“Namaste” India

Our departure from the Philippines was more of an event than we had hoped. Checking out of the hotel was a snap, then we waited at a cafe, killing the last two hours before heading to the airport. We had known that we would be overstaying our visa by one day, and had intended to pay the associated fee at the airport, so did a quick check online to make sure that we would have enough cash on hand to cover the expense. We had a pulse-quickening thrill when we read that visa overstays were now being taken very seriously, and exit clearance must be applied for at the immigration office. In a panic, we rushed to the main immigration office, which very fortunately was located right downtown, only a short ride away. After visiting a series of wickets, each of which cleared us through getting forms, submitting photocopies and cash (a lot more than we had expected!), then submitting the receipts and our actual passports, and finally waiting for a torturous hour while they processed and stamped our clearances. At last we rushed our of the immigration office and frantically waved down a cab to get us to the airport. We were an hour behind schedule, but still arrived in time for check-in, and get the real bad news. Our flight was delayed. This would cause us to miss our connection to Mumbai in Hong Kong, and we were now to be routed through New Delhi for our Mumbai connection, and would be arriving eight hours later than expected. In Hong Kong, after an easy flight, we tried to talk our way into a business-class upgrade. Though we didn’t quite get that, we did get a whole row in the middle of the plane to ourselves, which was pretty close.

Smooth skies saw us into New Delhi, where we had about four hours to wait until our next leg. We tried to check-in for the next flight, but were told that, despite showing up on their list, we would need to return in a couple of hours when the supervisor was available. We tried to rest in the uncomfortable seats, but didn’t have much luck. The supervisor was needed because the flight that we had been redirected to was already full, so she put us on another flight leaving almost an hour later. Yet another delay. I left Christina reclining in one of the lounge chairs while I tracked down an internet kiosk. I sent a note to the hotel to let them know about our itinerary changes, that they may inform the car picking us up from the airport. In hindsight, this would have been an excellent opportunity to use the ATM, but I didn’t… We had another easy flight in to Mumbai, where we collected our baggage and went looking for our ride to the hotel. There were an assortment of cars with drivers holding signs, but our name or our hotel name were not on any of those that we saw. We turned down a couple of un-uniformed drivers in favor of the pre-paid taxi station, but had a little trouble there. I had planned to get some cash from the ATM when we landed, but at this small terminal there was only one ATM and it was broken, so we had a pocketful of pesos and a little leftover australian money. Christina had a minor reserve of US dollars, but the small bills didn’t quite add up, and we didn’t want to trust them with the big bills. A British gentleman behind us in the line heard our plight and just picked up the fare for us (a good deed for ~$3 is pretty cheap karma). Our hotel was amazing. Christina had made the selection, and it was fancy indeed. While not on the cheap end of the spectrum, it was exactly what we needed after our extra long travel day. We weren’t quite so tired that we didn’t spend a few minutes playing with the rooms most modern feature – full automation, delivered via an app installed onto the iPod sitting next to the TV. Control of the lights, A/C, TV (including an impressive selection of complementary on-demand movies), and door locks was all at the push of a button. Pretty cool stuff. After geeking out briefly we passed out in our huge and incredibly comfortable bed until early evening, when we descended for our first meal in India. One of the challenges we will face here is remembering the crazy names of the dishes we eat. I’ve forgotten our first two already. One was lamb, and one was chicken. Both were delicious, and were served with rice and naan, then followed by indian tea. Perfect for our first experience. After dinner we went back up to bed and slept right through until morning. We headed straight back to the airport for our flight to Udaipur, which went very well. We landed in a 38° desert and had a taxi take us to our hostel in town.

This one was my selection, and I knew it would be less fancy than our Mumbai digs, as it was cheaper by a factor of ten. I could have upped the budget maybe just a little though. Next time I’ll be springing for the A/C, as we are definately feeling the lack. Getting to the hostel was amusing on its own. I had expected driving here to be really crazy, but it’s very comparable to the Philippines, really. The vehicles are a little bit more uniform, and the rules are observed to a very similar degree, but in the Philippines there are way more motorcycles threading through traffic, and fewer here means a reduction in general chaos. There wasn’t an “address”, per-se, for where we were headed. It is listed as Panorama Guest House, Hanuman Ghat, Udaipur. We left the main road, which had looked like any road in Manila, and entered the extremely tight quarters of Hanuman Ghat, which is just a community section of Udaipur. It looks just like what you’d see in movies. Businesses and homes stacked on each other, leaning over the street, with vendors hanging out of doors and windows; cows and dogs wandering the street; the constant sound of honking horns; women in brightly colored saris standing out against the drab color of the walls. Large painted signs indicated the way for our destination, as well as many other guest houses and restaurants in Hanuman Ghat. We checked in, unpacked, then headed out to see town.

There are many historical buildings in the area, and we chose the City Palace as our first. We paid the entrance fees, both for ourselves and our camera, then the three of us went on tour.  The Palace has a very nice spot overlooking both the lake and the town, and was full of paintings and artifacts from the 300 year period of its continuing construction. We spent about an hour browsing around, then decided to go walking back through the street shops seen on our inbound rickshaw ride. We browsed our way all the way back to our temporary home, so went in for a bite. Unfortunately the restaurant at our hostel (well reviewed, and therefore one of the selling points) was not open, so we backtracked to a spot that had tried to entice us during our walk. There we had a tomato curry and rice, and some drinks.

We chatted with the owner, as well as one of his sons, who really enjoyed playing with our iPod, taking pictures of himself and playing the simple games we have installed. Christina had fun with the resident kitten, and enjoyed trying to lure the little one into cute poses for photo opportunities. Now we have returned to our hostel and will rest before venturing out for the evening. Tomorrow we will finally meet Samvit and find out what DAAN has in store for us. Wish us luck!