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Published: December 1st 2006
So, if you know Michael... We were the first people in line to get our seats booked at the international terminal at LAX... which seems like years ago, BTW. We waited patiently so that we could be the first ones to put a bid in for the seats that we wanted: window & middle in an emergency exit row... ahh the leg room. wouldn't you know it, the guy who helped us was brand new and the whole line (up to that point) pretty much went through before we were done... whatever... we got our seats, but we took it as an opportunity to get ready for what was to come: dealing with travel in India.
When we booked our tickets through Air India, we expected, and were told, that they weren't the best airline... and we should be prepared (no pre-booking of seats, bad food/service, safety, etc...) - and we were prepared to just grin and bear it. But it was actually, and thank god, a great flight, great people, great food, and we had lots-o-leg-room.
We stopped over in Germany, exited the plane, got back on it, and after 10.5 hours of flying to get there, prepared for the next 8 to Delhi, and then another 2 to Bombay. We made friends with a great guy from Nepal... who knows how to say his name, who gave us his card to call him if we ended up going through Nepal. Who knows if we will, but we were excited by his friendliness and the good vibes we were getting about our trip and the people we would meet.
We got to Bombay and went through all the immigration/customs... yadda yadda and got our bags. After being an hour late and taking another hour to deal with our traveler's checks, we were worried that our driver/pick up from the hotel we booked might not still be there waiting for us... but he was. Neither one of us was really with it enough to try and haggle with taxi drivers... we were glad he was still there.
SO: Mumbai/Bombay
IMMEDIATE sensory overload. The rumors are no joke. Tons of cars, tons of traffic, tons of horns-honking continuously (for real, even where there is nothing to honk at...). The drive from the airport was an hour so we were able to veg and just take in what we saw. We were both surprised to see all the english on the billboards-and there were a lot of billboards. Our hearts sank when we saw our first seemingly parent-less toddlers sitting on the sidewalk. We are facing the reality of the poverty we have only been told about up to this point. But this is India, and we are here to take in and learn from it all.
We got to the hotel... and we were very happy. we wanted to start off in a hotel that was a little more middle range so that we could acclimate a little after such a long trip. it is down the street from the ocean-side. not that you can see much through the thick air, but its a modern hotel with the amenities we need to transition.... This hotel with the driver pick-up (an hour drive + the time he waited for us) is about $60. this is a great deal, but once we leave here, we will be paying about $10-ish a night for our lodging to stay within our budget and be a little more adventurous. as we are typing right now, we are quickly fading... we are exhausted. here in bombay it is 5:10pm and in LA (our body clock) its 3:30am. we catch a train tomorrow at 5:30am to head south to Goa. We can't upload pix right now, but we have taken some and will add them later. we both have so much more to say about our first impressions but i don't think we have the energy right now.
thats all for now..... we're going to sleeeeeeeeeeep.
luv,
mike + ade
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acazia and liza
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YAAAA!!!!
So glad you both made it safely and had lots of leg room on the plane.....we should have thought of that....We are excited to hear all about your adventures!!:) lots of love