An Indian trip to India

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Landed in Delhi without any real mishaps. Now for bus to terminal 1 for flight to Dharamsala. Visiting Delhi did not appeal to me. Siddhi yoga, the school I have signed up for is near Mcleod Ganj which according to Lonely Planet and others I've spoken to is a tourist hotspot and offers a variety of yoga schools. Delhi I've heard is 'like marmite' and didn't want to spend time not doing yoga working out if I loved it or not.

Waiting for the connecting bus, 'FREE...for bonafide passengers' the sign reads. Hehe, I'm not sure i've ever seen that word used. So me being bonafide got a financially free but emotionally expensive ride. We spent most of the time on 2 wheels weaving through traffic coming to near calamitous abrupt halts or reaching new g-force bus levels whenever we came to these all too common 90°+ bends. The cow standing statue-like on the slow lane was definitely a pinch me moment, still not sure if I imagined it, to be clear this was a busy main road. Injury free, and not sure how, but definitely in good time I leisurely made my way into terminal 1.

But no the fun did not stop there. On inspecting the departures screen my destination and time did not match. Confused I, still with an air of restored self-authority, made my way to the designated check in desk. And now I, well my e-ticket, was wrong. The flight was being boarded. And with a cold realisation from my previous inspection that there was no later flight that day I was happy to have my self-authority transferred to the crude raw efficiency of the flight attendants. A short walkey-talkey discussion, 'is this your only baggage?', 'this man will show you the way', and with the urgency of a man handed a great and important task he ran me through security, to the departure lounge, where someone else guided me onto the bus, which then weaved it's way through a variety of planes only slowing when a cargo trailer got in the way but we quickly weaved through, onto another part of the huge tarmaced area where I was greeted by another flight attendant by the plane. 'Your bag?'...short walkey talkey chat, 'it will be here, no worry'. Would that have been possible at Heathrow? And thank god for that bus driver.

Dharmasala airport, beautiful colonial building, intimate, pretty, clean, well-kept, this was a promising start. Right, to get some cash, clearly had no time in Delhi and not possible to get INR at a British foreign exchange. Closest attendant I can find 'cash machine please?' He looks at me un-knowing. Show him my card 'to get cash'. 'Ahhh you mean ATM' his English is very good. 'Not here' momentary panic, 'no problem sir, where are you going?' He leads me to a guy at the entrance door. Stories of 'helpers' is making me nervous. The new guy looks at me sincerely, points to someone else, 'he will be your driver, he will stop at ATM on way, no worries, 800 rupees' for a circa 30 min taxi, not bad. En route we stop for cash. As I step out the taxi it dawns on me, this guy could speed off with all my luggage. I wait in a queue nervously. Job done I jump back in and 800 rupees later I arrive at my pre-booked hotel. Monsoon season, and the rain has started, so a relief not having to look for anywhere.

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