Here I go

I am leaving in a few hours for my weekend adventure. I will be traveling by train to Ranthambore, then to Jaipur and then back to Delhi on Sunday.


I will go on two jeep safari's on Satuday and tour Jaipur on Sunday. I am staying here for two nights: http://www.ranthambhore.com/theBaghAcco.html

I can't wait!

Update

I got my stitches out today. My foot is a little sore, but it is looking good.

I leave tomorrow after work on a train for my jeep safari and Jaipur tour.

I can't wait! I'll post pictures next week.

My impression of Delhi

I have been in Delhi for one week now. Delhi is actually two cities Old Delhi and New Delhi. Old Delhi does not have much in it, so when you say Delhi you are referring to New Delhi.

The city is not very nice. Not only is there a lot of poverty, but most everything is dirty. There are some beautiful tombs and mosques, but overall it is not that nice. To me it is like touring a poor city in Mexico that has nice monuments. Everyone who has anything to do with tourism (drivers, restaurant owners, shop owners, "free" guides, etc) has no problem with conning a tourist. It seems to be the way of life here. Not just having higher prices for a foreigner (which is to be expected) but drivers will take you to expensive shops against your will because the store owners pay them to.

One humorous example of this culture was a small boy who insisted I take a picture of him. I figured why not, if it makes him happy. He then charged me 10 Rupees (about 25 cents). I laughed at his inventive entrepreneurship and refused. He then asked for 2 Rupees and I agreed. If he wants 5 cents that bad, I figured he earned it. But getting conned by an eight year old is pretty funny.

Thankfully I know some locals on a personal level through work, so I know that most Indians are very kind and giving people. I doubt many tourists get this impression because they do not have the opportunity I do. The people at work are so nice and social. Everyone in the office greets me multiple times a day even though I do not know most of them. I had my lunch bought for me twice even though I insisted that it wasn't necessary.

Some crazy things about India:

• It is very common to see a man urinating on the side of the road.
  
• There are cows and dogs walking around that do no belong to anyone. Although they have freedom, they seem very unhappy because they have little access to food and water.
  
• Sometimes men hold hands while walking together as a sign of friendship.
  
• There is a head movement of shaking you head diagonally (top of head to the right and chin to the left, and then top of head to the left and chin to the right) which means ok, yes, or I understand. To an American it looks like they are shaking there head "No", but they are saying yes.
  
• Women usually sit as passengers on a motorcycle side-saddle. Sometimes they are even carrying their baby on their lap.
  
• Traffic laws are not followed at all.

The traffic here is unlike anywhere else in the world (I hope). Most red lights and stop signs are ignored completely. There is little room for side view mirrors as cars drive in the lanes and in-between the lanes. A 4 lane highway is used as a 6-7 lane highway. Motorcycles zoom in and out of this crazy traffic even with women sitting sidesaddle, I have no idea how they stay on. Fender benders are very common as are broken down abandoned cars in the middle of the road. There is no such thing as yielding to a pedestrian or another car. I have seen several pedestrians get hit, although not seriously hurt. The hardest thing to adjust to is the non-stop horn honking. Signaling is not used here, instead when you are going to pass someone or if someone is moving into your lane you honk the horn. You do not look before you change lanes you just do it and if someone is there they will honk at you. Honking is not used out of anger or frustration; it is simply a part of normal driving. Because of this the noise pollution is very high. If you are near a major road, you will hear horns 24 hours a day.

Sightseeing in Delhi

Saturday was spent seeing the sights in Delhi.

I saw Gandhi's Delhi home, a Gandhi museum, and where Gandhi was cremated. I saw the largest mosque in India, a lot of tombs, and a new temple that looks like the Sydney opera house, the tallest single tower in the world, capital buildings, and monuments like India Gate.

The Taj Mahal is a tomb (the biggest and best in India) to give you an idea of what an Indian tomb looks like. There were some really nice things and great architecture, but after five hours aof looking at tombs, mosques, and temples, it gets a little boring.

