As mentioned, I decided to go to the hospital partly because my friends were due to visit in a week. There were concerns about getting their Indian visas in time (unfortunately one of them didn't make it) and of course I felt responsible for them. For those who have been to India, you know what I mean. For those who haven't, India is a high-paced, overwhelming, and intimidating place for first-time visitors. And I love my friends dearly but they live comfortable lives and are accustomed to a high level of good customer service and painless travel. This would of course benefit me later, but it contributed to my unease about them traveling alone in India. So two days after getting discharged from the hospital, I was still exhausted and didn't have my strength back but I got on a plane to meet them at the Delhi airport as our flights were arriving within half an hour of each other.
This was no fun. I traveled on a budget airline and arrived at Terminal 1 while they arrived at the nice international Terminal 3. We decided to meet at the Costa Coffee right outside customs. In the back of my mind I knew there would be issues trying to get into the terminal, but like a true Indian I decided I would figure it out and take care of it once I got there. After getting to Terminal 3, I had to find the Costa Coffee. Done. Except I couldn't get into the building. In India, you need a ticket just to get inside the airport. So I walked the entire length of the airport about seven times, as different people told me different ways to get into the airport. I finally found a ticket counter that sold visitors' tickets to the airport. I got one, but was told I couldn't take bags in. Well I had a suitcase and backpack since I was going on a 10-day trip so that prevented me from going in. At this point I'm pretty frustrated because I had lost my cell phone on the way to the airport, and just have no idea how I'm going to get to my friends. I said I was just going to leave my bags outside and they said I couldn't do that either, adding to my frustration. I could see the Costa Coffee through the windows, and decide to ask the carts outside if they could call the Costa Coffee inside to tell my friends to come out. But they didn't have the number, I was foolishly hoping there would be some sort of intercom system. At the height of my frustration, I went to one of the airport staff milling around and shed a few tears to show them how desperate and frustrated I was. He agreed to let me walk up to the door (there's a barricade about 30 feet from the door that prevents people from even approaching). As we were walking up I see my friends through the window! I gesticulate wildly for them to come outside and we were reunited! It was so great to see them, and I was so relieved that the one-hour saga came to a happy end. Then we left for the hotel.
Upon arrival at the hotel we were told it was overbooked so we would be staying at a sister hotel. I asked if it's just as nice and he kind of demurred and said it's not all the same but I was too tired to notice. We got to the sister hotel and it was not nice. My friend pointed out we just got downgraded. Then I got more annoyed. They gave us some water bottles and we went to sleep because we had a train the next morning. In the morning we moved our stuff back to the original hotel. Before letting us leave for the train they wanted us to pay for the water. It was about a dollar. But I had it. I argued with hotel manager that I wasn't going to pay for the water unless he refunded us the difference in rates between the two hotels or upgraded us for the second night. After 10 minutes of being stubborn, they let us catch our train to Agra.
We decided to get a driver for the day in Agra. At first there was no guide in the car, after I insisted there be one all of a sudden we had a new driver and a guide for the same price. We started at Fatehpur Sikri as the sky was filled with smog and smoke and we wouldn't have good views of the Taj. The heavy cloud cover keeps all the pollution trapped overnight and it doesn't start to dissipate until the sun burns away the cloud cover. We had a nice guide who explained the old city and then we went to the Taj. It's pretty awesome. There were a ton of people and we made two laps around it just to get into various lines. But it was really beautiful. This was my second time visiting Agra. The first time was misery because of the heat and humidity. The second time was much, much better and I was able to enjoy the day. I actually had to borrow my friend's hoodie!
We had a long lunch, and got driven to various crafts stores. After driving around Agra Fort, our cab was stuck in gridlock traffic. Our driver had warned one of the other drivers to be more careful. About 15 minutes later, this driver rear-ended our car with some force. Our driver gets out and demands the other driver also get out of the car. I'm not really watching, my friend is, and I hear a SMACK. I turn around to see our driver slap the other driver again across the face. The other driving was rubbing his cheek and looked ashamed. I mean, if someone slapped me I'd be pissed! But this guy just looked embarrassed. The driver gets back in the car like nothing happened. My friends and I were pretty stunned and didn't really know how to react, so we just started laughing. I mean this guy just slaps this other guy across the face and it's all ok? It turned out to be one of the more-talked about points of our trip.
Well our driver continued to drive us to various stores until our train time. My friend bought a carpet and I got some jewelry. Then we got back on the train to head to Delhi. When reaching the hotel it turns out I got an upgraded room and we all got free internet. Because of this we paid for the water when checking out the next morning.
