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Published: December 18th 2008
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16 Nov - flight from Joburg to Mumbai goes fine. Lots of red wine, good book (a Botswana love story!) and the inflight movie is Mamma Mia! Arrive at Mumbai INTERNATIONAL airport at 1am. However I don't realise that DOMESTIC flights leave from a different airport about 5km away, doh, my research reading is failing...as soon as you leave customs at Mumbai airport there is no arrivals hall, just a wall of shouting, honking taxis and taxi drivers...WELCOME TO INDIA.
An official(ish) guy sees me looking bemused and 'helps' me out...not convinced it wasn't a scam, but hey, it seemed to work out ok. He says that for security reasons I can't get into the domestic airport until 1 hour prior to my flight (which isn't until 6am) but he arranges for a taxi to take me to some dodgy hotel beside the domestic airport where I can rest for a few hours and then a pre-paid taxi will pick me up in the morning to take me to the airport for my flight. For $60 I reluctantly agree, what else am I gonna do!!! The hotel is bearable for a few hours, the taxi arrives as promised and I
reach the airport. Although pre-paid and I tip him, the taxi driver insists I pay him for the full fare and when I say no, he calls the hotel. I speak to the hotel receptionist and explain everything was paid upfront. Of course, he disagrees, eventually I just walk away. Feel bad but I'm not going to be taken for a daft tourist yet again when I've probably already been ripped off.
Catch my Spicejet flight to Delhi. Again, the domestic airport is separate to the international airport so there's no currency exchange and I have no ruppees, argh. After a few unhelpful directions, a kind female official takes me to Thomas Cook in a different building so I can get some ruppees for my pre-paid taxi (loads of taxi scams in Delhi so you can't just hail a cab on the street, you must use pre-paid taxis at all times). It's all so much more complicated than in the western world, and of course, EVERYONE expects to be tipped for EVERYTHING. However, I'm learning...quickly.
The Indian drivers have to be seen to be believed - BLOW HORN OK is on the back of every lorry, there is
no concept of lanes and there are taxis, cars, lorries, motorbikes, cycles and autorickshaws everywhere. My taxi driver asks about 6 times for directions to my hotel and we eventually find it. During that drive my initial thoughts of Delhi are it's a building site dump, ramshackled, noisy and the banks and shops are all shut even though it's 10am...I eventually realise it's Sunday though, lol. The hotel doesn't have my online booking but after some debate they find me a room and thankfully, although it's well before the normal 12 noon checkin, I am allowed in my room. I think India will be like this...for every few dodgy / annoying moments, there will be one that's ok!!!
My room is comfortable so I just sleep, watch TV, etc, I have no intentions of exploring outside on my own. Oh, and of course, while checking in, I see a note from GAP stating that our starting hotel has changed...again, so I don't even meet the group here, I need to move on to another hotel...I'll worry about that tomorrow. I brave the hotel restaurant which is surprisingly nice. Roof top terrace so dinner al fresco listening to the honking
of the horns. A very tasty thali dish (mixture of small, veggie dishes), nae alcohol though, here we go again...maybe I should have a much needed detox while in India. I'm also determined to stick to veggie food with some seafood once I head south. Healthy living... (HAH, little did I know there would be NAE chance of being teetotal on this trip!!). Back in my room I watch Ugly Betty and start to wonder what the GAP group will be like...
17 Nov - I sleep for 9hours, fab! Have a late breakfast on the roof terrace, checkout and find that the new GAP hotel is only 3 minutes walk away. However, remember this is India, and with my backpack, rucksack and handbag it's a challenging walk dodging puddles, piss and rubbish on uneven roads with no pavements while avoiding stray dogs and hassling rickshaw drivers. However, I make it the Hotel Arpit Palace...or the Armpit as we end up calling it. When I reach my room, my roommate is already there. Tess, a nurse from Ireland, in her mid 40's. She seems nice and is very talkative. She has already befriended John, another of our group. He's
Jama Masjid
Great outfit! a great character, larger than life and EXTREMELY gay. The three of us have a nice lunch in the hotel restaurant then wander round the Karol Bagh market area with one of John's 'friends'.
Back at the hotel we meet Bhupendra, our tour leader and then head to the welcome meeting. The group consists of a young Canadian couple (Angie and Dan), an older couple from Manchester, (Harry and Norah), Mark from the US, Ginny from Buffalo, NY and Liam from Ireland who is the same age as me, thankfully. Liam, Ginny and I are the only ones drinking alcohol at the meeting so I instantly know that I'll get on with these guys. We all head to the hotel restaurant for dinner and getting to know each other chat. The alcohol drinking has re-started in earnest...after just one day aff the booze! Liam and I seem to bond instantly and stay up drinking after midnight with Bhupendra over various beers, Baileys and rum.
18 Nov - Bhupendra takes us round some of the main sites of Delhi. We take 2 metros to Chandi Chowk, one of India's oldest and busiest markets. The Metro is only a few
years old and is v clean, efficient and not too busy. Once we reach Chandi Chowk, although it's early morning, it is already v busy and we are surrounded by traffic, beggars, rubbish on the streets, men pissing / washing / sleeping in the streets, just how you expect Delhi to be really.
We visit the Sikh temple at Gurudwara and then the Red Fort before heading to Old Delhi and visit the massive Jama Masjid Mosque. We then take a rickshaw to Mahatma Ghandi's Mausoleum, see a snake-charmer (Liam gets up close and personal with the cobra!) then take a combi-taxi to India Gate. We're all pretty knackered by this point, mid afternoon, and the culture shock has set in. We take the metro back to Connaught Place - a large, colonial style crescent and have a late lunch at...TGI's! We get back to the hotel about 5pm after a tiring, smelly, noisy day in Delhi. Dinner at the hotel restaurant then more drinks with Liam and Bhupendra before heading to bed 😉
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