On Sunday I went to a fantastic market called Delhi Haat. They had fabulous scarves and bedding made of silk, cashmere, wool, and pashmema. There were also purses, jewelry, trinkets, and a few handicrafts. The prices (if you bargain) were really good. Since it was the first place we went I only bought one thing, but everywhere else we went has terrible. I am going to try and go back this week to buy many things. There is one thing in particular I wish I would have bought and I hope it is still there and that the price will have not gone up.

I hope we can find markets in other cities as good as Delhi Haat.

Stitches

I had quite an eventful day at work today.

Just before lunch I was wrapping up the morning lesson when I tripped. I was using a dry erase board on a metal tripod and somehow my pinky toe got caught on the front leg of the tripod. This tripped me which then tripped the tripod causing it to fall over and me to fall to the ground. It was one of those slow motion accidents that I could not stop.

I thought I was fine, but when I stood up it felt like I has stepped in water. I looked down and there was blood everywhere. Everyone was very nice and we got it cleaned up and saw that there was a very deep cut between my pinky toe and the toe next to it. The office nurse (who does not speak English) came to look at it. She had very long scissors she used to dab cotton balls in alcohol to rub on my foot. I saw the scissors and started to cry because I did not know what she was going to do to my foot. I was also scarred because it was pretty obvious that I needed stitches and the thought of getting sewn up in an Indian hospital scarred me.

Sure enough the nurse said I needed to go to the hospital. The manager of the Gurgaon branch came with me, which was good because only the doctor spoke English. The hospital was more like a clinic, I am sure Delhi has a bigger hospital but this was probably the closest one. It was dirty, and I wouldn't ever eat in a place like that, so I was terrified. I saw a nurse right away who cleaned up my foot. Everything is very unsanitary but she seems to be doing a good job regardless.

Then the doctor comes in and says I only need one stitch. I am paying a lot of attention to make sure only new needles are used. She seems to be getting the needle and thread ready, so I get a little scarred that they won't use anesthesia. I ask her if it will hurt and she says it won't because they will be using local anesthesia. The anesthesia shot is a little painful, but not to bad. She then immediately starts stitching up my foot.

When I was in a car accident and got 37 stitches I could not feel the needle entering and exiting my skin, but I did feel the thread pass through. It was a weird feeling, but there was no pain.

So when I felt the needle go through my skin I started getting really freaked out. Another doctor tried to explain why I felt the needle, but he did not convince me that it was supposed to be like that. The anesthesia did have some effect because the pain was not excruciating. It felt like I was getting a painful shot, but I was crying out of fear not pain.

The doctor then said I needed another stitch, which I was not happy about. I cried through it and then it was over. Two nurses bandaged me up and gave me a Tetnis shot. I need to come back in seven days to take the stitches out.

The head doctor took a long time talking to me in his office and prescribed three medications, which seems unnecessary. He gave me his cell phone number and told me to call him every other day because he wanted to change my bandage personally. I have no idea why a head doctor would want to change the bandage of a patient with 2 stitches, so I can only assume it is because I am American. Although the offer was really nice, I am going to change the bandage myself because going to the hospital is a hassle and because it is unclean.

I will return on Thursday to get the stitches out, unless my wound shows signs of infection before that.

Delhi Day 1

The flight from Dubai to Delhi was even better than the first flight. Emirates upgraded entertainment system is on this new plane and there are 500 channels, you can play the movies whenever you want and pause and rewind. The food was so good and I was hoping the flight would last for many hours because everything was so pleasant. I watched The Queen which was very good and interesting to see after touring London.

Upon arrival at the Delhi airport I try and find my driver from the Radisson hotel. There are about 50 divers all with signs and I never find my name. I find a Radisson diver and he calls the hotel to see what the deal is. Since I arrived in Delhi at 3:00 am on 3/18 my work made a mistake and didn't start my reservation until 3/18. But since check in isn't until noon, the Radisson thought they were picking me up the next evening. They send a driver and the hotel has vacancies so I get a room a night early.

The hotel is beautiful. It has marble floors, fresh flowers, 4 restaurants, a spa, and a beautiful pool. The concierge insists on taking my bags to my room for me, much different than in London. The room has a marble bathroom, bathrobe, huge bed, desk, sitting area, two closets, a fresh flower, and complementary fruit platter upon request. Breakfast buffet, evening drink, and a liter of water are included in the hotel rate.

