Letter 1 Letter 2 Letter 3 Letter 4 Letter 5 Letter 6
Check in at Auckland was a mission, The line started right outside the check
in area. They Xrayed every bit of baggage. In Immigration the line was
equally long as three planes were going out. I needed the full two hours
just to get through. Mind you the aircraft was very full. When it took off
it used almost all the runway. I guess it was fully laden with fuel and
passengers as the flight was non stop (over 10 hours) to Singapore
I had asked for a window seat and was pleased that I had. Had real stunning
views of Australia. We crossed right across the top of Sydney. Good views of
the harbour and Bridge etc. It was clear right across New South Wales. Just
got progressively redder and more desert like when we went further west.
Interesting to see all the flooded areas to the North of Lake Eyre when we
crossed into the Northern Territory. We flew right across Alice Springs and
then across Western Australia. Bit of cloud here as we approached the coast.
The Plane diverted to avoid big thunderheads. It took longer to fly over
Australia than it did to cross the Tasman. It gives you an impression how
big and empty it all is.
We also flew right across Bali. Again magnificent views. It finally got dark
as we approached Singapore.
Flight was OK but a bit long and cramped as the plane was totally full with
no spare seats. We had a couple of meals on the flight. Service was good but
not outstanding. I think AirNZ does it better
Managed to find my way through the Singapore Airport. It is pretty enormous.
Surprisingly very few passengers stopped off here. Most were in transit
elsewhere. No Customs inspections which surprised me a bit.
I got a shuttle into the Hotel, $7Singapore. The taxi would have been $35.
Having to adjust to the time difference. When we got in it was after 8pm
local time which is 6 hours different from New Zealand. I woke up here local
time at 5:30, so thought I would try to find where I could send an EMail.
I'll have breakfast soon then go into town. We are close to Orchard road
which is one on the main commercial & shopping precincts . Hotel is OK.
Reasonable quality.
I need to find a money belt. The Bank at the airport said that India Rupees
cannot be cashed in New Zealand so US$ is a better bet to trade in as much
as possible.
Day 2 19th of March
Singapore to Kolkata (Calcutta).
Woke up at 5am, (obviously not yet adjusting to the difference in the time
zones. Got up & showered and tried to find somewhere to send Emails from.
Singapore has a wireless network, but I did not have the required hardware
installation to tap into. The hotel had an internet booth, but at $8 for a
single session it is a little pricey.
The hotel was OK but nothing special
The balance of the morning was spent looking around some of the shops on
Orchard Road. Most of these were reasonably pricey with all of the big
international chains well represented.
The striking thing was how clean the place is. There is no litter and no
graffiti of any kind. I understand that the penalty for graffiti is a
caning. Perhaps that might be the answer in Auckland.
I had lunch with Lim Peng Hong the Project Director for the Mizoram project
from the CPG in Singapore . There does not seem to be any space that was
not occupied by apartment buildings or offices in Singapore. The airport is
really well geared up for transit passengers with plenty of shops, eateries
and even entertainment.
I caught the flight to Kolkata. Shorter journey this time of only four
hours. Mainly Indian passengers and we had meals to match.
Security was tight and my Geological Hammer showed up on the X Ray and had
to be explained. (Another passenger from New Zealand had a Hand Saw, which
caused real consternation.)
On arrival at Kolkata (Calcutta) I was very quickly aware I was in a third
world country. The Arrival hall was dirty, the whole appearance quite shabby
and the attitude from the officials quite surly.
The appearance of guards armed with automatic weapons did nothing for the
overall ambiance of the place. Plenty of security checks, and I had to show
my passport and entry permit to upwards of four different people.
