Lesson learned today: next time I come to India, get the prepaid taxi to your hotel.
Normally, I turn the taxi offer down and take public transit. First, the taxi is likely SUPER overpriced and I like to save money. Second, I like to start figuring out where I am and how to get around. Since my experience in Thailand, I always prebook a hotel for my first night in a new country. I purposely reserved one in an area close to public transit so I can get there on my own.
And it almost worked this time.
Except this is India. And India is crazy.
After a sleepless 16 hour plane ride (with a whole row to myself!) I arrived in New Delhi airport, excited, hopeful and tired. The airport is new, clean and super modern. I find the train station easily and hop on the airport express metro to New Delhi train station. The metro is also new, clean, open and super modern. Outside, however, is an extreme contrast: things go from shiny, new and air-conditioned to hot, humid, hundreds of people, tiny corridors, whistles and people shouting. I step out into a crowd of THOUSANDS of shouting indian people.
According to my lonely planet's map and the hotel website, I only have to walk 5 minutes down the only road from the train station and I will be at my hotel. Easy!
Well...turns out there is more than one exit from the train station.
And more than one street from the exit.
There are 5. And 2 highways.
And I was surrounded by people screaming because I had just walked into a huge protest. Hundreds of people were streaming through the streets with painted faces, carrying flags, chanting and yelling and army guys in camo outfits with big guns. I found myself standing on a cement island in the middle of it all staring at the chaos around me, people streaming by on all sides, completely lost.
So...I turn around and go back to the metro. I will find a phone and call the hotel for that taxi.
I go back in but the protestors had reached the station so now there were now hundreds of people crammed inside yelling and yelling and yelling and the phones are all broken. An Indian officer in camo with a giant gun approaches me and tells me to leave because it is not a good place to be, miss.
I go back outside and accept a ride from an open rickshaw outside who swears he knows the street on the map and I dont know where I am going or if it is the right way and I sit perched on the wooden seat with my bag as he pushes the rickshaw through the crowd (because he cant ride the bike in the sea of people). Kids are hitting my bag with flags and I get spit on....
We get out of the crush of people and he hops on and we ride over a bridge, then around and under a bridge, where he hops off and talks with some friends, then hops back on and we go back to the bridge and through some side streets and he talks with some more people and then back through some more streets...wasnt this hotel a 5 minute walk away?.... and finally stops in front of a sketchy alley that apparently my hotel is down...
I give him a big tip, shoulder my bag and head down the narrow, lonely alley. Then hesitate. I am tired and alone in a dark alley in the middle of nowhere, India and I am most likely lost. This is the worst idea in the history of the world. But I keep going down the alley, and it ends. So I turn and go down another alley and....hey, there is my hotel!
The man at the front desk of the hotel is very nice and I must look bewildered because he offers me tea and sits with me down and asks if I am okay. LOL
Today has been much better. Still havent slept. No protests so far. Going to see if I can find my way back to the train station. Yesterday I was ready to turn around and go home but I think it will all be okay now.
Lots of love to all...will update soon.
Anna
Normally, I turn the taxi offer down and take public transit. First, the taxi is likely SUPER overpriced and I like to save money. Second, I like to start figuring out where I am and how to get around. Since my experience in Thailand, I always prebook a hotel for my first night in a new country. I purposely reserved one in an area close to public transit so I can get there on my own.
And it almost worked this time.
Except this is India. And India is crazy.
After a sleepless 16 hour plane ride (with a whole row to myself!) I arrived in New Delhi airport, excited, hopeful and tired. The airport is new, clean and super modern. I find the train station easily and hop on the airport express metro to New Delhi train station. The metro is also new, clean, open and super modern. Outside, however, is an extreme contrast: things go from shiny, new and air-conditioned to hot, humid, hundreds of people, tiny corridors, whistles and people shouting. I step out into a crowd of THOUSANDS of shouting indian people.
According to my lonely planet's map and the hotel website, I only have to walk 5 minutes down the only road from the train station and I will be at my hotel. Easy!
Well...turns out there is more than one exit from the train station.
And more than one street from the exit.
There are 5. And 2 highways.
And I was surrounded by people screaming because I had just walked into a huge protest. Hundreds of people were streaming through the streets with painted faces, carrying flags, chanting and yelling and army guys in camo outfits with big guns. I found myself standing on a cement island in the middle of it all staring at the chaos around me, people streaming by on all sides, completely lost.
So...I turn around and go back to the metro. I will find a phone and call the hotel for that taxi.
I go back in but the protestors had reached the station so now there were now hundreds of people crammed inside yelling and yelling and yelling and the phones are all broken. An Indian officer in camo with a giant gun approaches me and tells me to leave because it is not a good place to be, miss.
I go back outside and accept a ride from an open rickshaw outside who swears he knows the street on the map and I dont know where I am going or if it is the right way and I sit perched on the wooden seat with my bag as he pushes the rickshaw through the crowd (because he cant ride the bike in the sea of people). Kids are hitting my bag with flags and I get spit on....
We get out of the crush of people and he hops on and we ride over a bridge, then around and under a bridge, where he hops off and talks with some friends, then hops back on and we go back to the bridge and through some side streets and he talks with some more people and then back through some more streets...wasnt this hotel a 5 minute walk away?.... and finally stops in front of a sketchy alley that apparently my hotel is down...
I give him a big tip, shoulder my bag and head down the narrow, lonely alley. Then hesitate. I am tired and alone in a dark alley in the middle of nowhere, India and I am most likely lost. This is the worst idea in the history of the world. But I keep going down the alley, and it ends. So I turn and go down another alley and....hey, there is my hotel!
The man at the front desk of the hotel is very nice and I must look bewildered because he offers me tea and sits with me down and asks if I am okay. LOL
Today has been much better. Still havent slept. No protests so far. Going to see if I can find my way back to the train station. Yesterday I was ready to turn around and go home but I think it will all be okay now.
Lots of love to all...will update soon.
Anna
