The stay in the apartment had been adequate. The colour of
the curtains did not agree with me, though. The apartment was fitted out quite
well otherwise. I had made use of the washing machine too and the microwave, of
course. As the weather was a bit dodgy, I decided to check out early to go to
the airport. The bus stop, to take a ride to the Hiroshima Bus station, was a short
walk from the apartment. I didn't have to wait long for the bus.
In a short
while I reached the Hiroshima Bus station, a very large facility. Such bus
termini are only seen in dreams. Excellent facilities, superb buses, polite
staff, intelligible signages. The airport shuttle I got on left within 30
minutes. The ride to the airport was under an hour. While paying the fare I
exhausted the balance I had on the Suica Card. An objective had been met.
I had arrived early at the airport, at 9.20. The check-in
counters were not yet open. I had more than 90 minutes to wait. I utilised the
time to have breakfast. I chose to have Udon noodles with shrimp tempura. A
typical local breakfast item. The soup was awesome and the fare filling. I
walked around the various stall selling local Japanese snacks, cakes, biscuits
and chocolates. I picked up a few to exhaust the remaining Japanese Yen with
me. First, it was the Suica and now the cash. Both finished. Time to fly
Despite the overarching use of technology in Japan, I found
its use very limited in the Hiroshima airport. After I completed the check-in
formalities at the counter I had to move to another location to check-in my
luggage. I haven't seen this arrangement at any other airport. Yes, in India in
some of the airports we have luggage scanning prior to check-in, but this was a
first.
After the double check-in, the passenger and luggage, I
moved to the queue for security. Suddenly, without any warning, the entire
retinue of uniformed security officials locked the security hold and left the
premises. It was one of the strangest things I have experienced in an airport.
However, I was happy that such frustrating experiences were happening only as I
was leaving the country. The security area remained non-functional for an hour.
The security check was done quickly once the officials returned to their posts.
The departure of the VietJet flight was on time and the and
transfer through Hanoi was also hassle-less. At the Hanoi airport, while
waiting to board I had dinner. The long flight back to Ahmedabad boarded in
time. But there was delay on the tarmac of over 45 minutes. This delay carried
on to the arrival in Ahmedabad, which was close to midnight.
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