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| India Trip Fall 2000 |
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On our last day in Delhi we took a quick picture of our hotel room. Both Chris and I were a little tired and were ready to start the trek home.
The previous night there had been a breeze that had blown away much of the smog revealing blue sky for the first time since we had arrived in Delhi. It made for a nice walk back to Pinky's house to meet Arvind and Rekha. Arvind had a flight the next day but Rekha, Chris and I were on the same flights back to Mumbai, then on to Heathrow.
Our last morning we spent shopping at a tourist area where craftsmen were selling the crafts that they had made themselves. (or so they said at least) Chris bought some vases and I bought some carved animals as well as some Indian Christmas ornaments (yes Christmas ornaments this was afterall a 'tourist' area :) The prices were more than if we had bartered with the help of Pinky however after returning to the US I saw the same Christmas ornaments in a store in California selling for ten times the price I had paid so I was pretty happy.
For our final meal Arvind suggested meeting some of his friends who worked at the Taj Hotel in Delhi. This was a 5 star hotel in an extremely nice area of town. Many of the homes nearby would have been considered large even by Texan standards.
As it turned out one of Arvinds friends was the restaurant manager. When he found out we were there he sent the waiter away and told us he would bring the best food they had. The meal turned out to be one of the best ones I had ever had. The food was outstanding. Although it did seem a little strange to be eating like kings and spending enough money (probably about $75 US) to feed many of the poor families that we saw living on the streets everywhere in Delhi.
Our final view of Delhi as we headed to the airport for the first leg of our long journey back home. We left from Pinky's: around 3:00pm for our 2 hour ride to the airport to catch our 7:00pm flight. Total trip time so far: 2 hours.
Chris and Rekha waiting in the departure lounge in Delhi. This shouldn't have been a big deal but as usual with all things in India we had an interesting trip to the airport. First our driver didn't want to drop us off at the airport. He didn't speak English very well and we were unable to understand why. He just kept asking for the money before we had arrived at the airport. Since we had no desire to get lost in India we just told him that there would be no money until we were at the airport. We were quite relieved to finally see the outskirts of the airport knowing that we could then walk if need be. He did end up dropping us off at the airport although he left almost immediately. The only reason we could come up with was that his taxi may not have been authorized to drop passengers at the airport. At any rate we were there. Then we found out the x-ray machine was broken and they weren't checking in any passengers. This made us a little worried about missing our connecting flight in Mumbai. Eventually they started the machine up and we could check in. Then I was stopped for carrying a package of AA batteries for my walkman. The guards didn't speak English very well but were very insistent that I couldn't take the batteries for some reason. I aquiesed and got a claim ticket for my batteries that I fully never expected to see again. (after returning home some friends told me that sometimes drugs are smuggled in batteries so that could have been the reason they were confiscated. Either that or the guard just wanted them.:) We were quite relieved to finally make it to the departure lounge.
We landed at the domestic airport in Mumbai around 9:00pm. The total trip time was now up to 6 hours. My batteries of course did not make it ;) We fairly easily made our way by bus to the International terminal. There we checked in for our British Airways flight to Heathrow. We tried for first class but unfortunately it was full however we were all able to get aisle seats beside each other avoiding having to sit in the middle of different people for the 9 hour flight. After checking our bags we passed through the first of many lines. The first was the immigration line. This was followed by a set of x-ray machines. After this we made our way down to the departure lounge by about 11:00pm. Chris being the smart one of us opted for some shuteye as we waited (a seemingly common process in India) for our flight.
This view of the international departure lounge in Mumbai doesn't do it justice. Our flight to Heathrow was leaving around 2:30am and we had three and half hours to wait, and wait some more. We grabbed our last meal in India at one of the restaurants and generally milled around in the hazy atmosphere. Smoking was allowed in the terminal. Having grown up in a relatively smoke free environment this made me appreciate what how good smoke free places are. Around 1:30am our plane began boarding. This process took a while since we had to go through two more x-ray machines followed by a pat down and a pocket by pocket search of all of our carry on luggage. Airport security in North America could learn a thing or two from these guys. We finally boarded the plane and settled into our seats only to sit and wait for an hour without much air conditioning while some passengers were removed for some unknown reason. Having to sit on the plane waiting to take off at around 3:00am seemed almost interminable. Total trip time when the plane finally left India: 12 hours.
The flight to Heathrow seemed to take forever. I was unable to get comfortable and everytime I started to doze off the lady behind me would bump me complaining that I was blocking her view of the movie. It made me understand where air rage might come from ;) At any rate everytime I looked at my watch it seemed like there was still another four or five hours left on the flight. I was very happy to finally extract myself from my seat and grab some food in Heathrow. I have absolutely no idea how parents with young children ever make the trip to India. Once in Heathrow Chris and I split with Rekha since she was flying directly back to New York. We still had some more legs left on our trip since we were flying through Chicago back to Dallas. We had this final picture of us together before she left on her flight. She had been an awesome travel partner and had made our time in India much more enjoyable than had we been on our own. I then picked up a souvenir Mother and baby bear for my wife (who I had just found was pregnant with our first son just prior to leaving for India only my brother knew though). Chris and I finally left for Chicago at 10:30am. Total trip time to this point: 23 1/2 hours. Chris and I landed in Chicago after our 7 hour flight. I was pretty zoned out by this point having not slept in the previous 30 odd hours. It did feel good to be back in the United States though. It felt like we were much closer to home. After a couple of hour wait at O'hare we were off on our final 2 hour flight to Dallas where my wife was waiting to pick us up.
After over 35 hours of traveling time since we had left Pinky's house in Delhi Chris and I finally made it back home. The lack of sleep made both of us a litle flaky. I was very happy to be home and after several days of fighting the 12 hour jet lag and some lingering 'Delhi Belly' ;) I was pretty much back to normal. All in all it was an outstanding trip that I am very happy to have had the opportunity to have taken. Many thanks are due to my wonderful wife for letting me go, the Balaram family for acting as tour guides and generally taking awesome care of us while we were in India, all of the hospitality offered by Ruth's family while we were there, many of my Indian friends living in Dallas who provided critical information about getting to India as well as providing contact people in all the cities we were visiting, and our travel partners Steve, Rekha and Arvind who made time pass in a very enjoyable manner while in Delhi. My advice to anyone planning to visit India is to see if they can get themselves some Indian people to help guide them while in India. Speaking the language and more importantly understanding the culture makes a world of difference when travelling in India.
If my verbosity has not been enough please feel free to visit my brother's site for his perspective on the trip.