When I cleared customs I had been advised to get a prepaid taxi to the hotel
(I found later they had a shuttle which would have saved a lot of drama). I
left the entry hall only to be descended on by a mob of Taxi drivers. I was
steered away from the rank towards a group of clapped out taxis (the old
Morris Oxfords). I grabbed my bags back and headed back to the rank and took
a taxi from there. The driver said he took the pre-paid vouchers, I
explained that I wanted to go to the airport hotel and away we went on our
rattling way. I became alarmed when we seemed to heading towards Kolkata and
pulled up outside of this real dive of a hotel. The driver insisted this was
a perfectly good hotel and that the airport hotel was very expensive. I
insisted that he took me back to the Airport Hotel and finally after much
argument, away we went (up the wrong way on a divided carriageway road with
him sounding his horn at pedestrians, cars and rickshaws coming towards us).
At the hotel he demanded to be paid, I told him to piss off and I checked
in.
The Hotel was again a little shabby with accompanying cockroaches, I did manage to
get a cup of coffee (it was after midnight by this time).
Day 3 20th of March
Kolkata to Aizawl
The next morning dawned or at least tried through the pollution.
I needed to get to the airport by 7am so it was an early start. They did put
some breakfast on for me for which I was later grateful).
The short drive to the airport took us past the worst poverty I have ever
seen. The places are real hovels and overall it is filthy.
On arrival at the airport the security checks started again. I needed to
have my baggage X-rayed just to go into the departure hall. This time my
alarm clock in my bag caused the consternation. It had to be minutely
examined and the battery removed.
At the check in desk the drama stared all over again. This time my name was
not on the flight list (even though I had a confirmed booking from New Zealand).
I had to visit the airport manager to explain and got a priority place on
the wait-list. I could not get confirmation that I would be able to go until
15 minutes before the flight left.
This finally came through (I found later that they always kept 5 VIP seats
free on the flights in case notables turned up). Another bit of drama with
excess baggage to be paid, requiring the visit to three different counters.
The final security check was the most thorough I had to go through. They
went through every bit of had luggage and there was a full pat down body
search. I even had to show what photos I had stored on the camera. Mizoram
is a restricted area and all visitors, not just foreigners have to register
and foreigners have to have a special entry permit.
The flight to Mizoram was in an ATR aircraft similar to those operated in
New Zealand. I was sitting in the back alongside the Flight Engineer (he
does not sit up front but travels on every flight to check the aircraft over
at each stop).
On coming in to land I wondered where they were going to put down, as all I
could see were steep ridges. We landed on a flat area carved out of the top
of one of these ridges.
As we taxied in it was quite disconcerting to see soldiers stationed around
the runway with automatic weapons at the ready facing the bush.
At the airport there was further security checks examination of documents
etc. I have to register within 24 hours of arriving with the police CIB
unit.
The Airport is quite a distance from Aizawl (pronounced Eyes-wil). The taxi
drive was adventure all on it’s own. The country is incredibly mountainous
and the narrow road snakes and winds along the sides of valleys across
bridges at the bottom and repeats process on the other side. It took a good
hour to get into town. Every so often we would meet a large truck on a
corner. The drivers pass another vehicles where they see a gap beside it.
They don’t worry about oncoming traffic.
Aizawl is built along a number of mountain top ridges. The view above is
taken from my room at the Tourist Lodge. I settled into the lodge, met up
with Owen Thompson who is here from GHD and then later in the day caught up
with another expat staying at the lodge Kevin Hadingham from Vicroads in
Australia who is here on an Institutional Strengthening project. He has an
office set up here in the lodge. We later went out for a meal together.
Day 4 Sunday 21st of March Aizawl
Spent a quiet day at the lodge, catching up on sleep and getting my gear
organised for the week ahead.Had a walk down town, but everything was closed
up, this being Sunday.The Lodge is on the edge of town which means on one
hand it is a taxi ride to get anywhere, on the other you are out of most of
the pollution
Day 5 Monday 22nd of March Aizawl
I was picked up at 9:30 and taken to the CPG office in Aizawl. The local
manager Boon Tit lives on the top floor. The project is a joint venture
between CPG Consultants and a local Indian consultant, Holtec, with support
from GHD. The road reconstruction contract is not going well with two years
of a three year contract gone with very little physical work completed. I
was briefed by Boon Tit. There is no urgency in the office and it is all a
little depressing. There is not much supervision to be done
Day 6 Tuesday 23rd of March
Finally managed to get into the field.Got away at 7:30 and Owen & I met up
with Boon Tit at the start of the job to the south of Aizwal. This is at
market area and bus station. Some fairly serious rock bluffs overhang the
area. A bus driver was killed a couple of years back when a large block fell
from the face above and crushed the bus he was sleeping in. We travelled
down through about two thirds of the route length and finally got back at
6pm. A good day in the field.
