Leaving Mumbai was an adventure ... to say the least. Arrived at the airport at midnight (local time) for a 3:25 am flight out to Frankfurt.
Getting to Mumbai was a little bit of an adventure ... I had a driver arranged to pick me up from the hotel at 8:00pm local time. So, with my bags all packed I'm waiting outside ... 8 o'clock ... 8:02 ... 8:04 ... hmmmm ...
A friend offered her cellphone for me to call the company the driver was coming from. "Ten minutes." was the curt reply.
8:10 ... 8:12 ... 8:16 ... still no driver pulling up. Called again. "The driver is there." ... he must have pulled into the driveway of the hotel right next to me (a common mistake). ... Sure enough ... I find the car ... BUT ... No driver!
Running around asking anyone who's nearby if they are my driver or if they know where the driver is ... Oh ... he went for some tea, I was told. I AM IN A PANIC. There's a car with no driver and I have a plane to catch to get back home ... this is not a good sign.
I'm sure it was only one or two minutes ... but it seemed like much longer ... My driver walks up the hotel driveway and the doorman of this hotel descends on him explaining and gesturing that I'm waiting for him.
We load up the car and off we go.
I notice that there is less than 1/8 of a tank of fuel. Leaning over I ask, "Do we have enough petrol to get to Mumbai?" The driver just nods ... this isn't a good sign ... "Do you speak English?" ... only very little. ... So, this time I don't ask; I tell him: "You will stop to get petrol." And each time I saw a gas station I would tell him to pull over to fill up the tank. He eventually did ... thank goodness ... I was having visions of running out of gas somewhere along the Pune/Mumbai Expressway with no hope of rescue.
The drive to Mumbai is little more than three hours ... along a twisty-turny, six-lane highway that moves through the mountains. I think this guy averages 100 kilometers per hour for most of the drive ... and then ... BAM! We hit traffic in Mumbai, slowing to a crawl.
We finally get to the Mumbai airport and get to the departures terminal.
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