Dazed and Confused in India

After a long (but enjoyable) flight from Amsterdam, we arrived at India Ghandi International Airport in Delhi, just before midnight last night. As we walked off the plane onto the jet bridge, we were hit with the 95 degree heat and immediately longed for the comfort of the air-conditioned plane. But, with e-visas and passports in hand, we made our way to Customs. It took an hour and a half to get to our turn but we enjoyed some interesting conversation with the Germans in front of us in the line, and, since they'd been to India before, got their tips on bug repellent and trains.

Now, here is the part where I confess that this stop in India was easily the most intimidating part of our travels for me... and also the part where I admit that, since I didn't have a clear and good plan in mind, I didn't plan much AT ALL and I guess I just kinda hoped everything would fall into place. Well, as nice as that would have been, unfortunately it has been a rough 24 hours since we arrived. We booked a place in New Delhi based on some Expedia recommendations and the fact that it was the only hotel I could find within our budget that advertised more than 1 bed in the room. Josh can and will (and has!) sleep just about anywhere, but I discovered after sharing the bed with him at one place in France, that he KICKS during the night. So even a small couch or big chair would have worked in a pinch, but a double bed for all three of us just didn't sound great. Long story short, we booked the hotel for our first night in India.

After I had read online tips for catching a taxi from the Delhi airport (in short: Provide your destination to the airport taxi desk for a quote, pay and get receipt, do not give the receipt to your driver no matter what until you arrive safely at your destination, take a photo of the driver and his credentials before you leave and text it to someone so they know your whereabouts, then if you STILL have any concerns, be sure to speak up when you pass the tourist police upon exiting the airport- WHAT??), Todd instead arranged for a slightly-more-expensive hotel pickup from the airport. We breathed a silent sigh of relief when we found our requested driver was waiting with sign in hand at airport arrivals, but the half hour ride from airport to hotel did not allow us to relax for long. I mean, it was insane! It's after 1:30 in the morning and cars and trucks and moped and bikes and tuk tuks were driving EVERYWHERE, no lanes, just everyone zigging and zagging and horns honking and everything lurching and the dust and the heat and the noise and the smells. It was seriously culture shock. As we started to slow near our hotel ("please, don't let this be near our hotel"), I got a not-so-good feeling. There were literally people laying all over the place, in the dirt, on the side of the road, on top of wagons, on top of cows right there in the streets. Children and dogs and rickshaws everywhere. Horns honking and sirens blaring. The hotel was dark and I couldn't read the sign. Oh God, are we even in the right place?

As we got to the door, I saw the sign for the hotel. Yes, this was it...The a/c welcomed me when we entered the dark lobby and we were immediately surround by no fewer than 5 men, all grabbing our bags and standing guard over them. We checked in, paid for the airport transfer and we led 10 steps around the corner to our room. Other than a strange smell, our first impression wasn't bad. The 5 men "showed us around" the room, flipping light switches and TV remotes and explaining faucet directions. Meanwhile we are all almost falling asleep on our feet. We kept thanking them, and good night and they stood there, until Todd gave them some rupees. Ok, they are out. Now what is that smell?

It really knocked us over when we opened the bathroom. Ammonia? Moth balls...A dead mouse? Yikes. I tried to ignore it as I held my breath and got ready for bed. I heard Josh in the other room, almost asleep, whisper "Can I see the mouse?" I assured him it would still be there in the morning (unfortunately) and he fell right to sleep. Todd and I strategized our next steps as we lay on grit, unsure if it was coming from the sheets, the air, or us. We did finally close our eyes for a bit.

When we awoke this morning, everything looked a bit different in the daylight (except, of course, the dead rodent). We grabbed some granola bars and went in search of information at the train station. One advantage to our hotel location is that we were only a 10 minute walk from the main train station. (Note: Staying near a train station is apparently not a good place to be.) The walk was interesting, an eyeful. We tried not to stare, but got equal stares in return. A couple of people reached out to touch Josh. One women pinched his cheek...The Tourist Info office at the train station was moderately helpful and the tour desk at the hotel was even more so. We got lunch at a (nicer) hotel nearby and asked for a cab to the Nizamuddin train station. Our cab driver thought we were going to the airport, though, and although we got that clarified fairly early in the journey, turns out he didn't actually know where the Nizamuddin train station was...Almost 90 minutes later and no fewer than 15 stops for him to get out of the running car and ask for directions, we got to the station just in time to find our berths before departure.

This is where things started to get better. The train was not bad. First off, it was air conditioned. We each had our own bunk, with linens and a place to put our bags. The staff came around with waters and food and the people sitting near us were nice and helped us out. We relaxed ever so slightly for the 4 hour journey and filled our churning bellies just a little bit. Some of the train crew let us know when our stop was coming up and we exited at the Sawai Madhopur train station. It was night again, cooler thankfully. Large colorful murals of tigers on the walls, lots of people. It is a Saturday after all, and I guess the Ranthambhore Tiger Park is popular with Indian tourists also. I went to pull up the screenshot I had taken with my phone to get the address of the place where we had hoped to stay and oh, great actually my phone is totally dead. And there are no outlets that work in the train station. Everyone wants to know what we need..Taxi? hotel? safari? what can we do for you? No thanks, we say, but they continue to follow us. One man even held out his phone and said I could make a call. No thanks, we kept saying. A group of 10 young girls ran up the ramp after me and one of them taps me, smiles and says "Selfie please?" Sure, why not?

One of a group of young guys at the exit to the station knew the hotel by name (they promised), so we accepted a ride with him after agreeing on a price. As we were walking to the rickshaw, Josh says, "What is THAT?" I turn and see a large black WILD BOAR roaming next to us in the dirt. "Oh, that? I think that's a...wild boar," I say. "There's another wild boar, Mommy. And there are some baby boars." We are definitely not in Kansas anymore Toto.

The staff of the hotel welcomed us warmly, got our bags (they insisted, saying it was "on them") and helped us get checked into our room... which was clean. And cool. And had power. And running water! And no smell and no rodents! We are 90% confirmed on an early morning safari to try to catch a glimpse of the last remaining wild tigers, probably in the world...I'm so excited!

More pics tomorrow, I hope!
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