Day 7 Wednesday 24th of March
Started the day in the office and then tried to find The Geology and Mining
department of Mizoram. About the only clue we had was an insert on our (hand
drawn) Aizawl Map. We finally located them on the west side of the city. The
view above is Aizwal from the west. The houses are all perched on steep
slopes and are all multi-story. The construction looks particularly
vulnerable given that Mizoram is in a high seismic zone. When we got to the
department, we found the chief geologist had been summoned into town, but
talked to a couple of his staff.A trip into town and a wait of two hours at
the department of revenue saw us get some topographical plans of our road
route
Day 8 Thursday 25th of March
Spent the first part of the day in the field mapping the rock-fall hazard
area. The photo shows the start of the job on the south side of Aizawl.
Construction here is going to be a challenge as it is very congested and is
the only route south out of the town. We managed to get 2 km mapped of the
most critical areas. In the afternoon we finally caught up with the
supervising geologist, who provided some limited information on the geology
of Mizoram and promised to gather more information for us, on our return
visit on the 2nd
Day 9 Friday 26th of March Aizawl
A full day was spent in the field continuing our mapping south. We took a
side trip into the Hlimen Quarry. I found this quite sobering. The Quarry
was a site of a major rockslide in 1972? in which 70 people were killed
when a village below the road was wiped out. The quarry is still being
worked with fairly crude methods. We got as far as 6km along the road. The
road is very dusty and the viallagers are burning off the bamboo in
preparation for the planting when the Monsoon arrives. There has been no
rain since I arrived here.
Day 10 Saturday 27th of March Aizawl
Woke again at 5am to the sounds of dogs, roosters and a character exhorting
his fellow Mizorans with a loud haler. Not sure what he was saying but
somebody said that they go around the streets giving moral advice to the
Mizo youth. Went for my morning walk. The meat market was in full swing. One
of the reasons I have decided to be vegetarian or stick to chicken up here
They also have fish market. The fish are from fresh water, but I have not
tried any as yet. I am told they are fairly bony.Later walked down to the
office to try to send some Emails out, but the power was off and no
computers running. Power cuts are very frequent here in Aizawl. It also
take about two or three attempts to get a phone line out.
On my walk back these lads asked for their photographs to be taken. I phoned
up home spoke to James then rung Janet at work.I spent the balance of the
day processing data collected in the field and making a start on my report
Day 11 Sunday 28th of March
I spent a quiet day catching up with my notes and data. At 10 am went along
to the English Congregation of the Presbyterian Church with Kevin Hadingham.
The whole of Aizawl comes to a stop on Sunday and most go to Church. The
English Congregation has a mixture of people from the rest of India and
Mizo people. The preacher was a Korean, who is here on a youth ministry
These are photos of my room at the Tourist Lodge. Pretty basic as you can
see, but survivable. The alternative is a room in a Hotel in the centre of
town, but they are as basic and a lot noisier
Day 12 Monday 29th of March
Another day in the field. We mapped from 6 to 10 km, then came back into the
office to process some of the data.In the morning we stopped off at a site
which had been the site of yet another fatal rock-fall. A villager had been
excavating the toe of this slope for rock when the rest of the slope fell on
him. Quarrying is still largely done by hand and aggregate production is by
breaking stones down by hand as well.
Tuesday 30th of March
Day spent in the office or more correctly in the Bank of India getting my
money changed.
