Incredible India Part 5 - Depart Delhi

Part 5
Sunday Nov. 19,2006

John got up several times during the night & started becoming sick to his stomach. By morning he was vomiting & had pretty bad diarrhea as well. Our plan for the day was to tour Delhi on a bus tour or hire a taxi. Well John was in not shape to even get out of bed, except to hit the bathroom. He was having chills & then sweats, so I knew he had a fever. I went down & asked for a later checkout & the desk manager called a doctor for me. She said she would be right over, it was about 10am. She came over & John was indeed running a fever. She asked what he’d had to eat & we all decided it must have been the yogurt. Word of warning – that is one of the don’t eat foods when traveling to other countries. We should have known that, but just didn’t think about it. We mostly ate in hotel restaurants which are considered safe. The doctor gave him 2 injections & several pills to take during the rest of the day. The vomiting & diarrhea stopped pretty quickly, but he had a fever most of the day & stayed in bed. I have to admit that I was not the least sorry to have to spend the day in the hotel. I really had had enough & was ready for a day of rest.

At one point I did venture out to the gas station next door to the hotel to get some Gatorade & juice. I got hit up by several taxi drivers. After getting the drinks I decided to just take a walk along the street to stretch my legs. This one rickshaw driver wanted to give me a ride. I kept telling him I wanted to walk & that I was not going anywhere. He literally followed a long side of me as I walk for probably a quarter mile constantly asking me if I wanted a ride. I finally got so annoyed that I turned around & started walking in the opposite direction & the street was too busy for him to make a U turn & follow me. Several other drivers stopped & I said NO. I finally figured out that if I walked on the street going against the traffic they would not be able to harass me. This was much nicer. I guess in India, they just don’t know the word NO!!!

Alok picked us up to get John to the airport for a 6pm flight. I thought he should stay for another night in the hotel, but he insisted on going. He was miserable & couldn’t keep his eyes open. He had a flight to Mumbai, then over night to Bangkok. Had to do some business in Bangkok & arrive back in HK Monday around 7:30pm. I thought he should just try to get a direct flight back to HK, but he didn’t. We got him to the airport & I later found out that for about $200 he was able to upgrade to business class & he just slept the entire time. Guess that worked out alright.

My flight was not until 11pm, so Alok & Rajnee took me to a coffee shop to get some food. We had some veg sandwiches which were great. The coffee shop was in a little complex with a McDonalds (serving ice cream only) & a gas station. There was a guard in the parking lot that Alok spoke with before we went in. I asked what it was about & he said he just asked him to keep a special watch on our car. He is hired by the stores to protect the patron’s cars.

After eating we went to a street bazaar that has wares from all the different states of India. It is government run & has a very festive atmosphere. They had some wonderful items, but I didn’t have much money left, which was probably good. They have beautiful embroidered scarves for like $5. There were lots of unique products & it was fun to look around. The selling wasn’t as intense as outside & it helped to have Alok & Rajnee with me. We stopped at a café & had some Chi Tea. Rajnee & Alok gave me some earrings made form mother of pearl to remember my first visit to India. I thought that was really sweet of them. They are such genuine people, it was nice to get to know them. They said next time we have to stay with them & see what an Indian home is like.

I got to the airport in plenty of time. Rajnee made sure I knew where to go. You can only enter the airport if you have a boarding pass, so she had to leave me at the entrance. It was pretty confusing inside, but I managed to finally find the Air India desk. I got to the front & was told that I couldn’t check in because I had not had my bag x-rayed yet. When I asked where to do that the guy just said “next”. I wandered a little & finally asked a nicer worker who showed me where to go. They just have this x-ray machine set in the middle of the lobby of the airport. From what I could see there were no signs to tell you to do this. I got the bag x-rayed & went back & this time was able to check the bag. Next to the immigration line. I noticed that people were filling out papers. I asked a couple that I could hear were American what they were doing. They explained that I needed to get the paper & fill it out before going to the immigration. This is an exit paper. In HK when you come in you fill out a paper & they leave part of it in your passport & that is what you need when you leave. Not so simple in India. My immigration officer was an older man who looked like he should have retired several years ago & he acted like it too. He didn’t look anyone in the eye, just waved his hand to come or to go. When it was my turn he waved me in, looked at the paperwork, burped very loudly, then waved me away. It was so comical.

In the waiting room I made a point to find the American couple I’d met outside. They had said the live in HK, so I figured they’d be on my flight & they were. We had a great conversation & I immediately felt like I could relate to the woman, she is about my age & we had a great deal in common. We exchanged names & phone numbers & email addresses. I guess if you are reading my blog you already know that we got together last week & it was great. My new friend Sarah!! One last incident that happened on the plane. The dinner was good, I can’t even recall what it was, but there were some mixed veggies with the meal. There was a delicious looking green bean that I grabbed up & chomped into. After a few good chews, my mouth began to feel like there was a fire in it I have never in my life experienced anything like this feeling. I started to cry & really wanted to ask them to let me off the plane, I thought I would not make it. It was so painful. Fortunately there was some plain yogurt served with the meal. I took a huge spoonful & just let it sit in my mouth for about 5 minutes. I very very slowly ate the rest of the container of yogurt, letting it rest in my mouth to ease the pain. It finally felt better, but what an awful experience. Just the right ending to my trip!!

I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to be back in HK. The efficiency, the cleanliness, the politeness – wonderful!! We arrived home without problems around 8am & went right to bed. It was so nice to be back in my own bed. John got home later that night & was feeling much better. He had a good night sleep as well.

So over all, it was an “interesting” trip. I’m glad I went, but I can’t say I would be excited about going back. I’m sure there are many wonderful places to see in India, but I wouldn’t really want to go back to Delhi or Agra. Maybe to see the Taj in the full moon, but that would be it. I think they next trip I’d like to try a different country. I think the best thing out of this trip is probably going to prove to me meeting Sarah & having a friend in HK who isn’t connected to Cadmus.

Finally I have finished this blogspot. That is a relief. I know it was long & detailed, but I do this more for me, so that I will remember everything when I ever get a chance to reread it all.

Oh, a little test of your knowledge. Is the Taj-Mahal one of the 7 wonders of the world? Our guide said it was & he named the other 6. When we got back I couldn’t remember them all, so I looked them up on the computer. Our guide said they were: 1. Taj-Mahal, 2. Great Wall of China, 3. Pyramid of Giza, 4. Colossus of Rhodes, 5. Leaning Tower of Pisa, 6. Hanging Gardens of Babylon, 7. a temple on the Nile (Sue will kill me for not remembering that one).
I didn’t argue with the guide, but I had remembered reading about this & recalled that most of the 7 wonders were no longer in existence. My memory was correct. When I checked online, it said that although there were several lists with wonders of the world, the original 7 wonders of the ancient world were: 1. Pyramid of Giza (still there), 2. Hanging Gardens of Babylon, 3. Statue of Zeus at Olympia, 4. Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, 5. Mausoleum at Italicarnassus, 6. Colossus of Rhodes, 7 Lighthouse of Alexandria

There now you can’t say you didn’t learn anything from me. I’m sure my dad knew those, didn’t you dad?