Thursday 19. February

At last, after long preparations, intense packing, practicing a drama called "The key" and much prayer, we were ready to leave for India.

Rolf Daniel couldn't find his passport, so first of all we had to go to the consulate and get a new visa for his new passport. It was a close run, we could pick up the passport at 15:30, and the plane left at 16:20. But he made it, and arrived at Fornebu just a few minutes after the rest of us.

We got all the luggage on board without problems, we had about 280 kg altogether. 18 pieces! But we had a lot extra, toys and clothes for the orphans and things like that. We flew a small Crossair plane, a Jumbolino, to Zürich and got a meal on board. I was seated in the same row as Inger and Sofia, and with Lars Erik on the other side of the gangway. A slept a little before we arrived, and I really needed it.

I could use my GMS mobile phone in Zürich, so I called my girlfriend. I bought a postcard for her also, and some water. Later we bought more water, Tone had asked us to drink much on the plane. Then we sat down to wait for the departure.

We went by jumbojet, a large plane. We were spread around the cabin, only Inger and Sofia and Rolf Daniel and Christopher got to sit beside each other. I sat between a Swiss and a Japanese or something. I didn't talk with them, I was to tired to try to get in contact. We got a warm meal on the plane. And there was a monitor telling us the altitude, ground speed, temperature and distance to target. But we didn't see how fast we ran during takeoff.

I hadn't brought any stationary, so a turned the air sickness bag inside out, and wrote my first love letter to my girlfriend on it. Fortunately, she really liked it.