Everyone at the hotel waits on you hand and foot, most of the time.

The breakfast buffet has pancakes, made-to-order eggs and omelets, breakfast pastries, crepes, fruit, and Indian food. There is an Italian, Chinese, American, and Indian restaurant. The Indian restaurant brings you dish after dish which is good because I don't know what to order. Some things are really good, but most of it I do not like because I don't like Indian food. The American restaurant is pretty bad, but I did have one dish I liked there.

London to Delhi on Emirates

I am sitting in the Dubai airport waiting for my flight to Delhi. All I can say is, I am not in Kansas anymore. The airport is lovely, but the clothes of many of the people here is not what I am used to. About 25% of people are wearing clothes we see on CNN. Men with beards in black turbans or white gowns with a sheet of there head with a "headband" around (like what you would see in the desert in the Middle East). Women are wearing black clothing from head to toe and all you can see is there eyes.

I had to ask for help opening a can of Pepsi as the top is different from what I am used to and I broke the top of the first can. I am frightened of security as there are men around who look like the military. I don't think there is actually anything to fear, but my fear comes from the unknown and all of this is very unknown to me.

I am in the business class lounge right now, which I am thankful for because I feel a little safer. I have not seen any other single female travelers. Women have either been with there husbands or traveling with a female companion. This is probably partly due to the fact that women travel on business less frequently then men, but it may also be a cultural thing, I'm not sure. Being an American woman by myself I feel like I am standing out like a sore thumb.

But, now onto the lovely trip I just experienced. I wish Emirates flew in the US, the service is top notch. I was traveling business class, but even American Airlines first class is not as good. The whole flight was like a non-stop buffet of gourmet food. First was fresh squeezed orange juice or champagne, then it was a canapés course, then an appetizer of smoked salmon and salad, then the main lunch course (I choose Asian Prawns), then the desert course (I choose a banana cake with toffee topping), after that the desert cart came by a second time with fruits and cheeses as an additional choice, finally it was afternoon tea accompanied y sandwiches and deserts. The flight began and ended with a hot towel. There were little extras such as a flower on each plate and a cloth placemat on the table.

The in-flight entertainment options were ten times better than American airlines. I watched Night at the Museum and Sideways. There were lots of movies and TV shows to choose from. I even caught a music video in Arabic, it was quite amusing. They also had hundreds of video games to play. I played hang man, mine sweeper, and a puzzle game. There was a channel to watch your flight progress, but they also had cameras mounted to the front and bottom of the plane so you could watch those channels as well. I enjoyed that as I was not able to get a window seat on this flight. I watched the plane land on the front of the plane camera, which was pretty intense. I am not scarred of flying, but watching your own plane land makes you realize how vulnerable you are.

The seat was phenomenal. It had controls in the armrest to automatically adjust the seat back, lift the foot rest, and position the lower back of the seat. The seats did not lay all the way flat but it was like a very comfortable recliner that you could take a lovely nap in. This time the TV remote in the armrest was necessary because I could not reach the seat back in front of me with my toe when my legs were fully extended, let alone my arm.

I know I am using words like "lovely" and "quite"; listening to English being spoke properly (there I go again) for two days made me see how nice English can sound. I really like "lovely", "quite", and "proper"; they sound much better than "cool" and "very".

Back to the flight, it was like being in a great movie theater with ultra-comfortable seats and great food served to you. The time flew by, and I was on board for almost 7 hours.

As we were de-boarding a professor from Texas State that was on my plane introduced herself, small world.

Now onto Delhi, ready or not here I go.

London

Upon arrival at the airport in London I got my luggage and walked to the underground train station in the airport. I took the Heathrow Express to central London, which was a 15 minute comfortable ride. At the train station I found the taxi line and got a cab. I had 2 pieces of rolling luggage a bag around my shoulder and a laptop bag. The cab driver told me to put my luggage in the car and he stayed in the car while I struggled to load everything. I don't know if that is normal for London cab drivers or if he was being rude. After a very long $30 cab ride I was at the hotel. I got a room on the 12th floor, but the elevator only went to the 11th floor so I had to carry all my bags up a flight of stairs by myself.

