was delayed till 10:30 am. I felt disappointed. But I was hopeful at the same time that at least the flight was going and was not cancelled.
Around 10:30 am another announcement was made that the flight to Gilgit was ready so the passenger should start boarding. I was the first one to jump from my seat and run out the door, all the way down to the exit from where we were supposed to get on a bus that would take us to the plane.
When I reached that door, the guard inspected my boarding card and then instructed me to stay there as there was no bus outside. :-P So I waited for another couple of seconds before the bus came and I boarded.
The bus got filled with people almost instantly. When the doors closed, the bus moved ahead to take us to our plane. Even before a minute it stopped and people started getting out and getting on the plane. Just as the first 2 or 3 people reached the top of flight of stairs, up tot the plane, the airhostess in that plane shouted, “This is NOT the plane to Gilgit. That plane is a bit far ahead.” :-P
So we again boarded the bus. This time it took us to the right plane and we all boarded. I felt glad that I was on the plane. I started making plans of what I would do when I reached Gilgit and met my friends.
The plane took off around 10:45. When it finally accelerated and took off, it sort of tickled me inside. I was laughing (not too loud so as to make others suspicious of me). It felt like I was on a ride of some kind. It was fun. The journey was smooth. I was loving the view outside. I took some pictures as well. After a while we got snacks on the plane (Lays chips, a pack of salted peanuts & TUC salted biscuits). We also got drinks (non alcoholic offcourse! ;-) hehe). Till then all of it was like a dream.
As I was slowly munching my chips and sipping my Fanta there was an announcement. It was around 11:15 am. The pilot said that the weather in Gilgit was not too good so we might have to turn back if it continues. He said he will check again around 11:30 and let us all know of the situation.
I didn’t like this announcement. I got scared that the plan would turn back and ruin my plans. I impatiently waited till 11:30 am so that I could hear the updates. There were none. I was a bit sleepy so I started to doze off. Around 11:40 I felt a push of the centrifugal force. I thought maybe the plane was turning. But then I reassured myself that since the pilot did not announce anything so that could just be a figment of my imagination. But then 10 minutes after that, the pilot announced that weather in Gilgit was still bad so had turned back. 40 minutes after that I was back to square one, standing in front of the ticketing and reservation window, with my luggage, to reconfirm my seat for the next day.
No comments:
Post a Comment