Saturday 22nd March - departure day.

Well 6pm took an awful long time to come around, but Stuart, our regular taxi man arrived on the dot, and we were off.....

M25 was a breeze and we were zooming past the new Terminal 5 building before we knew it. Terminal 4 was our destination, and having checked in on-line the night before, the fast bag drop was calling. After a quick stop at the Amex counter to pick up travellers cheques & rupees, we made it through security unscathed. All too easy so far...
Having found a spot to de-camp before heading to the departure gate, Sam proceeded to eat all of the sandwiches Mel had made him, and we hadn't even left the country yet!

Mel was desperate for a Pret a Manger sarnie and a Starbucks as "I might not eat for 24 hours".
Plane journey was not too bad - a little bit of turbulence to get Mel in a mild panic, but the kids slept pretty well after struggling to stay awake through "Enchanted" on the movie channel.

Arriving at Mumbai was great - no queue whatsoever through Passport Control, bags came out straightaway, and there was even a check in for the domestic flight departures! I was a bit concerned about this part of the journey, as it wasn't until Saturday morning that I realised that there are 2 airports in Mumbai (International & Domestic). They are 4 kms apart, and you get there via a free shuttle bus (getting a good sight of the largest slum in India near the perimeter fence), but thank god we didn't have to deal with our (very heavy) bags.

After a one and a half hour delay, our flight to Goa set off - Jet Airways. 45 minute flight, and they even squeezed in an in-flight meal - veggie curry (very nice). Both Sam & Carrie crashed out again...
Goa airport, or air strip really, was busy outside - a lot of taxi taxi taxi men. But in amongst all the mayhem was a uniformed driver from the Leela Resort - a sight for sore eyes. We jumped into his air-conditioned 4x4 and put our lives in his hands as he proceeded to break every traffic violation I'm aware of on the 45 minute journey South to the hotel. Sam and Carrie started to get a feel for some of India's classic sights - cows nonchalently wandering the roads, women carrying unfeasibly large things on their heads, extreme poverty, suicidal moped riders etc etc
We arrived at the sumptious, gated resort of the Leela to be all presented with garlands of flowers to hang round our necks, and a coconut each with a straw in! Started to feel like we were on holiday....
It was getting late, but I had time to take the kids for a quick swim in the pool as the sun came down, and we finished in darkness ("It's like swimming in Turkey Daddy!").
Room was lovely - 2 flatscreen Sonys on the wall - one for the kids in the living room area (even had Nick Jr!). Massive bath which the three of us dutifully tried out and remote control everything. Talk about easing our way into the trip!

Dinner was incredibly Indian (pasta, fish goujons & smiley faces) - can you believe it! Kids were exhausted, but devoured their food ("We''ll be more adventurous tomorrow"). Tiger Prawns for me and Red Snapper for Mel - brilliant.
All four of us collapsed into bed, and were no doubt snoring in moments.