Travelling Home

Finally, after this whole trip, it was time for our actual last day together. We started off with breakfast at our hotel the Mantra, then left to go downtown to shop for a little more. Instead of going right down town though, our bus driver dropped us off at the wrong place so we got a little bit lost and had to walk around until we found our way. Since it was the end of the trip, I had almost no money left. Despite this, I managed to use my bartering skills to buy a pair of earrings and some strange candies with everything I had left. Then, after shopping for a bit, we stopped for lunch. It was so nice, because our trip leaders got birthday cake for me and another participant Chloe, since it was both of our birthdays on this day.

Me and Chloe taking a picture for our birthdays

Once we were done lunch, we went back to the hotel. I napped for a bit and then finished packing, then we all left for the airport around 5:30. We should have left earlier though, because our bus got stuck in a huge traffic jam. The drive that was supposed to take 30 minutes ended up taking us 2 hours. Then, once we arrived at the airport, the security was so strict that two girls from our group almost weren’t allowed into the airport because they weren’t on the airport’s list for our group. After that, it took forever to check our bags, and one girl even had to pay $100 extra to check another bag because one of hers was too large. Once we were ready to go after that, one of our trip leaders got into a fight with the man at the currency exchange desk which took up even more time.

Passing the time on a longer than expected bus ride

Once we were finally ready for security, we got into the long line and waited. The time that we began to go through was at 10:30- the same time as our flight started boarding! We were done by 10:45, and our leader gave us all 500 rupees and told us to split the money and get food super quick, then race back to the plane. We all went to McDonald’s, and let me tell you- McDonald’s in an airport in India is maybe one of the worst places in the world. Despite this, we all ate our food quick because we were starving by that point.

The different menu at an Indian McDonalds

We then raced to the gate and had to go through security a second time, then ran down to our flight which we almost missed. Once I got on the plane, I went to my seat but there was a lady sitting in it. I asked her to move but she didn’t speak English and wouldn’t communicate with me. Eventually I called over someone from the plane to talk to her, and it turned out that she spoke English the whole time but was pretending she didn’t so she wouldn’t have to move! After that was over, I got comfortable and sat down to watch a movie. Too bad that the calibration was off on my tv screen, because this meant I wasn’t able to select English as my language to watch the movies in. I watched movies in Hindu, Portuguese, and German, but overall they were pretty interesting.

Eventually we made it home to America and even though the day of travel was the most stressful day ever, we were finally back safe. It was so sad to have to say goodbye to all of the friends I had met while on the trip, but we all each other’s contact info so we planned to stay in touch. Though it was sad to say goodbye, I was also exhausted and ready to go home. The whole drive home, I talked about the amazing experiences and the fantastic time I had on my expedition to India.

3 thoughts on “Travelling Home

  1. It sounds like you had a once in a lifetime experience, and now you have all of these memories to recant! I loved this post because it reminded me of some of the things that went wrong while traveling to Italy on my school trip. Traveling can be so stressful, but it makes for some funny stories. I would love to be able to go on a trip like the one you went on, as your stories make it sound so amazing. I know how hard it is to leave a place after you start to really love it.

  2. I must say it is sad to see the end of this blog! Ut was really inspiring and a total enjoyment to read! With today’s post marking the extremely hectic and crazy trip back to the states, I cant help but think of every time I tried coming back after traveling abroad! IT ALWAYS WAS HECTIC! I can state that enough!

  3. Wow this must have been a fascinating trip for you! I would imagine it to be so hard to try and function with others in a country that is not of your own native language and mannerisms. I still can see that the relationships and culture you got to experience on the trip was quite unique, and I definitely would like to travel abroad someday just to feel what that experience would be like. I also imagine India was bustling with life, and religious aspects there also must be very fascinating, and yet another different display from the US.

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