Our flight arrived in New Delhi at 10:50 P.M. India time. The flight was considerably nicer than the flight to Amsterdam. Again there was a toddler behind us, however his Indian mother kept him in line for most of the flight, which was pretty impressive. Occasionally he would look between the seats and wave at us, and very rarely he kicked Mandy's seat. I sat next to a Indian man with a turban and a rather thick beard, which was wrapped back under the turban. He was going to some small town I've never heard of, but when we told him about our trip, he said he lived in Varanasi for 3 years, and that we should expect to enjoy it. The flight was relatively uneventful, however, long.
We get into the airport and file down what seems like unending empty hallways. There are walking escalators (whatever those are called) and bathrooms every now and then. It was a drab lifeless airport other than the people coming off our flight. Customs was a breeze, as we already took care of all our visa information, so we proceeded to the baggage claim. It took about an hour for our baggage, so that was a bunch of sitting around. After we got our luggage we exchanged some money, and headed out to see India for the first time.
A line of more than 100 people with signs stood outside of the exit, all lined up to give people rides. They are building a airport to New Delhi metro line, but it won't be completed until sometime later this month, which means everyone has to find their own way to the city. The airport is a bit away from the city, and 18 kilometers from our hotel. Mandy was excited to see her name on one of those airport signs for the first time, just like something out of the movies. So we meet up with our driver which we arranged beforehand with our hotel, and he leads us out of the airport and we step over the threshold into India.
The smells wash over me like ocean waves. The smells were pummeling me almost rhythmically with stronger and stronger smells. New Delhi stinks. Not always in a bad way, but smells so potent, its almost intoxicating. Take any smell you have experienced in a Indian restaurant, and I'm talking random smells not the food, and multiply it by 100. Now, just imagine that smell overwhelming you on a breeze. Its incredible. Its like the air is incense, thick and sticky. Keep in mind, this is at the airport, a good way from the city, the city is just olfactory overload.
Our taxi driver cuts around people racing towards the parking garage, almost running. After ~25 hours of travel we are having a hard time keeping up. Especially myself, as I decided (apparently forgetting my age) that I should stay awake the entire trip so I could easily fall asleep and automatically re-adjust to Indian time. (HA) So, we dash and scramble behind this skinny Indian man who occasionally looks back to make sure we are still with him until we end up in the parking garage and his vehicle which is about the equivalant of a Toyota Echo, but some Indian version. The good news? It has air conditioning.
There are no driving laws that I am aware of as a casual observer in India. I cannot stress that enough. None. The whole town drives around as if they have just recently discovered their horn. Imagine a child driving, and his glee when he accidentally pushes on the horn and it makes that great "beep" sound. Now imagine how much that excited kid would press the horn at first, and how happy it would make him. Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep. Now realize, its like that but worse. They don't so much honk to warn, as they honk to entertain themselves. I mean, they honk when nothing is going on. They honk when there is traffic. They honk when they are about to wreck. They just honk honk honk honk honk.
Our driver did an excellent job of getting us to the hotel. He went on curbs, he drove on the shoulder of the highway, he rode right in the middle of the lines separating the lanes, he cut off dump trucks, he would force other cars out of his way, he drove through road construction close enough to where I could have reached out and grabbed some tar, he basically drove like a complete maniac. The roads have this sort of contained insanity and he was very competent in his version of insanity.
An important point to make here is that, its now almost 12 at night, and the traffic is pretty low. It was still insane, and an eye opening introduction to the worlds 3rd largest city. During the day it is much much worse. I have seen only one crash, and that is amazing to me. I mean, people walk in the busy highways, they push carts of food in with cars and garage trucks... its insane. Mandy saw an elephant walking on the road, but I missed it. The roads here are laughably busy, with the oddest things on them you could imagine. Bikes, cars, scooters, motorcycles, cows, carts, kids, people of all shape and size (but mostly one color), tractors, elephants, dogs, tuk-tuks, rickshaws, and on and on. Millions of them. LOL. With no real traffic rules except maybe, "try not to hit anyone".
So, we brave the crazy 18 kilometer ride, and we make it to our hotel. It was in a back alley that I will have to update later, because I haven't taken pictures of it. We are not in a bad part of town, and we are close to a metro station which is great. The hotel itself is very nice. A king sized bed (two twins pushed together) and a bathroom, most importantly though, air conditioning and a very strong ceiling fan.
The staff was more than polite, they have us sit and chat for a while, offer us beer (we decline) and then we are off to our room. Our room is 100, right by the front door, which can get a little annoying with the in and out of other guests... but its cozy enough. So we settle in, and I'm ready to sleep, since I haven't slept in well over 30 hours at this point... we crawl into bed and snuggle down into the blankets.
Wide awake.
I mean, like meth awake.
Like skin itching for no reason, can't possibly get comfortable, holy shit will I ever sleep again... wide awake.
My first night in India, I get about 2 hours sleep.
Mandy sleeps much better, probably closer to 5 hours.
But, we made it. We are in India.
India!
:D
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