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Published: February 11th 2007
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After an incredibly LONG flight, I have finally arrived here in
New Delhi, and am checked into my home for the next six days, the
Shangri-La. But let me start from the beginning.
The crazy stress I've been under for the last few weeks finally caused me to make two mistakes today, luckily neither of which caused too many problems. The first was when I believed that the car was picking us up at 4:45, when he was actually picking us up at 5:45. So at least we had an additional hour's reprieve. Our driver was a chatty one - retired for the past three years, and a Hungarian immigrant, he decided to become a driver because he was too bored being at home. So he told us stories of sneaking out of Hungary with his pregnant wife so that his son could be born in Italy and then brought to America. He asked if we'd ever been to Russia, and I said that I had, so we talked about my favorite airline of all time, Aeroflot (note the sarcasm). With one of the worst safety records of all time, Gabe (our driver) told us that there was a Hungarian joke
that said that if you wanted to buy a plane, all you had to do was buy some land and wait. Ha ha. It's good to have a sense of humor with some of the memories that he told us about - including remembering as a little boy the revolution, when men were hung from trees. Too young to understand, but old enough to remember, he said.
Our conversations passed the time quickly, and we were soon at the airport. Nothing new and exciting to report from Newark, except to say that I think I'm becoming more crotchety, and I'm only 27! I'm a Continental OnePass member, which entitles me to priority baggage handling and enables me to get on the plane right after they board first class - so I always get an overhead compartment. It sounds simple, but those two things are really important! But for some reason, as soon as they announce that they're boarding, three kinds of people gather at the gate - those that are actually boarding, those that are not boarding and know it, but want to be *just* ahead of everyone else, and those people that just don't listen and think they
should be allowed to board just because they feel like it. And boy, did I have little patience for groups two and three tonight! But we got on board without incident, and it turned out that the seat between me and another traveler was free, which was a nice respite.
But let me tell you, fourteen hours is a LONG time to be on a plane. Actually it turned out to be longer because we circled the airport in Delhi for thirty minutes before landing! About halfway through the flight I was ready to get off the plane, and by 6am my time, I couldn't believe I had five hours to go. But I napped a lot, and read, and watched some tv on my iPod, so other than the guy who was kicking my seat repeatedly while I was trying to sleep and the guy next to me who mixed wine with Nyquil and decided to tell me all about his dog, it was a halfway decent trip.
We went through the airport in a fair amount of time, going through customs and getting our bags. Then we had to find our driver amidst the seemingly hundreds
of waiting drivers with signs. And then I remembered why I like former British colonies so much (although apparently, I'm not supposed to mention the colonialization while I'm here) - there is a certain politeness and gentility that is held over from those times that still permeates the culture. Our driver had on a nice suit, and was extremely polite, taking my bags to the car for me. He gave us the details for our trip on Tuesday to the Taj Mahal and then we proceeded to take quite an interesting car ride to the hotel.
Driving in India is an experience, and one I'm glad I won't personally have to undertake while I'm here. The roads themselves appear to be in pretty good shape, and all are well-marked with lanes. However, I think the locals see these as only a suggestion, because they spend very little time in them. And while I think in the US honking your horn is considered rude and only done when necessary (mostly), here, it's a natural part of driving! All the trucks we passed had signs that said "Please honk" and everyone took them up on the offer, including a number of trucks whose horns sounded like something out of a circus. Our escort told us that Indian drivers need only three things: good brakes, a good horn, and good luck! I believe it.
It was too dark to see much of India itself, but I could tell that they are really working to build up the infrastructure. New roads and buildings are going in everywhere, but close to the airport, you could still see the tiny corrugated shacks where people are living. I've heard from more than one person that there is a lot of abject poverty here. As we got closer to the main part of town, there were more buildings and trees, reminding me a little of Singapore, but not as far ahead, not as mature. I'm curious to see how my impressions will change or be confirmed over the next few days.
Once we arrived at the hotel, their stellar success record with us continued. For those of you that have been listening to my rants, and remember the day that I almost had a stroke over this meeting, you'll know that I'm being sarcastic. They were very confused that we needed two rooms, and for more than one night. I was very confused that they didn't realize what group we were talking about, nor have our details there. Luckily I had our rooming list, which clearly lists two separate rooms for me and my dad, although here's where my second mistake comes in. Apparently the hotel put him down for arriving tomorrow, which was the original plan and like many other things, when I made the changes, the hotel didn't make them, and I didn't realize it when looking at the list. I also realized that a few of our group are leaving on Friday instead of Saturday, so I'll be scolding them later. Eventually, after my father yelled at them for being incompetent (not in so many words, and at least the "Lindsay temper," as Dave refers to it, didn't have to come out), we got our rooms. Not the nicest Shangri-La I've ever stayed in, I must say, but it will do. Although, they have a window from the bathroom (right in the shower/tub) that looks into the room itself....not sure why. They did go up in my book when I realized they keep
Mars bars in the fridge - one of my favorite candies. But I will say, I finally found a cola that I don't like, and that's India's Coke. It's weird - I think it's the "acidity regulator." I'm not sure what I'll be drinking then because I'm supposed to avoid the water. And the salad, and anything too spicy (leads to
"Delhi Belly" and I do NOT want to find out what that is) and of course I don't eat vegetables or seafood. So I will be having an interesting week, full of new experiences and hopefully good ones!
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