I went in with local manager Boon Tit who always take a local with him to
ease the way through the bureacracy. The procedure involved some two hours
and required lengthy periods when you sat being totally ignored. the service
is very curt and everthing has to be manually entered in big bound registers
and ledgers. The Bank has a "pill box" in the foyer complete with
soldiers
armed with machine guns.
Had lunch after with Boon Tit. He is Malaysian and the manager of CPG ltd. I
think he is just about ready to throw the towell in in dealing with the
local contractors. Our local Consultant is Holtec an Indian firm. They have
difficulty holding their staff here as it is regarded as the pits by the
Indians from outside Mizoram. The Mizos donot really regard themselves as
part of India. It has all sthe shades of an other Bougainville. Ther was an
isurrection here until the 80's. Locals can remember Aizawl being straffed
and bombed by Indian Airforce Jets.
Wednesday 31st of March
Janet's birthday. I managed to get a phone call through to wish her happy
birthday. I had a full day in the field with a 7am start and back to the
lodge just before 6pm. We walked some 6km of the route mapping rockfall
areas including one where a house got skittled last Monsoon. We walked
through a number of towns (Melriat, Kelsih, Falkawn) where we provided the
entertainment for the locals.
In Falkawn, there is a large uncompled National Hospital of 300 beds. In
true fashion they built the administration and the staff residents, but then
run out of money for the hospital block. I guess thye will get it finished
some day. There were some workmen placing bricks. the methods of working
here need to be seen to believed.
In the evening there was thunder in the distance.
Thursday 1st of April.
Well they say the weather changes here in April and they were not joking. I
awoke to thunder and we were overtaken by a violent thunderstorm at 5:30.
The pwer went off as I was havng my shower, which I completed by feel as it
became pitch black. As we live on the top of a mountain the clouds come up
to meet you.
We had planned to go south as far as we could and still set out as the rain
was easing around 8am. There were a number of small rockfalls on the way
south, which allowed us to "calibrate" our assessment.
Owen Thompson the other GHD person here had not been over the P1a route
south (and this is his third visit here) so it was new teritory for him.
From about 30 km south the road ascends around a steep bluff. I was nice to
see a bit of bush as everywhere else we had been was Bamboo or burnt over
ground.
We then went though an upland valley only to be stopped by a fallen tree.
The geolocical hammer was pressed into service as an axe and we manged to
clear enough to drive past. We then were confronted with an enormous
excapemant which would be the equal of any thing I have seen a road built on
in New Zealand. The road was cut into a notch in the rock and was just a
four wheel drive goat track really. From here we emerged on an upland
plateau with grass and even some skinny horses. Views were fairly extensive
and the air very clear from the rain. we even were able to see our
destination Sialsuk, but it took us another two hours to get there. Down the
side of another escarpment and up the other side.
The Indian consultant Holtec has an office and mess in the town. We were
offered a full Indian Lunch . The Indians there get bored silly as there is
no TV coverage (ie no way of keeping up with the cricket) and very little
to do.
We returned in the dark, getting back at 8pm.
One thing that has struck me is the lack of wildlife. I have seen some
english sparrows. a couple of large crows and a couple of Lizards, (plus a
jumping mouse and a toad in the headlights). Older locals can remember
Tigers on the road about 20-30 years back, but they are restricted now to a
small reserve on the Bangladesh border.
Friday 2nd March
Went to see my professor of Geology for our arranged appointment only to
find he was off at a Presbyterian meeting. I spent some time in the office
then went back to the start of the Job on the outskirts of Aizawl to do some
intense mapping. This was the area where a large rock (about the size of a
bus) fell on a bus!. The driver who was sleeping was killed.
Needless to say they continue to park buses in the area and there is an
active stone breaking industry as well, with the locals collecting rocks
that seem to spall off the face more or less continuously and to break them
down to gravel size with hammers.
Saturday 3rd of March
Awoke to the sound of thunder, so jumped into the shower immediately and
completed it before the storm overtook us again and the power went off. I
spent a morning here in the office before experiencing problems with my
computer and trying to find somebody down town who could look at it.
