India (1): Getting There

India: Dec. 27, 2008 - Jan. 15, 2009
I had always wanted to go to India and had some time off work so I decided to go. Unfortunately no one else I knew could get time off or didn't have money or the interest so I went by myself. I flew overnight from San Diego to Newark, NJ (about 5 hours) arriving at 5:00am. I had to take an airport train to another terminal and the first one I got in closed the doors and didn't move. I was trapped alone in a broken train. After a few minutes, I began to panic and pushed the emergency button. The doors immediately opened and I rushed out.

Then I took the shuttle to the hotel I had booked. I am not very good at sleeping on planes so I wanted to get sleep any chance I could. I closed all the blinds to the daylight and slept anxiously for 8 hours. That night, I awoke, showered, and took the shuttle back to the airport.

The flight to India was fine (about 13 hours). I read, watched a few movies on the little seat screen, and slept a few hours. Landing in Delhi was not as crazy as I thought. It was about 10:00pm and unfortunately my hotel pickup was nowhere to be found. After walking around to search and waiting awhile, I finally called the hotel and they told me to just take a taxi.

I headed outside to the taxi stand and hopped in. (It was 250 Rupees (Rs) ($5)). The driver spoke English so we chatted. Being nighttime, I couldn't see much of the sights but there was a lot of traffic and fog and it was chilly. There seemed to be road construction everywhere. There were many people on the streets. On the sidewalk of a busy street were a group of thin old men crouched in a circle with blankets wrapped around them. I tried to see what they were huddling around and my driver told me they were junkies sharing drugs. We passed a few cows and highly, colorfully, decorated hauling trucks.

We came to the road heading to my hotel and were blocked by an older Indian man.
"This road is closed. The whole neighborhood is closed for 3 days for a festival. You can't come down here," he gruffly informed us.
"But my hotel is there. How do I get to my hotel?" I asked.
"Go to the tourist office," he said.
So my taxi driver drove to the tourist office. Why would a tourist office be open at 11:00pm? Well, it was.

Before I continue I would like to describe my current state: I had been traveling now for 3 days, had little sleep and most of it fitful, hadn't had a real meal in too long, hadn't showered, it's almost midnight, and tomorrow morning I was going to be on another plane. So... all I really desperately wanted was a little sleep and a shower (I knew food would be a dream). On with the story...

The tourist office confirmed that the street was closed. They called my hotel and informed me that the hotel was completely full. Apparently my reservation meant nothing. They said they had problems with my hotel before. They offered to find me a new hotel but I told them I had no money. They said I could sleep at their houses with their families if nothing else came up. Then they said maybe I could change my morning flight to now and then wouldn't need a hotel. When calling the airline, I was informed that my flight was canceled due to fog. The tourist men kept changing the plan, didn't follow through with any of their ideas, and we were getting nowhere. I was very confused, frustrated, and exhausted and finally just walked out, got back in the taxi, and forced him to find another way to my hotel. Amazingly he did and the hotel had a room at their sister hotel next door. My hotel seemed be in a jungle of tiny alleyways. (The Hotel Rak International was 350Rs ($7)).

I took an uncomfortable hot shower (the shower head didn't work and the lower nozzle was waist high, so I had to shower sitting down) and tried to sleep although it was freezing. My growling stomach woke me up and I ate a few of the snacks I had. My deprived state was causing me to feel panicky so I just got up and dressed.

I took a taxi back to the airport. It was 7:00am and very foggy. There were many people already on the streets. Some huddled around fires they built. We stopped at a natural gas station to fill up. India is trying to work on its pollution problem.

After checking in at the airport, I read in the newspaper how the massive fog had pretty much closed the airport the day before and today flights were delayed (it was also causing trains to be cancelled and delayed). Luckily mine was only delayed about 1 hour. Whlie waiting, I got some food at the airport (there was a McDonalds, pastries, coffee, and sandwhich/snack stands). Then took the 1 hour flight to Varanasi.