Then we spent the day in Delhi before our evening flight. I wanted to show them the "real India" so we ate at Karim's in Old Delhi and walked around Chandni Chowk. After about five minutes walking around in the craziness we'd had enough and decided to see Red Fort. Well we were completely lost so we kept walking. We were so lost that the locals milling around saw us, knew we didn't belong, and immediately pointed the direction out of the market. We finally reach a road where we hail an auto. At that point we had about an hour before we had to leave for the airport, and my friend had a "Delhi belly" moment so we decided to go back to the hotel. I'm happy because my friends visited and got to see the authentic frenetic India. Next up: the Maldives.
This was no fun. I traveled on a budget airline and arrived at Terminal 1 while they arrived at the nice international Terminal 3. We decided to meet at the Costa Coffee right outside customs. In the back of my mind I knew there would be issues trying to get into the terminal, but like a true Indian I decided I would figure it out and take care of it once I got there. After getting to Terminal 3, I had to find the Costa Coffee. Done. Except I couldn't get into the building. In India, you need a ticket just to get inside the airport. So I walked the entire length of the airport about seven times, as different people told me different ways to get into the airport. I finally found a ticket counter that sold visitors' tickets to the airport. I got one, but was told I couldn't take bags in. Well I had a suitcase and backpack since I was going on a 10-day trip so that prevented me from going in. At this point I'm pretty frustrated because I had lost my cell phone on the way to the airport, and just have no idea how I'm going to get to my friends. I said I was just going to leave my bags outside and they said I couldn't do that either, adding to my frustration. I could see the Costa Coffee through the windows, and decide to ask the carts outside if they could call the Costa Coffee inside to tell my friends to come out. But they didn't have the number, I was foolishly hoping there would be some sort of intercom system. At the height of my frustration, I went to one of the airport staff milling around and shed a few tears to show them how desperate and frustrated I was. He agreed to let me walk up to the door (there's a barricade about 30 feet from the door that prevents people from even approaching). As we were walking up I see my friends through the window! I gesticulate wildly for them to come outside and we were reunited! It was so great to see them, and I was so relieved that the one-hour saga came to a happy end. Then we left for the hotel.
Upon arrival at the hotel we were told it was overbooked so we would be staying at a sister hotel. I asked if it's just as nice and he kind of demurred and said it's not all the same but I was too tired to notice. We got to the sister hotel and it was not nice. My friend pointed out we just got downgraded. Then I got more annoyed. They gave us some water bottles and we went to sleep because we had a train the next morning. In the morning we moved our stuff back to the original hotel. Before letting us leave for the train they wanted us to pay for the water. It was about a dollar. But I had it. I argued with hotel manager that I wasn't going to pay for the water unless he refunded us the difference in rates between the two hotels or upgraded us for the second night. After 10 minutes of being stubborn, they let us catch our train to Agra.
We decided to get a driver for the day in Agra. At first there was no guide in the car, after I insisted there be one all of a sudden we had a new driver and a guide for the same price. We started at Fatehpur Sikri as the sky was filled with smog and smoke and we wouldn't have good views of the Taj. The heavy cloud cover keeps all the pollution trapped overnight and it doesn't start to dissipate until the sun burns away the cloud cover. We had a nice guide who explained the old city and then we went to the Taj. It's pretty awesome. There were a ton of people and we made two laps around it just to get into various lines. But it was really beautiful. This was my second time visiting Agra. The first time was misery because of the heat and humidity. The second time was much, much better and I was able to enjoy the day. I actually had to borrow my friend's hoodie!
We had a long lunch, and got driven to various crafts stores. After driving around Agra Fort, our cab was stuck in gridlock traffic. Our driver had warned one of the other drivers to be more careful. About 15 minutes later, this driver rear-ended our car with some force. Our driver gets out and demands the other driver also get out of the car. I'm not really watching, my friend is, and I hear a SMACK. I turn around to see our driver slap the other driver again across the face. The other driving was rubbing his cheek and looked ashamed. I mean, if someone slapped me I'd be pissed! But this guy just looked embarrassed. The driver gets back in the car like nothing happened. My friends and I were pretty stunned and didn't really know how to react, so we just started laughing. I mean this guy just slaps this other guy across the face and it's all ok? It turned out to be one of the more-talked about points of our trip.
Well our driver continued to drive us to various stores until our train time. My friend bought a carpet and I got some jewelry. Then we got back on the train to head to Delhi. When reaching the hotel it turns out I got an upgraded room and we all got free internet. Because of this we paid for the water when checking out the next morning.
Fatehpur Sikri
The Taj Mahal
The fountains were off!
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