The other expat at the lodge Kevin from VicRoads, left today to meet his
wife at Calcutta. They are going on to tour India for a week then coming
back here for a week, before she returns back to Australia. Kevin is here
for three months. It is a big ask
Sunday 4th of March
I am here in the office composing this EMail. My professor of Geology caught
up with me this morning at 7 in the Tourist Lodge. He passed over a copy of
a geological map of the southern part of our route which will be of some
use. We had a chat for an hour over a cup of tea. (you can always get a cup
of tea here, even in the smallest villages)
A couple of weeks to go. I am not sure when I will get near a computer
again. Take care. I look forward to your news.
PS I counted up 29 TV channels here but very little news of NZ. The BBC and
CNN have the weather of course.
It is Good Friday and a Good time to be here in the office sending EMails as
there is hardly anyone else here.
I have spent the last week in the field by and large, mapping the route down
past the 50km mark.
This section of road contains some quite mountainous sections and the road
at one point snakes up a cliff face some hundreds of metres high. The
Contractor is to start on this section after I leave and given there
blasting and general construction techniques, they are likely to bring down
the mountain side.
I am surviving well enough health wise, but the food is getting a bit boring.
At least at this altitude it is somewhat cooler than down on the plains
where it is currently hitting 40 degrees. Since the rains started (showers
rather than Monsoon) it has in fact got a little cooler, I have even had a
jersey on for part of a couple of days.
The main thing you have to survive up here in not being killed by your
driver. I have not yet worked out whether there are any road rules. It is a
case of sound your horn, dash to the intersection to be first through, drive
up the wrong side of the road to avoid the traffic and duck back in again
when a truck or bus appears. For all the madcap driving there are few
prangs.
Next week I will spend in the south which will involve at least one overnight
down there. Then next Friday its on the plane leaving Mizoram for Calcutta.
Monday 12th of April - Easter Monday
Easter Monday is not a holiday in Mizoram which is a bit of a surprise really given how religious the place is. We had planned to go south and true to form there was an intense thunderstorm in the night and early morning accompanied by the usual power outages. You know a storm is on its way when the wind gets up and there is a terrific roar and bits of branches leaves and dust blow up the valley. It is all very spectacular. This bout of storms has lasted longer than the others having started on the Sunday afternoon.
We finally got away at 8am which was later than planned, but were brought to a halt at a major rock fall 2km south. This was an area we had mapped as being at risk. We did not expect that it would fall down quite as quickly. There is another diversion south so be backtracked and drove around the other side of the hill, only to be stopped by a truck, which had slid off the side of the road on a narrow section. Backtrack again, this time across the top of the hill, which had an even narrower road. Third time lucky after meeting traffic a few times and having to back back or nudge to the side of the precipice to allow the other vehicle to pass.
Trip south to Sialsuk was uneventful. There were a couple of new rockfalls, but the weather appeared to clear as we travelled south. We stopped as was becoming our practice at Aibawk for cup of tea. We are getting known and the snacks come out now as well. Although Sialsuk is just 60 km south it takes a full 4 hours to get there given the state of the roads. We arrived at 1:30 and could not avoid being offered lunch at the Holtec mess yet again. We found there was no point in protesting. We were dished up Rice, Dahl, eggs, and the works. I am learning to eat Indian style. You eat with your right hand (The left is reserved for wiping your bum) and you mix the ingredients into the rice and shovel it in with your hand.
We decided to still head further south in the direction of Thenzawl. We visited a couple of the quarries and mapped some of the rockfaces. It was surprising to see how the country opened up as we dropped down off the mountains and into a broad valley. We travelled as far south as Thenzawl again surprised to find that the road sealed surface was still intact and the ride almost acceptable. Had the obligatory cup of tea in Thenzawl and then head back north again.
