We always knew that India was going to be the most challenging part of the trip. And it started off with a bang! We stayed overnight in Bangkok and got to the airport at about 2:30AM! We proceeded to the ticket agent for SpiceJet and got our boarding passes for what we thought was a direct flight to Delhi. We were informed that we stop in Colkatta and change planes and we have to self-transfer. Well, it certainly didn’t say any of this when I booked it because I have been avoiding self-transfer since I first saw it several weeks ago. Basically you have to go pick up your luggage and go through the whole ticketing, security, everything again. The agent would not give us our boarding passes for the second leg of the trip, Colkatta to Delhi.

Meanwhile, we were panicking a little because in order to enter India you have to prove that you are leaving within 30 days. So we found our flight and tried 3 different credit cards and the Indian site would accept none of them. So we figured we would work it out at the airport in the morning. Well, Malindo Air does not have a presence in Bangkok. Ok, we will do it between planes.

So we had 2 hours to deplane, get our luggage, go out to get our boarding passes and check our luggage, go through security, find the gate and board the plane. We were not holding out much hope.

So we wedged ourselves into the smallest leg room seats we have ever seen. It was absolutely criminal. I will never again complain about the amount of legroom that US carriers have; they are luxury seats compared to what these Asian budget airlines have. Thankfully we talked the girl in our row to move to another row and we got to spread out a little. They served a meal which was awful. The flight was unremarkable. But SpiceJet is a budget airlines in every sense of the word. They must have taken the pilots who scored the lowest on smooth landings. And they don’t pay for a gate so you have to deplane on the tarmac and get into buses. It took forever for them to open the plane doors, then we had to wait for the second bus to come. When we got off the plane, we figured we would see people to tell you where to go for the next leg but …no. So we hightailed it to get our luggage. Of course, we had to pass through immigration first and this guy took forever. We had our picture taken, were fingerprinted, and had to fill out a form of where we were staying etc. We had been told that we had to prove that we were leaving in 30 days (that is how long a tourist visa is good for) and you had to prove that you had enough money (they never told you how much that was). Well, we were unable to purchase flights out and we had not seen an ATM yet so we had no Indian Rupees. Fortunately, he did not ask us either thing. Plus even if he did, we had no internet so we would not have been able to pull up any flight itinerary.

So then we got to the luggage belt and ours were the last pieces there. Just as we were getting them, a SpiceJet employee came up to us and said he was there to help us get to the next flight. He bypassed security (why you have to go through security on the way out of the airport is still not clear) and ordered a transportation cart for us. He drove us to the elevator which was a long ways. Then we had to have a boarding pass to get to the next part which is where we needed to go to get our boarding pass. We sweet talked the guard into letting us in but it took a while. We waited in line at the ticket counter and put our bags up and he said that there were no security stickers on it. Turns out you have to go through security before you check your bags.

Side note here: we had bought some little bottles of booze for the plane but didn’t end up using any. So I said that we should drink them up because I did not think taking them into India was a good idea. Buzz said he wasn’t worried about it.

So the agent asked if we had any liquor in our suitcases. Buzz said no, pulled off to the side, dug out the bottles, snuck them to me, I found a garbage can while he got in line for security. So then I go back in line for the boarding pass. He called us up to the front of the line and hurried us through. So, we made it to the next security stop (you think the US has tough security, you ain’t seen nothing!) we put our bags on the conveyor and  I went to get in line to go through the metal detectors and Buzz went to go get wanded (because of his pacemaker). The man in front of me turned around and said, “you are in the wrong line; you need to go to the ladies line.” Well, bust my bridges, there was a ladies line. You went into a curtained area and a woman wanded you. Only in the country for 5 minutes and I made my first cultural faux pax.

So we finally make it to the gate and they are boarding the buses. They checked everything that you carried on to make sure that security had put an approved tag on it. Well somehow they missed Buzz’s computer bag and they would not let him pass. I was already on the bus. So I get off the Buzz and head back in and the security guard told me it was none of my business and I explained it was my husband and they let me stay. Buzz had to high tail it back several gates where they have 2 guards whose job it is to go through things again and put the approved tags on that the first security missed. So he made it back and we were the last to board the plane. Phew! We knew India was going to be an adventure but didn’t figure it would start so quickly!

I happened to be on Lonely Planet forums before we left and saw a recommendation for a driver in India (good thing I saw it when I did; turns out you cannot post unsolicited driver recommendations and they removed the post.) I emailed him weeks back and we started an email conversation that started with him picking us up in Jaisalmer and driving us back to Delhi and ended with him doing that and picking us up at the airport in Delhi and touring us around for a day and a half and then taking us to the railway station to get on the overnight train to Jaisalmer. We had heard that the train station is a zoo and having someone to get you on the right train is a kind of necessity. (It actually wasn’t all that bad.)

