The Adventure Begins...
Here I am sitting at Heatrow airport, BlackBerry in hand, 5 days pre-growth beard on my face and I am about to board the plane. I am particularly excited about flying Virgin and by using SeatGuru.com, I think I have an excellent seat. Movies, food and some G&Ts will all help me pass the next 8 hours.
The last hours of preparation were somewhat frantic, but I am proud to say that I only forgot the following:
- Sunglasses (couldn't find them)
- Insurance details (yes, at least I have valid insurance)
- Confirmations of my Air Deccan internal flights (I hope to get copies emailed to my BlackBerry)
- belt for my trekking trousers (I thought having your underwear show out of your trousers looked much cooler)
- rolls of toilet paper (what was I thinking when I forgot this?!?)
- a wadge of Ruppees (I sure hope they take credit cards over there!)
All in all, 13.2kgs are in the rucksack including some very cool and techie gear (e.g. Sprung walking poles, goretex hiking boots and waterproof gloves). Carry-on is full of travel documents, electronics and light reading consisting of the Rough Guide to India (which I haven't even started to read yet), Collapse - Why societies choose to succeed of fail (there are going to be some long days in the mountains) and the Economist (I don't want to complete forget what's happening in the world.
I fly out tonight and arrive in Delhi tomorrow morning. Once I get through immigration and the like I'll check into my hotel and then take a taxi tour of Delhi, get some dinner and the get a good night's sleep as my flight to Leh leaves Delhi at 05:20, meaning a very early start.
I'll let you know how I get on...