Drones, Planes and Automobiles
Day 0/1
Bishops Stortford to Gatwick
Gatwick to Istanbul
Istanbul to Kathmandu
8,353 km
Firstly, and most importantly, our daughter is with us. Two weeks ago she was in hospital being pumped full of morphine, steroids, paracetamol and fluids to combat glandular fever. We were very concerned about her, and consequently our trip. Fingers crossed this rapid recovery continues.
When we booked this trip over a year ago Angela had difficulty booking the flights online. By the time she had selected the flights and started entering four lots of passenger details the website would timeout and she’d have to start over. It became a race against the clock, with the result that she accidentally booked the London (Gatwick) departure instead of London (Heathrow) (they both depart at the same time!) with a return flight to Heathrow. She had at least booked extra leg room seats for our 16 hours of travelling but this meant that if we cancelled our booking and started over we could lose those seats. Just travelling to and from the airport had become a logistical nightmare. We bit the bullet and paid for a taxi to take us from home (near Stansted airport) to Gatwick. In the end it was only a little more expensive but a lot more convenient.
Then we woke to awful news on Thursday. Gatwick was closed due to some idiot flying a drone around the airport. We thought/hoped that they’d catch the simpleton or his drone in a few hours and we’d be back on track but as the day progressed it looked less and less likely that we’d be flying. We warned our tour company and they assured us that if we were a little delayed it would be fine. Our concern was that if arrived late we would not have time to acclimatise properly risking our health. At 10.30pm we rang the airline who seemed oblivious to the day’s drama. In fact they told Angela that all flights had left Gatwick that day. Lacking faith we went to bed with a very early alarm set.
We started packing half heartedly just after 6am. By 9.30am we discovered via various websites that the runway was open. At this point stress levels were peaking and we were all sniping at each other. At 11am our taxi arrived and by 12.30 we were queuing in a relatively calm airport to check our bags in. This took 1.5 hours!
Angela has been ‘travel hacking’ so we had free entry to one of the club lounges where we (Alan and Angela) had free lunch, coffee, alcohol, newspapers, cake, snacks and WiFi. The kids went to Wetherspoons 😆. It was a much needed change of pace and with our flight on time we started to relax.
The flight boarded about 10 minutes late. We had a 2 hour layover in Istanbul so we had plenty of time and everyone was so overjoyed to actually be flying that not a single person complained. The captains voice came over the intercom welcoming us to the flight but adding that because of the problems with the drones we weren’t going to be taking off for 15/50 minutes (we couldn’t make out which). Again, we had some time before our connection, but 50 minutes would make our change of planes really tight.
Murmurs started on the plane. There were rumours that Gatwick had been closed again. The crew never mentioned it. James checked the news via his phone and, yes, another drone had been reported and we were grounded. 2 hours later we were still on the tarmac at Gatwick looking forward to a night on Istanbul airport’s floor.
When we eventually did arrive at Istanbul we landed at the time our next flight was taking off. Resigned to having to change to a later plane, as soon as we could get connected to WiFi, Angela started looking to see when the earliest flight would be.
Imagine how overjoyed we were (along with quite a few fellow passengers) when we discovered that our actual flight to Kathmandu had been delayed. We had 25 minutes to get to the gate 20 minutes walk away!
We speed walked, marched and ran (and considered ‘borrowing’ some abandoned segways) and WE MADE IT. We got on the plane. We flew for another 6 hours. We haven’t slept in over 24hours. We are now in Kathmandu in our (by local standards) very luxurious hotel where we are napping, freshening up and blogging.
We meet the rest of our tour group this evening and we’ll start our next post from there xxx
PS The posts won’t all be this long. We had quite a bit of time sitting around to write this!
Risking life and limb to get to Lukla
Day 2
Kathmandu to Lukla
138 km
Lukla to Phakding
7km
Monastery visit - additional 6km
We left you yesterday evening having just arrived at our hotel. We met all but 1 of the 11 trekkers, and a couple of our guides. We were told at our welcome meeting how cold it will be, how there will be no showers because the pipes will be frozen and how many things won’t be available because it’s winter! We went out to order our dinner, shop and then return to eat dinner.
Kathmandu is a maze of alleys, the traffic and pedestrians are crazy and everyone does what they want, and the wiring is a sight to see. The food is basic but good and Angela’s dinner only cost £2.80. We returned to the hotel to transfer our gear into duffel bags that the porters will carry for us throughout the trip and prepare our day packs ready for our 5.30am start.
