I connect to the matrix in Chennai Airport

Chennai Airport
Tamil Nadu, India
International terminal, departure

I connect to the matrix in Chennai Airport

I am connected to the Net in, of all places, Chennai Airport. I have found almost no wi-fi connections in India, and least of all free ones.

The Chennai Airport seems almost new. After poking around on the internet I find that apparently the international terminal was rebuilt or renovated around 2004. I find it has the conveniences of an international airport such as food counters and gift shops. The check-in goes more smoothly than at other international airports. Traffic flow through immigration and security work well and ticket agents were friendly and helpful. It feels and looks like an international airport. It does not feel like fighting for a train ticket at a railway terminal in a large Indian city, nor does it feel like the Mumbai international airport, which looked like an overgrown bus station in a city in the U.S. rust belt.

I have gotten better at packing for the airport in the post-911 world. I put everything I don't want access to on the plane in my check-in luggage and everything in my pockets in my carry-on bag. Today I checked in my travelpack (full) and my medium-size rucksack (half-full). They weighed twenty-five kilos total (fifty-five pounds). For carry-on luggage I have a small, cheap, nylon daypack. In that I put my laptop, the Southeast Asia on a Shoestring guidebook, and a six-inch Subway Aloo Patty sub. I ate the sub before entering the departure gate area.

Maybe it's not so crowded here because it's 11.30pm on Christmas Eve. But I doubt it.

I connect to the matrix in Chennai Airport