As we approached the hills again the black clouds were closing in and the thunder was continuous. We were soon overtaken by a violent thunder storm with Hail the size of marbles and the occasional hail stone the size of a ping pong ball.(We later learned the hail stones had collapsed houses in Sialsuk) By this time we were in the hills and rocks were falling down around us. We were stopped by a rockfall turned around and made it just past a debris flow coming down a side valley. We had an anxious trip back to Thenzawl, discovered the tourist lodge there and found the people running it in the dark.
The Tourist Lodge was a bit more rustic than the one in Aizawl. Needless to say the power was off. There were no showers and squat toilets had to be mastered. A meal was provided but I passed on the curried fish which seemed to be like eating the contents of a tropical fish tank.
Tuesday 13th of April
The day dawned clear and after an Indian breakfast (Omelettes, Chapati, Rice etc.) we headed back up the road, only to find our way blocked by rock falls. We decided to turn around and see how far south we could get. South of Thenzawl the country is of quite low relief, with Fish Farms Rice Paddies and even some brick works. The road become rougher again, then we suddenly lurched to the side and on stopping found we had broken a tie rod end. Needless to say we ended up blocking the road for vehicles travelling both ways and we soon had a number of assistants. Our driver headed back to Thenzawl to get the tie rod welded up (no power so that was a fruitless endeavour), while Owen & myself decided to walk back the 4km or so.
We had only walked a couple of km when another Project Vehicle from Sialsuk turned up. It transpired that when we had not returned the night before they had sent out search parties. Then the next morning they set out south to try to find us. After visiting the quarries and the Crusher, Contractors Lab meeting with Contractors manager (having the obligatory cup of tea at each place) we got back to Sialsuk just on 4pm. We were keen to return back to Aizawl if possible.
Another of the drivers had brought a staff member south to Sialsuk and was returning that night and we were offered a ride back. A search of about an hour found the driver and it became evident that he had been into some "jungle Juice" and smelled like a distillery. We were reassured that in the time he could not have consumed much (and in any case they were used to drinking and driving) and he needed to get back to his family. After much discussion and some considerable reluctance we agreed that we would return with this driver.
The Journey back turned out to be the journey from hell, with the driver driving like an idiot, speeding around corners and braking hard at every rough patch or sharp corner. At one point he stopped the car, took a bottle from under the seat and had a few swigs around the back where he thought we could not see him. At Aibawk half way back we asked him to stop the car at the Holtec mess/office there and got out and refused to travel any further back with him.
The local Holtec supervisor said he might be able to organise a MaxiCab (a 4WDVehicle) for us. After about an hour it turned up. The fare was to be 1000 rupees (against the normal fare of 500), which we agreed to. If we thought we were finally on our way home we were mistaken. The vehicle drove down a side street in the village. There was a great conflab. and a change of drivers. Then we drove into another (very dark) part of the village, this time to fuel up. Then suddenly a whole lot of people started to crowd into the vehicle with us. At this stage (an hour and a half since the vehicle had first turned up) we had had enough and both jumped out and walked back to the Holtec camp (We figured we were being taken for a ride quite literally in that we were the poor mugs paying for the cab (we had not passed any money over yet) and providing transport for a whole lot of free riders). We stayed the night at the Holtec Mess.
Wednesday 14th of April
After an interesting night in room with glass missing from the windows and sleeping on a solid lump of plywood, we had another Indian breakfast and were finally on our way back to Aizawl (with the Holtec vehicle this time). I reported back to Boon Tit who asked me to provide a formal complaint about the driver and then went back to the Tourist Lodge for a shower and a change of clothes.
The rest of the day was spent catching up on notes etc. It also transpired that the local Indian staff had been trying to get rid of the driver for some time and were delighted we were putting in a formal complaint about him. It turns out the vehicles are all hired and the driver goes with the vehicle. The guy was recognised as a maniac and others feared travelling with him.