By 5.45am we had met our final group member who arrived late last night and were getting into a mini bus to the airport. After a brief wait we boarded our Tara Air 15 seater plane towards Lukla.
The flight itself was fine unless we flew over a hill, when it felt like we were about to plummet to the ground. After around 25 mins the airstrip came into view. It is apparently 590 ish metres long but we could honestly believe it was 50m. We landed with a bump and screeched to a halt. Our first job of the day was to get breakfast then we headed towards Phakding and our first tea house. The scenery is beautiful and we’re encountering lots of yaks, mules and dogs. Arriving at our accommodation our room has a double bed and nothing else. It’s a bare wooden box. There’s around 2feet of space beside the bed to store all of stuff and that’s it. The shower here is worse than the one we encountered in China (https://www.2youngtobeold.co.uk/blog/trekking-the-great-wall-first-day-on-the-wall) so we are very grateful for the ‘dry’ body wash we’ve brought with us.
This afternoon we had an optional trip to a local monastery. This was an additional 6km/1.45 hr walk. We saw some of the young monks there who were just 7 years old. Unfortunately we couldn’t take photographs here.
Back at the tea house it was time for dinner, hot drinks and an early night for a 7.30 start.
First view of Everest
Day 3 (Christmas Eve)
Phakding to Namche Bazaar 17km
Altitude: 3440m
We were woken at 6am by the women in the next wooden box blasting out Celine Dion and Jennifer rush, and stomping around in their walking boots. We were supposed to get up at 7am to pack for the porters and to have breakfast. Washing wasn’t really on any ones to do list as it’s so cold overnight. Angela had a rub down with dry shower gel and alan did the same this morning. After breakfast we set off.
Today was to a 6-7 hour walk with a tea break and lunch to help with acclimatisation. We crossed lots of bridges, including swinging bridges, waterfalls, yaks, mules and horses. At our first toilet stop (we need to drink around 4 litres a day to help prevent altitude sickness) Alan bought a Mars bar for Angela. It cost around £2.60 and was a year out of date. She says it tasted absolutely fine! On the subject of drinking lots of fluids; we invested in some water bottles by Water to Go that filter bacteria out of any water. You just fill them up them drink. There’s no awful taste of sterilising tablets, no waiting for the tablets to work, no expensive bottles of water and no worrying about disposing of waste on the mountain.
We walked on for around 35 minutes to a riverside tea lodge where we stopped for lunch. It was a lovely setting.
After lunch the really hard work started. We were climbing up to Namche Bazaar, uphill all the way. Our first landmark was the Hillary Bridge “It is considered one of the tallest suspension bridge in Nepal with height of 135 meters. It is one of the longest bridge with length of 344 meters”.
We were by this time in a queue of trekkers, porters and yaks. This scenery around the bridge is beautiful! The climb was really hard for Alan and Angela who were dead last all day. James is scampering through the Himalayas like a mountain goat and you’d never know how ill Kathryn has been. We’re so proud of them.
Angela is not at all embarrassed that at one point she burst into tears. Our guide Sujan (pronounced Susan) kept assuring us that our slow pace was fine and that we weren’t really behind but climbing up 12 degree slopes constantly was extremely challenging. On the way up we paused at a viewpoint for our first glimpse of Everest.
Eventually we came to a police check point and you’ve never seen such happy trekkers there. Why? Free WiFi of course! More tortuous climbing led to Namche Bazaar and it was an oasis!
Suddenly we were in a colourful town surrounded by mountains. One last push uphill and we were at our lodge ready for dinner, a change of clothes and some conversation. The evening was spent in conversation and bonding as a group over tea and playing cards.
Merry Christmas; your gift is altitude sickness
Day 4
Namche Bazaar to Syanboche
Optional walk 9km
Altitude 3810m
When we went to bed last night Alan was having trouble breathing. By 4am Angela had a migraine and Alan had an upset stomach. Welcome to altitude.
At 8am Angela woke, having slept through the alarm. Alan was by now quite under the weather. We have a large en suite room but there’s currently no running water as the pipes are frozen. This means the toilet, let alone anything else, has frozen. Not great with 2 sick people in the room.
Angela went for breakfast, feeling better, leaving Alan suffering in bed. Sujan checked on Alan and suggested that he stay in bed and rest for the day.
We had an optional trek planned today to Syanboche which is at 3810m. It was a hard trek up after yesterday’s very hard walk and everyone was struggling. One member of our group was actually vomiting (but she made it all the way!) At the top we could see an array of peaks including Everest and spent time drinking coffee, listening to Christmas songs and posing for photos on the edge of cliffs.
