"On the Trail"
Wednesday, July 25 to Thursday, July 26, 2001: "Flying to India!" By PeaceBiker Penny
Portland, Oregon, USA – San Francisco, California, USA – Hong Kong, China – Singapore – Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India (for Penny) and Kathmandu, Nepal – New Delhi, India – Bangalore, India – Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India (for Tad)
Howdy!! It's Penny and I'm here in India!!! It is so wonderful and exciting, along with being a little nerve racking and a lot of hot!!! My journey here started on the night of the 24th of July. Well, actually it started long before that, but you know what I mean. As I turned and walked away from the rest of my family, Mom (Kathy), Dad (Wayne), and brothers (Bozeb and Kip), I was full of anticipation. Ever since we left India in 1999 I have wanted to go back. It's true when people say it just gets in your blood. I turned back a couple of times to wave before I saw them disappear as I headed down the walkway and onto the plane. As I sat down in my seat it hit me. I am flying to India, by myself, to bike for a month for peace!! AHHHHHH!!! It was like when you are so excited and scared, all at once, that whatever sound might have come out of your throat is just silenced right there. With a few deep breaths and a huge smile, I began my trip.
As we headed down the runway I waved to home and everyone, thinking, "See ya in a month!" As we headed out we were chasing the sunset, so I got to see a gorgeous rainbow sky for almost the whole way to San Francisco. Arriving in the San Francisco airport was quite a feat for me in itself. I got off and had two choices, left or right. Ok, here is where I start freaking out. I chose left, WRONG. I wandered down this hallway until some unhappy information person told me my connecting flight was the other way. So I headed down that way only to find hallway after hallway of international terminals. Finally, after asking about four more people, I was on my way to gate 102. I decided to stop off at the bathroom and when I was looking for my passport etc, it wasn't there! I had been sent off with all kinds of warnings to be "sooooo" careful not to lose my passport and all those other important documents. I panicked and searched frantically. "There is no way I could have been robbed already!", I thought to myself. Then I remembered the other place I kept my papers. Thankfully, my passport was there and I could calm down.
Somehow I found the correct gate and I was on my way to Singapore via Hong Kong. While on the plane I was trapped in the inside with two people that insisted on sleeping practically the entire flight, so getting up was quite an ordeal. When we arrived in Hong Kong, I couldn't handle sitting one second longer, so I decided to take my chances and get off while we refueled. I was walking out with a group of Americans and they were all dressed alike so I decided to stick with them. They might know how to get back to the plane. It turns out they were from Brigham Young University in Utah. They are a traveling modern dance group that is touring India for 3 weeks. It was so fun to meet them. I ended up talking to two of the girls for an hour or so. It was really neat. They were a great group.
Next was on to Singapore. After arriving in Singapore, I was delivered to my hotel in the airport, which was very nice. I LOVE the Singapore Airport as it has everything from aromatherapy, to fancy cars on display, to cactus gardens!! But what I wanted was a phone, the internet, and a bed. After a reassuring phone call to mom, I went to an E-hub internet center. It was so cool when I got to chat with some good friends. It made me feel not so far from home. Then I went to crash (in a bed, not an airplane) for 5 hours until my flight to Chennai, India. Soon the lights of Chennai speckled the ground below, my heart skipped a beat, I was here!!!
Penny
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