Having done two safaris in Kenya last year, I knew I had to give both Ian and our wallet a bit of a break before I organised another one but on New Year's Eve it was a cold, wet, miserable afternoon and there was nothing else to do but to roam around the internet. Somehow I ended up on Naturetrek's website and thought it was the company whose rep had kindly helped us at Mexico City Airport, except that was Nature Trails. Anyway, I came across a 2 week safari visiting 4 national parks in India with the main focus being the notoriously elusive tiger. I'd seen tiger, briefly and at a distance, in Ranthambore NP 10 years ago but Ian hadn't and we both rather fancied the idea of a visit to India without the filth, crowds and hassle of big cities and seeing as India had reinstated online visa applications just before Christmas, we decided to snap up the last two places on the tour.
Compared to Africa, the price was very reasonable and included flights, although - shock horror - only economy class seats!!! However they were with Qatar Airways so we figured we could cope with 7.5 hours to Doha and then 3.5 hours to Nagpur especially as we had lounge access at Heathrow and Doha thanks to our One World status. I fully expected to be charged a supplement for the flights as we were so late booking but Naturetrek decided to absorb the additional £239pp - impressed. Fortunately we were able to add our One World membership numbers to the booking and therefore were offered a full choice of seating without paying extra - so I selected front row seats with additional legroom on all 4 flights.
Getting the online visas caused a bit of a headache as the Indian Government website rejected the first payment for Ian's visa and then crashed on the second payment; taking the money but still showing it as unpaid. Mine went through OK first time and there followed a tense week when I was bounced around between the Indian Government and AxisBank who processed the fee. Although it was plain to see exactly what had gone wrong neither of them wanted to sort it out, so I ended up raising a dispute through our bank Halifax who have refunded us. Luckily I had taken screen shots at the relevant times and so can fully back up my case should I need to.
We booked taxi man Don again as we needed to be at Heathrow for 0500 but having driven the M25 the previous weekend and noted the roadworks around J10 we suggested to Don we should perhaps leave a little earlier than we would usually (neither of us ever want the stress of almost missing a flight again and I'm sure Don doesn't want the pressure either - we had a small bottle of premium rum to give him from Mexico as a thank you). In fact he contacted us the day before to say the motorway was actually closed overnight and so we agreed 0230 to leave home - gulp!
In the event the journey was relatively trouble free and we got to T4 about 0430. Qatar check-in desks were just opening and there were already quite a lot of people waiting but, luckily for us, we could use the priority lane where there was absolutely no queue. The check-in chap was delightful and actually queried with us that we were travelling Economy Class to which I had to confirm that sadly we were, unless he'd like to upgrade us. Always worth a try!
Fortunately for us, last summer Qatar Airways opened a Frequent Flyer Lounge at Heathrow specifically to cater for the likes of us, as their main lounge is reserved for Business/First passengers only (unlike other One World member lounges). It wasn't the most attractive of places and there were only 4 of us in there for most of our stay, but there was breakfast and sparkling wine and, most importantly for me, showers as I didn't have time for one at silly o'clock. Actually, finding the loos/showers was a real challenge as they were discreetly hidden away and all the most likely places I looked in were marked "staff only" - eventually one of the other two occupants gave me a clue, which I passed on to the other one. Anyway, the time passed and before long we were sat on the plane and I have to say there was a huge amount of legroom. Immediately after take-off the lead stewardess came up to us, addressed us by name and asked what our meal preferences were so she could reserve our choices (nice but odd I thought as we were front row and therefore should be served first anyway). She also asked if there was anything at all that she could do whereupon Ian said "well yes, you could bring us two glasses of sparking wine please" For a nano second she looked a bit nonplussed, but off she went and came back with the goods whilst the rest of the cabin looked on in astonishment/envy. And so it continued, we were treated like royalty throughout the flight.
We only had about 90 mins layover at Doha and being such a large airport it can take an age to get between gates. Luckily this time we didn't need to go through any security or scanners (as we had on the way of Oz in 2020) although we must have spent 20 mins or so on travellators getting from B zone to C zone. Having found where our next flight was leaving from we decided we had enough time for a quick lounge visit and so eventually found the Platinum Lounge where Ian very kindly took me in as his guest - the last time he'll have the chance to be so smug! Whilst I nipped to the loo Ian ordered sparkling wine and when I came back he broke the news that it was Asti Spumante which I really couldn't believe until I tasted it - yuk!
At the gate we overheard other couples complaining that their seats had been changed and they were no longer seated together and so I was fully prepared for a bit of an argument if we didn't have the legroom, except we were immediately told that of course our seat preference had been carried forward despite the change of plane - WOW! We knew from the last time at Doha that Qatar like to bus people around the airport and this happened once again and who should board the bus just after us but the young lady from the lounge at Heathrow who'd told me where the hidden loos were - what a small world! She came from Nagpur and was visiting relatives so asked where we were staying and offered to show us around - a really genuine offer, which sadly we couldn't take up as we're only there one day.
Once again we were treated like royalty and served our drinks well in advance of anyone else and the flight passed quickly. We arrived in Nagpur around 0230 Indian time and spent a frustratingly long time at the immigration counter whilst the officer wrestled with his IT. In the end he gave up trying to fingerprint us and just stamped us in. The suitcases then had to go through two more scanners and various bits of paper filled in to satisfy the huge bureaucracy which Indian seems to love (having inherited it from the British no doubt). We finally got out of the airport and were met by Naturetrek reps who oddly enough didn't ask our names or check us off any lists. There were two groups totalling about 22 people in all and we were sent off to a fleet of 5 cars waiting in the car park. And there we sat for probably an hour waiting for others to join us but the few that came along got put into different cars and eventually we all went off in convoy. So around 14 of us arrived at the Radisson Blu hotel and once again no one was interested that half the people were missing or who we were but we presume the cars were sent back for the rest of them. By now it was around 0400; I was tired and in desperate need of a bit of sleep so when the receptionist wanted one UK address in order to check 14 of us in, I simply gave a fictitious one.
Finally we were told that the people on the Tiger Direct trip should meet their guides at 12 noon and those of us on Tiger Marathon at 1700 hours.