We were followed down by 2 dogs; one of whom was trying to round up a yak and the other followed us to the bottom. We called him Bert.
Bert disappeared when we arrived at the Sagarmatha museum. This museum shows what steps are being taken to protect the flora and fauna of the region and is where the famous statue of Sherpa Tenzing is. As you look at this you can see Mount Everest over his shoulder.
Back at the lodge, Alan was up and a little better. We all had lunch then went shopping for souvenirs. My favourite buy was a pair of hand knitted gloves. We had gone into a shop where a little girl and her grandmother were selling a variety of things. The girl confidently told us what the things were and how much. She picked up a ball of wool and explained that her grandmother knitted all of the hats and gloves for sale. When I asked how much they were she said “500 rupees” which is (very roughly) £4.50 for hand made, pure wool gloves. I bought them.
Not everything here is cheap though. Toilet roll for example is around £2 per roll. As it’s not provided anywhere you have to carry it around. It has become an expensive essential.
While we were in town Alan had his blood oxygen tested and it was normal. He does not have altitude sickness. This was such a relief. He must have eaten something dodgy and can continue on the trek.
Christmas Dinner was a noisy affair with a couple of groups staying in the lodge. We were playing Christmas music again while they were having a quiz. The food was standard Nepalese fare but our guides had bought us a cake.
Merry Christmas from Nepal
Reaching the snow line
Day 5
Namche Bazaar to Tengboche
14.5km
Altitude:3810m
So far our trip has been a bit of a whirlwind, so we haven’t given you any local colour.
Today, we left Namche Bazaar. We’ve been in this pretty town for two nights and have enjoyed looking around. The houses are made of stone blocks, with coloured tin roofs and brightly coloured doors & window frames. During the day, the families leave the front doors open with a curtain covering the opening. The houses sit on terraced streets with rock and dirt footpaths and alleyways running between them. The whole town sits as a crescent in a round valley between the mountains. The side of the valley, that has no houses, is a sheer cliff with waterfalls that are currently frozen. In the centre of the crescent is a stupa and a bronze statue of Pemba Doma Sherpa. She was the first Nepalese woman to summit Everest via the North face. Running down the hill beside these is a series of prayer wheels powered by water. It has been lovely to spend time here and we’re looking forward to passing through again on our way down.
We started walking at around 8.30 am on a fairly level path which made a wonderful change. We stopped for a tea break around 10.30am where alan managed to drop his rucksack off of the rooftop terrace. The practice is that we order a meal ahead so that when we arrive at the next location our food is ready for us so we placed our lunch order. The Nepalese make the BEST chips, so that was our choice for today. The next two hours were spent walking through woodland and descending to the riverbank for lunch.
Unfortunately, this meant that we had a brutal climb back up 560m over just 2km and our destination for today. To put this height in
perspective the O2 London is 365 metres high.
Angela is finding the steep climbs particularly difficult. Alan is not faring much better but is almost completely recovered. Kathryn managed today virtually alone (with the aid of some music) and James is definitely part mountain goat. Alan has promised to tell Angela to eff off if she suggests something this crazy again.
When we arrived at Tengboche, we met the snow line. This is the point where vegetation stops growing too. It’s fer-reezing!
The reason that rooms are so basic and have no heating is that everything has to be either carried up the mountain or flown in by helicopter. It makes for some basic living but also makes you think about what you really need. To flush the toilet with frozen pipes (without going into too much detail) you either toss some water from a large barrel, using a pot, into the pan (no. 1) or (no. 2) fill the cistern from the barrel then flush. You then clean your hands with sanitising gel - another expensive essential you don’t go anywhere without.
At Tengboche there is a beautiful monastery which we had the chance to go inside. We couldn’t take pictures but the walls were covered in gorgeous paintings and the monks robes, which were left on their seats, were hand stitched.
After our visit we retreated to our room and sat under a duvet to try to keep warm. We anticipate temperatures of around -14 degrees later!
Even Altitude has low points
Day 6
Tengboche to Dingboche
14km
Altitude: 4410m
Woke up at the monastery and started the hike in freezing cold conditions but thankfully mostly “down”. Through the forest and past the stupa then onto the cliff side when it started to snow. We eventually reached the end of the tree line and had a long climb which went on and on for 2 hours. Angela had a bit of a moment again but slowly and with the help of the guide we made it to Dingboche through some snow. Our accommodation is a tea house that is far colder than anything we have encountered so far. You have to break the ice in the toilet bowl before you can use it !
