In Transit: 24th-25th March.

Once reconfirming our flight, we jumped into a taxi to head for the airport. Now, if you think the UK is stressy about airport security, you ain't seen nothing yet! After scanning all our luggage we paid our departure tax and got into the check in queue. We then made our way to immigration to receive another delightful stamp in our passports! After hanging out in the departure lounge for a while with Armelle stressing that she had to find something to buy with the rest of her money, we got into the appropriate gender queue (well after a little confusion as we thought we were men for a while before being told otherwise!). We were then frisked and our ENTIRE hand luggage contents was searched through for every person- no stone was left unturned. After a small delay, we got the bus to the plane where they frisked and searched our bags again- 3rd time lucky and all! Nepal was a brilliant place, with very genuine people and a beautiful landscape. We felt slightly more relaxed in Nepal than India, as it was more Westernised for example there were adverts for alcohol everywhere and even contraception. People were also dressed a little more liberally which put us a bit at ease. We would both love to return to Nepal, Kathmandu has to be seen by all to be believed. An hour and a half later, we touched down through the smog back into Delhi to scorching temperatures, compared to those of a month earlier. After reading in the Planet that there were rooms we could stay at at the airport (we were flying out at 8 am the next morning for Singapore) we somehow ended up, after much to-ing and fro-ing due to random directions given by armed guards, in the airport manager's office who thought we had been attacked. He was slightly miffed when we told him that we were simply trying to find a place to stay! We then finally came the conclusion to ring a local hotel and grab a taxi. This delightful hotel was practically situated under what seemed to be the main flyover/junction in Delhi. An unmasked traffic officer horrified Jess by defying death by standing in the middle of the traffic and breathing in nothing but carbon monoxide! After a quick scout and finding no restaurants, we retreated to the hotel before dark with a nutritious dinner of crisps and a bottle of coke! The next morning after no sleep (omnipresent mosquitoes and an alley with a constant flow of people throughout the night) we woke monstrously earlier to leave at 5 am for our flight. After being told off for being late which sent Armelle over the edge because we blatantly were not, we made our way to the airport with the sleaziest taxi driver ever known to man who insisted to know whether we were married and what we thought of Indian men, again why?!?. He insisted that we pay him a tip that we refused flatly!

To leave Delhi, everything went relatively smoothly until a small hiccough just as we were about to board the bus to the get to the plane. Armelle got onto the bus and it swiftly left but where was Jess? On the plane, an empty seat next to Armelle, WHERE THE HELL WAS JESS! Well, unknown to Armelle, Jess had been sent back to security, as her luggage tag had not been stamped at the first inspection, despite having been scanned, and Jess having to drink some of her water to prove that it wasn't acid or something. Second time round, no water drinking necessary, but the dopey security official took his time about the stamp. Jess muttered a few words under her breath and pegged it for the plane. Mild palpitations were had by all. 5 hours later we arrived into Singapore where Armelle promptly threw up in the toilet- the return of the incredibly dodgy stomach and questionably food poisoning- Armelle blames the plane food from the pits of hell! Singapore was a lovely airport and the cleanest toilets we had seen yet, Armelles pukage was sacrilege! 7 and a half hours to Sydney after a 3 hour stop hour, and there she goes again- Sydney airport toilets were nice and clean too, a nice magnet for projectile vomiting! 3 hours later and thank the lord for our last flight, Sydney to Christchurch. Jess got the first one of her 40 winks since leaving Delhi, only to be kindly awoken by an air hostess offering her brekky, but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as we both ogled at the crystal clear views of Mount Cook below, and the planes of Canterbury. Oh yes, we were in New Zealand...