You always need a contingency plan when you travel in India. Our plan was to arrive in mid-morning and check into a comfortable airport hotel and just recover from the flights. The next morning we were to catch an early morning flight to Kakinada via Hyderabad and have a relaxing afternoon to rest prior to the wedding.

That all changed once we arrived. We were told that our early morning flight on SpiceJet to Hyderabad had been cancelled and there were really no other flight options the next day. A train trip would take 10 hours and we weren’t keen on that. SpiceJet however said we could take an evening flight to Hyderabad and still make our connecting flight the next day. Missing the wedding wasn’t an option so we decided to do that. It was a very painful decision as we were staying at the Radisson near the airport and it met all of our needs to chillax for a day. We checked in regardless and paid full fees despite only using the room to take a shower and a nap.

Our flight to Hyderabad was without issue and the silver lining was that it gave us another opportunity for a most joyous welcome. Padma’s cousin, Mary and her husband, Kishore, greeted us will fragrant garlands as we got off the flight around 10pm.

Our long, long day was hardly over though. What seemed like a simple task of checking into a hotel for the night expanded into a long ordeal Indian style. Finally at 1 am we put our heads to pillow and entered into immediate sleep.

Brothers in garland. 

McDonald’s has a bit of a challenge in a country where the cow is sacred and beef is rarely eaten. You won’t see many all beef paddies but McDonalds is always innovative and you can order a McAloo Tiki made out of who knows what, a McEgg and any number of chicken burgers.

It seemed odd to get off the plane in the Hyderabad airport in a predominantly Hindu and Muslim nation and hear Christmas music being piped through the airport’s loudspeakers. The Christmas tree was an attraction in itself as people lined up to be photographed in front of it.