Day 82 : Tuesday June 1st. Chennai to London

The flight from Chennai was scheduled for 5.30am local time, but I needed to be at the airport at least three hours before because of the unresolved issues regarding the carrying of my bike and my pannier bags. The special instructions on the BA website refers to 'a recognised cycle carrier' which I didn't have, and I didn't expect to be able to find one at the airport, so I thought my best chance of clearing this particular hurdle was to get there early and to see what happened, loosely following my plan from the previous evening. We knew there was a baggage wrapping machine at the airport, so we knew we could wrap the bike in something.

At the entrance to the airport only passengers were allowed to proceed, so Sreedhar and Sulo were not able to come with me. They wanted to wait outside, and wait for a signal from me to say that everything was ok, but I asked them to go back home and to not worry - I would not be able to come outside anyway!

I asked a senior officer about the wrapping of my bike, with the pannier attached (with tools and spares inside) but he said they had to be separated, but that the bike could be carried on the plane if it was stretch-wrapped (ie. covered in something like 'cling-film').

At the check-in desk, I was told I could not put my bike on the plane because it was not wrapped inside a 'recognised cycle bag', but the official who'd said I could wrap the bike in the plastic sheet said it would be ok. But, because I could not attach the pannier to the bike and call them one item, I had to pay an extra £40 to carry my bag of tools. But I got my stuff through 'check-in', and I proceeded to security and the departure gate.

When we boarded the plane, I was pleased to have an isle seat, where my right leg could stretch a little. I was looking forward to a little bit of luxury on the British Airways flight 036 to Heathrow, but on this day, of all days, the cabin crew staff were on strike - or at least 'working to rule'.

I could not have the English breakfast I wanted, and additional drinks were not served to passengers. The crew simply asked all passengers to close the window blinds, and then they turned the lights down and then off. They remained so for about nine hours. I watched a film on the screen fixed to the back of the seat in front of me, and I listened to opera through the headphones provided. I also listened to 'The Impossible Dream' and thought of Eileen, who sent me a message about this song. I thought of home. At some stage I must have dropped off.