Thursday 15th of April
Picked up the Chief Geologist of Mizoram at 10 am and travelled down the first 4km of the job with him looking at some of the problem sites. He had some involvement in reporting on a couple of the fatalities and knew something about the Hlimen quarry disaster as well. Had an enjoyable lunch with him (which he insisted on paying for) and then went back to his office for discussions and to pick up some papers he had on geology and one of the incidents.
Spent the evening packing my gear up.
Friday 16th of April
Settled my account with the Tourist Lodge and touched base with Kevin Hadingham and his wife Marion. Marion had spent a couple of weeks in India with Kevin, the last one with him in Aizawl. Kevin had intended to travel out to Calcutta with her but on finding I was on the same flights as far as Singapore asked if I could keep an eye on her and accompany her as far as Singapore.
I went into the office to debrief Boon Tit who unfortunately was having to rush off for a site meeting at 10am.
We travelled out to the Airport at 11:30. Although not far it takes nearly an hour to travel the distance. Some procedure as Calcutta. To get into the Terminal past the armed guards you have to show your tickets. Then your Baggage is Xrayed and searched. Then you can check in. At this stage Kevin left us.
There were a couple of flights going out. One to Silchar in Assam and our one
to Calcutta. After much confusion and announcements we determined that they had
decided to combine the flight and the Flight would first go to Silchar then
Calcutta. Through the final screening in the aptly named "frisking
area" where we were frisked and our hand luggage was searched and we were
allowed through to the departure lounge. A final showing of our details to the
security forces and signing off that we had left Mizoram and I thought that was
it. There was an announcement that I half caught about identifying luggage and
asking somebody else revealed that we had to go out the back and identify our
luggage before they would load it on the plane.
After a long wait the plane (a Boeing 737) arrived and we found seats (no prior seat allocation). We took off to the North into towering thunderheads and part way through the flight they announced they could not land at Silchar because of heavy rain and were diverting to Gauhati in Assam. We were about half an hour there on the ground then we took off in the gathering darkness for Calcutta., where we duly arrived 3 hours after leaving Mizoram. Not much to see except for Dacca's lights when we over-flew Bangadesh.
The delays in leaving Aizawl meant we had little time to kill in Calcutta. We had time for a Meal in the Airport Hotel, (which was the hottest I had experienced in India). The Bengalis were in their national dress as they said it was Bengali New Year.
Back out to the airport for the International Check in. Only hiccup was when I was told I could not change all my Rupees. I was told I needed to show a receipt from the bank. My explanation that the Bank of India in Aizawll would not issue me one cut no ice. I was finally rescued when Marion (who was not changing any of her money) said she would change some on my behalf. The whole transaction took 3/4 of an hour compared to minutes in Auckland and Singapore. Through 3 sets of security checks and then we were in the departure lounge. A quick visit to the gents with the floor awash with urine, squat toilets and enormous cockroaches determined I would wait to go on the plane.
Getting onto the Singapore Airlines 747 was like stepping into another world. Out of Calcutta just before midnight and a four-hour flight to Singapore.
Saturday 17th of April
Into Singapore at 6:30 in the morning with the dawn. I had a coffee then decided I would go into Singapore. I caught the Rapid transit train into the centre of the city. The station is right in the airport terminal and at $2.40 for the journey you cannot complain about the cost. The cleanliness of everything is amazing
I spent the morning walking around the centre of Singapore covering areas I had not seen on my trip through on the way up. Found Raffles Hotel and a number of the Malls including the Suntec centre. Most shops did not open until about noon and by that time it was getting into the mid thirties and I decided to head back to the airport have a shower and then board the plane back to Auckland at about 6pm. I had tried to get a haircut and beard trim in Singapore but was told they could trim my beard - I must have looked like a wild man to them!
Found to my relief that the plane was not full and that I had two vacant seats next to me. I was able to stretch out and sleep from about Indonesia to halfway across the Tasman. After breakfast Mt Taranaki loomed up in the distance and we were into Auckland at 8am to be met by Janet and James. I though I might get a real going over by agriculture, but after a quick examination of my boots, that was it.