The temperature overnight is -24 degrees. Angela has developed some kind of cold/chest infection so is finding things really tough. It’s hard enough to breathe this high up without feeling chesty. Thank heavens tomorrow is a ‘rest’ day
Starbucks - yes please
Day 7
Acclimatisation day
Dingboche
Angela spent all night alternating between coughing and having headaches. We woke up to frozen windows and water bottles.
Angela made the decision to stay in bed and rest while the rest of the group went for a hike. About half way up this particular mountain the guides advised the group that to go on would be too physically demanding so around half turned back, including Kathryn and Alan. James carried on but wisely turned back when things became too exhausting for him. After lunch the guides took us to a local coffee shop. OH MY GOODNESS! Double glazing. A full coffee menu. Cake. WiFi. Starbucks coffee beans. (Also 5 puppies).
Needless to say we stayed here for a while. We went back to our lodge for dinner after which James took the role of gamesmaster and entertained us for the evening until we headed off to bed with the temperature -27 outside
Day 9 pt3
James and Kat
Lobuche To Base Camp
5300m
James played music out of his speaker to keep everyone motivated on the three hours walk towards Base Camp. Kathryn caught up with every one there after walking with our bunch of young porters.
On arrival James and Kat made some rock towers and wrote our names on them. Kat was surprised at how little was there. As it was one of our groups birthday one of our fellow trekkers had arranged to take a small cake there for her which she shared with everyone. Only one member of the group made it to the top of Kala Pattar. Everyone else was exhausted!
A long day with Susan
Day 11
Pheriche to Thengboche
Altitude 3810m
We're struggling today. Angela is still coughing up green gunk. Kathryn has got a sunburned face and is concerned, following her eyelids swelling again overnight, that her glandular fever is coming back and Alan is generally struggling. James is fine!
Today is allegedly one of the toughest days. We deliberately didn't listen to the briefing as we just didn't want to know. We set off at 9am and walked right through until 4.30pm walking all the way to the bottom of the valley then climbing back up again to Thengboche. Thengboche was a village that felt so very high on the way out. Today it feels very low as breathing gets easier.
For at least three kilometres we were followed by a really friendly sand coloured dog who we nicknamed Susan in honour of our guide Sujan.
Day 11
Pheriche to Thengboche
Altitude 3810m
We're struggling today. Angela is still coughing up green gunk. Kathryn has got a sunburned face and is concerned, following her eyelids swelling again overnight, that her glandular fever is coming back and Alan is generally struggling. James is fine!
Today is allegedly one of the toughest days. We deliberately didn't listen to the briefing as we just didn't want to know. We set off at 9am and walked right through until 4.30pm walking all the way to the bottom of the valley then climbing back up again to Thengboche. Thengboche was a village that felt so very high on the way out. Today it feels very low as breathing gets easier.
For at least three kilometres we were followed by a really friendly sand coloured dog who we nicknamed Susan in honour of our guide Sujan.
When we arrived at Thengboche there were 4 black dogs wandering around. When we stayed here on the way up Sujan complained that these dogs bark all night and were a real pain. 'Susan' immediately put these dogs in their place and decided she was going to protect us from them. She immediately took charge.
We stopped for lunch. Despite everyones best attempts to feed the dogs chips (the dogs are so lovely and almost revered by locals) the dogs were not touching the chips. Angela noticed that the dogs were cautiously eyeing the crows that were flying around, swooping down to steal the chips. They were frightened of them.
Susan stayed at the monastery when we left after lunch. After much walking we eventually arrived at our lodge which was the same place Alan dropped his rucksack off of a ledge during a tea break previously. With BBC News on the first TV we've seen, some popcorn and the (failed) promised of a DVD (we chose Everest!) we settled down for a relaxing evening.
When we arrived at Thengboche there were 4 black dogs wandering around. When we stayed here on the way up Sujan complained that these dogs bark all night and were a real pain. 'Susan' immediately put these dogs in their place and decided she was going to protect us from them. She immediately took charge.
We stopped for lunch. Despite everyones best attempts to feed the dogs chips (the dogs are so lovely and almost revered by locals) the dogs were not touching the chips. Angela noticed that the dogs were cautiously eyeing the crows that were flying around, swooping down to steal the chips. They were frightened of them.
