It’s been a first flying experience for me. This is was my first flight which incidentally was out of India. The transit point was Mumbai. The feeling that you get in the flight is weightlessness and the sense of insecurity. This was very similar to the first lift experience you would have had. When the pilot changes the altitude, you would feel the weightlessness. The buildings disappear as fast as they appear. The one good thing was that I got the window seat which made the experience cherisable. I got the 24 F seat which was second row from the wing. While we waited for the pilot to move, he made sure that the flaps on the wings operated properly by flapping it. There may have been numerous checks but the one visible for me was that. It would really be a good experience if you fly first class. I mistakenly boarded through the first class gate into the flight. There were four to five flight attenders. They all wished me with a smile. The numbers decreased drastically as I moved towards my seat which was in economy. Man that really makes you fly first class. I also experienced how difficult to handle childrens on the flight. There was a father with his daughter seating next to me. He had initially occupied my seat and I had to make him vacate my seat.
That was not much of a problem. He was courteous and agreed once the air hostess told him that the window seat belongs to me. He had difficulty in making her sit in one place and have the seat belts on. I guess she was three or four years old. She was restless most of time and didn’t wanted her father to bond her in the seat.
I wondered how strong the wings were. While we were waiting, the wings were a moving a bit with the wind. Probably thats usual for the frequent travelers but for me it was like, how will the flight create the lift if the wings are not strong enought? It may be foolish question to ask, but its there for you all to witness.
On take off, I was thrusted back into my seat. This was not an dramatic effect as I had fastened the seat belt. I watched the airport disappear on my right and I was climbing the altitude. It’s wonderful to have witnessed this kinda experience. It reminded me of the Google maps. I was zooming out from the airport. As we climbed high, I was not able to make out much of the things from the sky. All looked the same and undistingusable. I could only make out the highways or the tress. Tress stand out.I wished we had more tress. I almost forgot to mention. My flight flew over High court and Vidanasouda. I was able to make out high court because of its red color. Go ferrari go. I immediately started to search for vidana souda as its the next landmark. I was amazed to see its beauty from above. It looks majestic from the sky. I now would want to visit it in person to see its beauty from inside (will try to pull few strings here).
Jetair served juice shortly after broading. It was Lemon juice. I didn’t like the taste of it, but it was too light to refuse and resigned to the
fact that these may be my last for few days. Enjoy it while you can. After take off, they served meal (may be after half an hour from take off) I was not hungry at that time and the meal was too little as mentioned by an flight expert (Sharath). But it tasted good. Wished they could serve again, as in Indian marriages. After emptying the entire meal, I had no choice but to take out a novel and start reading as the flight was stable and I could see the clouds below.
When we started to land, I was experiencing the weightlessness. It was like waves of it. After few mins we landed and we all had to broad into a bus to get to the terminal. Overall I had a good experience. Mumbai Internal Airport, domestic terminal welcomes you. I was really hoping to have internet access in there. I switched on the laptop and searched for wireless access points. I was impressed with the airtel’s free broadband access. I was thrown a login page when I opened and hit www.gmail.com. Hmmm now I am in trouble I thought. There was a link for the registeration and it was termed free. I immediately registered and it sent out username and password over sms. It was impressive. The speed was also amazing. Probably I should live in Transit! I waited for the transit bus to pick me up from Domestic to International. I wanted to reach the International terminal. When I reached the International terminal, it was hard to find the directions and also there were to little indications for finding the right direction. Finally found a entrance and got in the line. Security at the gate saw my air tickets and told me that i am at the wrong entrance and i should go to the next entrance. Ha I thought this would have been easy if someone could have had a sign board put up. But yeah we are used to the discoveries we make along the way. So my next mission was to find the right entrance. Finally I found one which looked correct and I went in. Now there was a big queue to the check in. I thought well now I know who goes to Israel. I joined the queue making it even more bigger. There were tourists group visiting Israel. I was handed over a emigration form to fill.
One of the EL AL personal asked me to get over to the checkin counter. I thought this was strange. I was also asked whether I belonged to the tourist group just in front of me. My answer was no and they pulled me to the counter immediately. Hmmm I thought a right direction of moving forward. I was welcomed by the personal and he immediately asked me whats my sur name is. I was bit surprised by the question. It took me few seconds to explain that I have one but I haven’t been using it officially and you wouldn’t find it in the record. Then he got suspicious about me. He grilled me for about an hour and I was like come on do I really have to go through this? May be yes if your are a country with terrorist hitlist. I was even asked to show the mail exchanges I had with the PM. Hmmm.
Finally he had no reason to deny me entry and he thanked me for answering all his questions and for the trouble. I still had around 2 hours to kill. I went through the emmigration and waited in the lounge. Finally they called for EL AL passengers and I went in to find a queue which was growing as the time ticked. Finally after checking everything, I was allowed and thought thank God I am finally boarding a plane. Probably this is the first time experience and hence may be I am bit new to all this experience. But yes the security is every thing for EL AL airlines.
Once inside the plane I found a window seat as I had asked at the checkin. I also found Indian Embacy person sitting next to me. He was from hydrabad. EL AL served juices and after few mins into the take off. This time around I was sitting on the wings next to the powerful engine. This flight was bit more powerful and was more stable during the flight. I don’t know why, but i felt more secure in this flight then in the Jet airways. The dinner they served was from Mumbai and it was good. Okay I am not that hungry but they are serving a bit less compared to the usual dinner I would have had. Around 12:30 am (Israel Time) they served breakfast. After finishing the breakfast, I caught few mins sleep. After that I found myself staring at the screen which showed where the plane is with respect to Tel Aviv.
It also had estimated time for reaching Tel Aviv, speed, kilometers etc. Finally seat belt sign came on and I had waited for the plane to land. The plane went towards the sea for few mins and then he made a u turn to bring the plane for landing. The airport was lit with lights and I found the city alive from above. Reached Tel Aviv in the morning 2:20 am. It was a nice experience. I thought to myself, now the adventure starts as I don’t know the language, it would be interesting and also fascinating in exploring the society.
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