March 21st - 23rd - Getting there is half the fun
Allow me to give you a little background on this travel adventure. I had everything ready for my trip. All of my gear was purchased, I had tested it all out, and I was ready to embark on what would be a memorable journey. Then two days before I was due to leave, I get a call from Orbitz that all of my flights have been canceled. Two hours with the morons from Orbitz on the phone fixes the problem and I'm put back at ease. It escapes me why the customer service representatives struggle to understand basic English and fail to grasp the idea of flight schedules and having to be in a certain place at a certain time to make the next leg of your journey. Landing in London at 2PM on Saturday does me no good when the flight they're trying to book me on to Delhi leaves at 11AM. But I digress…
Cue the morning of my departure, Friday March 21st. I'm finalizing a few things and just finishing packing my material when I get a call that my flight into Chicago is canceled due to a snowstorm. They can't get me in until the next day which would totally screw up my travel plans and make me eat a day. I quickly throw everything into my sister's 91 Buick and set out as quickly as I could for the drive from Detroit to Chicago. All four cylinders were purring as I pushed myself to try to get as far west as possible before I hit the snow storm.
Two hours outside of Detroit we have complete whiteout conditions and the entire road is a mess. Cars are in the ditches and rolled over, but still I press on. Fortunately as I approach Lake Michigan, the weather briefly clears for an hour or so which helps me get into the southern suburbs of Chicago before returning to sleet. I was lucky that my flight didn't leave until 9:45PM so I was the first one to check in. This allowed me to get a bulkhead seat for the entire leg of the trip all the way to Delhi. After some nervous wondering if we would take off, my fears were allayed by the weather starting to lighten up, and the fact that international flights were still taking off, but domestic ones were canceled.
We ended up having a two and half hour delay due to mechanical problems. After spending a good six hours in O'Hare, I was ready to go and just wanted to get on my way. In a rare touch of class, the crew of Air India rolled out the food carts right into the terminal and started giving away cookies, chips, water and soda to try to keep everyone happy. We finally took off after midnight and I fought sleep long enough to eat a meal before crashing and waking up as we descended into London.
In London, we must deplane to get it cleaned which sends us on a big loop back through the entire terminal and makes us go through security again. I don't understand this as we've never left a secured area. I bought a bottle of water in Chicago for the trip and this gets confiscated by security after I drink half of it in protest. Somehow, my 12oz bottle of saline solution gets through without a mention or notice.
On the flight to Delhi, the plane was empty and I managed to find an entire row of empty seats to stretch out in. Aided by some Johnnie Walker as a nightcap, I manage to sleep until we arrive into Delhi around 5:30AM Sunday March 23rd.
The first thing you notice when you step off of the plane in India is the humidity and the smell. It’s like walking into grandma's basement - it smells damp and old. The entire Delhi airport is a dump. It's filthy. Immigration only has one security camera. Light fixtures have their cords open and hanging from the ceiling and walls. I was pulled aside and told that someone will come get me for my next flight to Katmandu. I spent a nervous hour waiting for someone to show up, and when an airline representative does, they assure me that everything will be taken care of, despite the fact that I was told I had to go to reclaim my baggage myself. Note to travelers: This is why you keep your baggage claim number when flying through Delhi. They need it to find your bag.
It amazes me that everything here is done by hand. Nothing is computerized from what I can tell. We are taken upstairs to the next departure area, checked in via pen and paper and told to go sit on some white chairs and someone would come get us when its time for our flight. It's now around 7:00AM and my flight doesn't leave until 2:30PM. I amuse myself by watching the bats fly around the terminal. You read that right. Bats. Goddamned bats flying around in the terminal. But oh wait, it gets better! I had to go to the bathroom and as I'm standing at the urinal, I noticed a shower sound coming from the stalls. I delayed myself to catch a peek inside to confirm, yes, there is no toilet paper. I had heard they used no toilet paper in India, and this was my first confirmation that what I heard was true. From the best I can surmise, after taking a crap, people shower off their bottoms with a hose and hand and then an attendant pushes the poop water down towards a drain with a squeegee. I headed back to the waiting area, and we now have a feral cat walking around. Cats and bats. Fantastic.
Bored with the feline and flying rodents, I headed upstairs to the lounge area to see what it's all about. There was no attendant so I just walked right in and sat myself down at a computer to check the internet and get up to date on the latest sports scores. I was happy to see that Bucky made it to the Sweet Sixteen.
The rest of my time was alternated between putzing around on the computer and trying to get an answer out of Air India about where my flight and luggage was. It was like a firedrill as they ran around and tried to get us our flight information. Finally, we got our bags, confirmed them to get them checked onto the next flight, and got our boarding cards. We waited at security as they checked people through. My favorite part is when the guard walked through with a machine gun and the metal detector didn't make a noise at all. Security basically consisted of a half assed hand search. Finally I was at my plane for my flight into Katmandu and I tried making small talk with some of the people next to me. The woman I talked to was clearly insane because she kept going on and on about how nice the Delhi airport was. She was an American woman and was telling me how much better the Delhi airport was than any one she's been flown through in the United States. Maybe it's just me, but I don't ever remember seeing any feral cats or bats in an airport in the United States.
For whatever reason, when I booked my flight through Orbitz, I got a business class seat for the flight to Katmandu. I met a nice couple from Colorado who were supposed to go to Tibet but ended up coming to Nepal instead due to the troubles there. On the flight I enjoyed the free drinks and perks of business class as we flew over the Himalayas and into Nepal. Katmandu sits surrounded by mountains in its own little bowl. As such, the plane needs to make steep banks as it comes in for a landing to try and burn off as much altitude as possible. These mountains also keep the pollution in the city as the whole area is covered in a thick haze.
After landing, I took care of my visa and then got to finally see Mike for the first time in almost a year. We took a ride through the garbage ridden city on our way to the hotel as Mike remarked "Welcome to the third world."
The treats that I had brought along were a hit with everyone. Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Peeps, Rice Krispie Treats and Girl Scout Cookies. Mike wasn't feeling well so he stayed at our guest house (The Deutsch House) while I went out to dinner with Andrea, Blaine and Bethany Franger. Blaine and Bethany are a couple of professional photographers who Mike and Andrea met while couch surfing at the start of their journey. After several days of travel, I wasn't in the mood for experimenting, so I had some pizza and coke. After dinner we came back and hung out until bed.