Susan stayed at the monastery when we left after lunch. After much walking we eventually arrived at our lodge which was the same place Alan dropped his rucksack off of a ledge during a tea break previously. With BBC News on the first TV we've seen, some popcorn and the (failed) promised of a DVD (we chose Everest!) we settled down for a relaxing evening.
Swollen and Snow
Day 12
Monjo to Lukla
16km!
After yesterday's nightmare, by the time Angela gets to bed she's only drunk about 1 litre of the recommended 4-6 litres. We're on our way down the mountain so the risk of altitude sickness is minimised, but the dehydration could still lead to headaches and she's plagued by these at sea level, never mind 3km up.
It's breakfast time and Alan has to keep waking Angela. She's not budging. The temperature overnight is around -18 degrees now so there's not much incentive to get out of bed other than the fact that the toilets are flushing at this lodge! No longer do we have to smash the ice on barrels of water to pour down the pan. Luxury indeed!
Angela finally surfaces looking like she's been stung multiple times in the face. Fingers crossed for dehydration (but Angela does have antihistamines in her mobile pharmacy too)
We're back in the treeline now so the weather feels warmer and it's a very pretty, if long, walk today. Alan is moving slowly but much better. Kathryn is responding to the antibiotics and her swollen eyes are improving. James is walking with us today instead of with the superhumans.
Angela had created a hiking playlist to listen too and for the first time today we listen to it as we're walking. It's our last trekking day today and the realisation that we're nearly done is hitting home. Angela keeps crying. We're not sure whether it's relief, improved oxygen, improved hydration levels but lets blame it on Miley Cyrus singing (lyrics below)
Manoj points out the route for the bus to Kathmandu. This is a clear sign that we are close to 'civilisation'. There has been nowhere flat or wide enough for motorised transport for almost 2 weeks. Angela is sorely tempted to get the bus back until he explains that the bus takes 3 days. The flight from Lukla is 30 minutes. The plane wins.
We arrive at Lukla hoping for a hot shower but at our lodge you have to pay to have gas hooked up to the shower to heat the water for a limited time. We all decide that, as we haven't washed for 12 days, it's freezing cold, and we'll be in Kathmandu tomorrow morning we can wait one more day. Then it happens.....
SNOW
We are (hopefully) flying out of the world's most dangerous airport tomorrow morning and it's currently closed due to snow. This'll be fun!
The Climb Miley Cyrus
I can almost see it That dream I'm dreaming but There's a voice inside my head saying You'll never reach it, Every step I'm taking, Every move I make feels Lost with no direction My faith is shaking but I Gotta keep trying Gotta keep my head held high There's always gonna be another mountain I'm always gonna wanna make it move Always gonna be an uphill battle Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose Ain't about how fast I get there Ain't about what's waiting on the other side It's the climb The struggles I'm facing The chances I'm taking Sometimes might knock me down but No I'm not breaking I may not know it But these are the moments that I'm going to remember most yeah Just got to keep going And I I gotta be strong Just keep pushing on, 'cause There's always gonna be another mountain I'm always gonna wanna make it move Always gonna be an uphill battle Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose Ain't about how fast I get there Ain't about what's waiting on the other side It's the climb (yeah) There's always gonna be another mountain I'm always gonna wanna make it move Always gonna be a uphill battle Sometimes you gonna have to lose Ain't about how fast I get there Ain't about what's waiting on the other side It's the climb (yeah yeah ea ea) Keep on moving Keep climbing Keep the faith baby It's all about It's all about The climb Keep the faith Keep your faith
Seriously? Can we have one day without trouble?!
So today was essentially a travel day. A 24 hour travel day!
Alan is much improved. James continues to be fit as a fiddle. Kathryn is recovered. Angela however is really starting to feel ill.
We get to the chaotic Kathmandu airport and 'queue' to check in our bags. This is in inverted commas because we don't know which queue we should be in and so we've taken pot luck and just picked a queue for our airline without knowing if we're at the right desk, can leave our bags, can check in there etc.
Suddenly someone smacks their trolley loaded with 4 large suitcases into the back of Angela's legs. Not a problem - the airport is busy and chaotic. These things happen.
Smack! It happens again. Same trolley. Angela shoots a look at the owners of the luggage and they laugh. Smack! Third time. Angela asks them to be more careful.
Smack! This time the whole group of 15-20 older Dutch couples are laughing.
Alan steps literally one metre away to ask a member of staff if we are in fact in the right queue. Suddenly another hugely laden dutch owned trolley is rammed between Alan and Angela. Angela is now starting to get annoyed and tells the group that if they wait 15 seconds for us to find out the information we'll then move. We're in the queue, we're not causing an obstruction. We can't work out what the problem is.
