The eating area outside - me and my new friend - Mayanks cousin
Outise the reception
The stage that Mayank and Janaki sat on in the reception so everyone could come up and have thier photo taken - just like we did!
In the hotel ready for the reception
Our first attempt to get to Lucknow for the wedding reception did not go well. Our flight from Goa to Delhi was 2 hours delayed. When we arrived Janaki and I ran through the airport to get to the next flight while the guys waited for the bags – we had to leave the arrival section in Delhi and go out the airport and around the car park to Departures. So we did this, pushing and yelling about being late, however, all of this to no avail – they would not let us check-in, saying we where too late. In reality this was probably true as the plane was taking off in 20 minutes and this was only due to a delay. We then spent the next 2 hours at ticketing with Mayank yelling at the flight company that delayed us demanding that they reimburse us our lost airfare and then re-schedule with the airline for another flight – it has to be said the man was successful – very impressive. The only problem was that the next flight was not until 5.50am the following morning – it was now about 10pm. All exhausted by this stage we decided to go to a local hotel – one recommended by the flight company that delayed us. When we arrived, they had obviously been notified of our arrival because along with the exorbitant fees that where now only the very easily adjusted price board, there where 5 people all lined up waiting to check us in! The accommodation was not very clean at all! We stayed in a room with Jason, who is already quite hyper vigilant about hygiene. He inspected the sheets – we found blood stains and the towels, originally white where now cream and lets not forget the mosquito’s that where everywhere! He slept on a mattress on the floor, however, after some serious stressing from him about rats, bugs etc all 3 of us slept on the bed – fully clothed for fear of being bitten! Jason refused sheets, pillows and blankets and kept his shoes on! When Josh turned over in the night Jason was lying flat on his back with pillow cases on his arms as he kept getting bitten and didn’t want the sheet to touch him! We left the hotel at 3.30am and go on a plane to Lucknow. The story does not stop there – the hotel we where staying in, in Lucknow was recommended by lonely planet as good budget accommodation, however, when we got there it was far from good – in fact, a lot like the last place. After much deliberating and some help from Mayank’s parents we – with Jason moved hotel to a great 5 star for some much needed sleep!
The reception was held that evening and was once again a fantastic event. The highlight of the evening was the attendance of an MP and his accompanying 3 armed body guards and the commemorative discharge of a fire arm directly above our heads!!