So when we got off the plan in Delhi, there was Deepoo waiting for us. It was so wonderful and he has been so helpful. He got us to our hotel to cool off for a bit then took us to the Agrasen ki Baoli step well which I really wanted to see. Dating from 1132 , so very cool…..

It was one of many designed as sources of water but has not been used for many years. Water is free everywhere for everyone (if you want to drink it) we stick with sealed bottled water which is plentiful.

The he took us to Humayun’s Tomb. We didn’t know anything about it and it was fantastic. It is called the little Taj, so beautiful, constructed in 1569. We had no idea that it was so big and did not bring any water with us. It was so very hot and we did a lot of walking…rookie mistake. We will not go anywhere here without water along again.

 

Lunch was at a very busy family restaurant where we got a Thali plate: had Naan and dal and some bean dish, and raita (yogurt) and a couple of other things, all very good. I had a lime soda which is salty and Buzz had a kulfi which is a smoothie.

We headed back to the hotel early because we had been up since 2am. We had dinner in their restaurant which was in the basement and looked like an old meeting room that they turned into a restaurant. We were the only ones in there but the meal was quite tasty. I had chicken tiki and Buzz had a chicken curry. (Our stopover in Bangkok between Phuket and Delhi, we ate in our airport hotel. I ordered a curry that I took one bite of and knew I could not eat it because it was so spicy. I ended up eating dumplings and French fries for dinner. French fries are really big over here, believe it or not)

Breakfast on Tuesday was at the hotel and was a number of vegetable entrees and some little finger sandwiches. My stomach is not 100% since the diarrhea so I am still eating small, bland meals.

Here is the doorman from our hotel in Delhi.

Deepoo picked us up at 9am

and we ran errands: to get a sim card, to the ATM, to pick up some “sweets” for the train ride. Indians love their sweets and have a fairly high incidence of diabetes because of it. Deepoo speaks pretty good English and is very helpful. At the sweets store, a man starting speaking to us in almost perfect English and telling the people behind the counter to give us a taste of this and a taste of that. He was very kind. Then when we went to pay $6 for this huge bag of stuff, the owner told us we needed to taste something else and gave us samples then told the guy in the back to make us a saffron Lassi, which is a yogurt smoothie. They were all so kind to us. They ask where we are from and we say America and they reply “America – Obama!!!”. We have had random people come up and shake our hands (well, Buzz’s hand…many of them do not directly interact or touch women). We have also had people walk up to us and want to take their picture with us. And lots of staring…and the Indians are not shy about checking you out in a big way and they are not secretive about it. They will come up next to you and just listen to your conversation, very overtly. I have also gotten some dirty looks from some Indian women; I am assuming it was because my arms were showing or my dress wasn’t all the way down to my ankles.

Buzz wanted to go to something related to Ghandi so Monday we went to the Ghandi Sirikt, which is the house where Ghandi spent the last 6 months of his life and also where he was shot. It was a very nice memorial. They supposedly have one of the best multi-media presentations around….but it was broken! The footsteps shown are where he walked to the prayer meeting and where he was shot.

 

Then we headed to the Lotus Temple which is a Bahai temple. The grounds are beautiful and the outside of the building is gorgeous but the inside is very plain and the whole floor, every inch, is covered with seats which are marble. Apparently they don’t want you to be too comfortable when you worship. You kind of got a cult feeling from the place.

Deepoo dropped us off at a textile shop/restaurant. We ate first and enjoyed a meal of mutton and chicken corn soup (I kid you not; it was like egg drop soup but with corn in it) and Honey Chili Potatoes which turned out to be French fries with a sweet/hot sauce on them with onions and peppers…they were delicious.

The shop downstairs was way too high pressure sales for us so we headed to the Ghandi National Museum on the way to the railway. It had a really nice selection of photos from his life with explanations in English. (while on the subject, everything here, street signs, store signs, menus, etc., have been in Hindi and English)/ They also had the clothes he was wearing when he was shot on display.

Driving around in Delhi has been such a crazy experience. Everyone uses their horn for everything. There are no such things as lanes. Pedestrians better just get the hell out of the way. They do, however, stop for red light which the Thai have some problem with. Deepoo said very early on that to drive in Delhi “you need three things: good luck, good brakes, good horn.” There is simply no explaining it so here are some videos.

And there were times when things were much, much crazier, it is just that we were not videoing at that time…we were praying!!

So now we are on the overnight train to Jaislamer in an air-conditioned first class sleeper car. Don’t worry; it is not near as luxurious as it sounds. We could have 2 more people join us in here sometime but we are keeping our fingers crossed that doesn’t happen. The train left the station at 5:45 and it was completely dark by 7pm so we did not get to see a lot tonight but what we saw we will never forget: poverty and slums I thought were movie sets when you see them in movies but they are all too real. The unbelievable poverty. What we paid for the train ride ($50) could change some of their lives for good. Our good fortune was not lost on us as we rode past miles of squalor.

 

So we hope we will be lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking of the train and see what wonders await us in Jaislamer.