Their response to this is that 'Peter' starts doing a pantomime impression of Angela; hands on out-thrust hips, stupid voice etc egged on by the rest of the group who are laughing and shouting 'Go on Peter!'. Alan by now is getting really annoyed and Angela is close to starting a full on row but we just want to get on our plane and go home. The entire Dutch contingent see another queue open up and race to get to it. We've stood patiently waiting, we're checked in before them, the check in clerk has announced that Kathryn has a business class seat and we're on our way to the business lounge before the first of them has checked their bags in.
We've realised that we're on the same flight as them so we make the most of our time in the lounge which is oddly before security. As we have to clear the security checks we cut our lounge time short and join the mayhem in departures.
We've booked the extra leg room seats. This leg of the journey is an 8 hour flight after trekking for days. We thought the extra space was a good idea. Kathryn is in her lay flat seat in business class. Angela and Alan have the window seats and James is across the aisle with two young children next to him. The moment their Mum got them onto the plane she relinquished responsibility for them and they now have all of their toys all over the floor and seats, are throwing stuff around and bashing into James while Mum does nothing. The Dutch contingent are continually climbing through the 'leg room' to visit one of their group who has been taken ill (Isn't Karma a bitch?)
After 3 hours Angela swaps with James who is rapidly losing the plot.
The first thing that happens when Angela sits down is that one of the children, who is currently doing headstands on her seat, kicks Angela in the face. Angela gives Mum a death stare and Mum decides that now might be a good time for the children to have a nap. Daughter proceeds to lay her pillow on Angela's lap to go to sleep. Angela shoves the pillow off.
The Dutch lot have now twigged to the children's behaviour and their proximity to Angela and are encouraging them to play up. They are still climbing across Angela's legs to get to the sick friend. We're now 6 hours into the flight.
One of the flight attendants sees that Angela is starting to looking very 'tired' and asks if she's ok. Angela explains what has been happening today and the flight attendant has a genius response. Angela needs ice for the, very genuine, bruises on her legs and consequently needs to elevate her legs.
The Dutch lot are still trying to climb through the leg room but Angela now has legs wrapped with ice and her feet against the wall. She's refusing to move her legs to let them climb through. Peter's wife, apparently a nurse, is very unhappy about this and is muttering swear words at Angela. The rest of this flight is slightly less eventful.
At Istanbul we change planes. The Dutch contingent are late for their connection. James and Kathryn may or may not have tripped a couple of them up as they ran for their flight. Angela and Alan aren't sure as they were heading for one of the private lounges. The airport was heaving with people. The lounges were full. Angela was ailing and having nosebleeds. It was hell.
We get to our connecting flight. There are extra security measures in place and we're being swabbed for drugs. At this point we're exhausted, emotionally drained and unable to communicate. If there's drugs going we'll take them!
We board the plane. It's been agreed that Angela will have the business class seat for this four hour leg of the journey. Sadly it's not the lay flat seat she's been dreaming of but a slightly bigger plastic seat next to a teenage lad who's very excited to be flying in business class and keeps tapping her on the shoulder while she's trying to sleep (without the customary pillows and blanket) to ask her stupid questions.
Meanwhile in economy Alan, James and Kathryn have leg room seats, blankets, pillows and are not being disturbed (although Kathryn has fallen asleep on Alan so he can't move).
Eventually we land at Heathrow. Angela has coughed her way through the entire flight. We traipse off to collect our luggage. The suitcases for our flight start dribbling on to the conveyor with no sign of ours. Have they been lost in transit?? The first couple of our cases appear and then the conveyor breaks down. We sit waiting for something to happen - someone to fix it - for around 25 minutes. Nothing!
Angela is really starting to lose the plot and if she does that would not be a pretty sight. She walks around the entire conveyor and finds the two remaining suitcases. One she can grab but the other is literally in the centre, about to come out of the chute. James and Angela look at each other. They are very tired and very grumpy and just want to go home. James climbs on top of the baggage reclaim, reaches into the chute, drags the suitcase off and marches away with it.
Our friend Tim is waiting for us in arrivals, ready to drive us home. We are so grateful but I'm sure he's never had such an underwhelming greeting before. Tim; we are truly grateful for the ride home. Within minutes Angela and Kathryn are asleep. Back home, we fall into bed vowing to never fly anywhere ever again.