Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Eurotrip2011: Day 55

Kuala Lumpur - Melbourne

Once again the spectacular Westin breakfast took at least 90 minutes of our time as we frolicked (okay, maybe it was more like rolled by the end of the meal!) between rooms of internationally themed food. Trust me, you've got to try this buffet if you're ever in the vicinity! At mid-morning we checked out of the hotel and were pleasantly surprised to find our airport taxi already waiting for us - superior customer service - that's KL in a nutshell.

We headed to the airport (roughly 45 minutes to an hour from the city centre depending on traffic and the craziness of one's taxi driver), where we tried to find out any information we could on the volcanic ash cloud that was (then) hovering above south east Australia. Nobody seemed to have any information (or indeed be in the least bit phased!) and what was particularly troubling was that no airlines apart from Emirates seemed to be taking the risk of flying.

Once aboard the plane, I questioned a number of Emirates employees about the situation. Still no answer. The captain didn't provide clarity on the situation at any time during the flight, not even once detailing possible changes to the route or just reassuring us that we were in good hands. All the while, our inflight BBC news update was displaying the "dangerous" ash cloud as their number one story of the day. Do you think I got as much as a wink of sleep on the flight? No way, José.

But I'm writing this post months on, so clearly I survived the ordeal. The upside to all the airline cancellations was that my beloved and I made it through customs in record time. We were back to our humble abode at around 3am and were both giddy with happiness to be reunited with our felines, celebrating with a wee drop of port (and a wee drop of cat milk for them) before falling into the comfort of our own bed - bliss!

No comments:

Post a Comment