Journey to Delhi

The day that I last wrote was indeed spent by the pool. It was really lovely to just relax and read and swim. It was so hot that I did much more swimming than reading...even just lying still with my book had me melting into puddles of sweat within a few minutes.

I had booked a train ticket to Delhi with a travel agent near the hotel and went back to pick it up at 6:30 in the evening as directed. When I got there not only was the ticket not ready but he said he had to bump me up to a higher class because the seat that he had previously assured me was confirmed, apparently wasn't. Of course he wanted more money, which I had to pay him because there was no other option. Another wonderful mood enhancer.

That evening I had a few drinks with the men in shop next door. A shop owner from across the street that I hadn't previously met was there. He was full of wisdom and insight (in his own mind) and decided to share all of this with me. I wonder if his views on traveling in India would have been different if he was a blond western woman rather than an Indian man. I learned recently that only 61% of Indians are Hindu, which was quite surprising to me. About 20% are Muslim and the remainder mixed. One of this guy's lines was that God is everywhere in the world but spends most of his time in India.

Later on, Shabby, the travel agent, took me for a drive to a park on the other side of the river to get the night views of the Taj Mahal from the back. I know what you're all thinking, but it was innocent and we really did just enjoy the view which was really lovely.

Yesterday morning I got myself packed and went to pick up my train ticket. Of course the guy wasn't at the office and had taken my ticket with him, so I had to sit there for half an hour waiting for him to come back. I truly don't know what, if anything, is going on in their heads here. After lunch I set off for the train station. The train was only delayed by about half an hour, which is somewhat of a miracle here. In fact they only print "estimated time of departure" on the ticket, so I'm not sure if there's any effort to run according to a schedule at all. The train was about 60 cars long, only one of them was 2nd class A/C and there was no way of knowing where that car might be. I started walking the length of the train and when I was about a third of the way down, it started pulling out of the station. I had no choice but to jump for the nearest door and hold on along with the half dozen or so other people doing the same thing. I had my backpack on my back and my day pack on my front and just held on for dear life until I could scramble my way into the car. It was a sleeper car, the lowest class available here, and was packed to the rafters with people sitting, lying and standing three and four deep on the seats and in the aisles. I stood there jammed in like a sardine for about an hour until we got to the next stop and I was able to jump out, run down the platform and find the 2nd class car.

The rest of the ride was actually quite pleasant. I was sitting with a very intelligent and lovely young American woman who kept me well entertained throughout the journey. The train spent a considerable amount of time just stopped in the countryside so we were about two hours late getting into Delhi. These prolonged stops in the middle of nowhere are normal here and I can't quite figure them out. When we got to Delhi, none of the taxi or rickshaw drivers had ever heard of my hotel, and I didn't have an address for it since Shabby had booked it for me. I got quite a tour of the city before I finally found it.

Accommodation in Delhi is very expensive compared to the rest of India (or Asia in general for that matter). I'm in a very average hotel room in the bazaar area of town where the backpackers hang out. The room wouldn't go for more than $10 anywhere else in India or Nepal, but it's costing me about $30 per night. The luxury that I was hoping to have here would cost me more than it would at home, so this will have to do. At least it's relatively clean and the A/C is excellent.

So far Delhi looks like it will be easier to take than the rest of India. It is filthy, crowded, noisy and smelly but the people seem to be leaving me alone here much more than elsewhere. I think I can handle everything else if I'm not hassled quite so much. Of course I've already been scammed once - I went out buy a beer last night to drink in my room and was given an Kingfeesher instead of a Kingfisher. The latter is the standard brew of India and is quite good, the former tasted like...well, just nasty. I can't believe that they're even knocking off beer now. Live and learn.

There are still some untold stories, but they'll have to wait for another sitting.

97 hours to lift-off.