The room was a little larger than what you would expect to get on a cruise ship. It had two twin beds, a small desk, a TV in the corner, very little walking room, and a shower with no tub. There was no AC, but I opened the window which cooled down the room. After watching a little TV, I was able to go right to sleep.

Day 1
I bought a two day pass for a hop-on hop-off tour bus. There was a stop near my hotel, but my ticket said that when you first board the tour you need to board at one of three locations. I took London's underground subway (tube) to the tour start nearest my hotel. I had to change trains and was a little worried about getting lost, but I got to Piccadilly Circle with no problems. Piccadilly Circle is like a small version of Time Square. After wandering around for 30 minutes I finally found the tour bus stop. I stand there for 45 minutes before the bus finally comes. Come to find out that they changed the start of their tour and I could have walked one block over to board the long line of buses with no waiting. I am a little frustrated, but mostly relieved to no longer be alone in an unfamiliar city.

I go to the top level of the double decker bus which is open air. The tour guide is great and London has so much to see. I knew the main things I wanted to see and am glad that I have two days to try and do it all.

First stop is Buckingham Palace where I get there just as the changing of the guard has started. There are people everywhere and even with standing on my toes I can't see much of anything over all the people. I did get the gist of it. Guards march around or ride in on horses a royal band plays music and the whole things lasts an hour. After about 20 minutes I was ready to get back on the bus. I get to the bus stop just as the bus drives away, darn. 15 minutes later the next bus is there.

Next stop is Trafalgar's Square which has some nice monuments, fountains, and the National Gallery. The National Gallery is England's art gallery, which is phenomenal. I saw Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" and "Chair". They also had Monet's and other famous painters' work.

Lunch is at a restaurant called "The Texas Embassy" where they have Texas license plates and stickers all over the walls. The food is Tex-Mex and is terrible, but it was fun to see what England's version of Texas food is.

Next, I take a tour of the Tower Bridge. The London bridge is actually just a boring looking bridge (and it has come down and been rebuilt several times), the Tower Bridge is the big, beautiful bridge that raises and lowers for large ships. At the top of the bridge is a walkway with really good views, underneath the bridge you can tour how the bridge used to raise and lower (which has since been modernized and is done at the press of a button).

The Tower Bridge is next to the Tower of London which is where the crown jewels are displayed. I walk over and buy a ticket which is almost $20. What I didn't realize is the tower of London is like a fort with lots of buildings inside. Each building is a museum, and seeing everything would take almost a whole day. I go to see the crown jewels, which are very nice and tour one of the museums. It is a lot of walking and climbing spiral stairs that seem to never end. I know I don't have time to see anything else, which is to bad. I did see a raven on the grounds. The myth goes that if the ravens ever leave the tower, London will fall. So they clipped the wings of the ravens to ensure this would not happen.

After taking the tour bus back to Piccadilly Circus and see the theater where Equis, the new play with Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) is showing. The show had rave reviews so I figured it was sold out, but I decided to try. They had a few tickets left and I bought one. I couldn't believe I was going to she the show I had heard about on the Today show. I find a little pizza shop to eat some dinner before the show and go back to the theater. The show was really good, and the acting was superior.

I take the tube back to the hotel and I am exhausted but I can't fall asleep right away. First I watch last week's American Idol and then I watch a live game show that shows a word puzzle and callers call in to try and solve it for lots of money. It is ridiculous because there are hundreds of possible answers but the winner has to guess the one answer the show had predetermined as correct. After an hour of people guessing, still no one has guessed the answer correctly and I fall asleep.

Day 2
I get up early to try and find the tour bus stop next to my hotel. This is a disaster too as it is very hidden and I find it after an hour of walking around. Finally, the bus comes and I go to the London Eye. This is a fairly new attraction in London over the Thames River. It is like a huge ferris wheel with large clear bubble shaped cars for 20+ passengers per car. The views from the Eye are very good and it is great for pictures. After a brief snack of a fresh sugared waffle with whipped cream (super yummy) I walk across the bridge to the other side of the Thames to go on a river tour. I am almost there when I see two people running to the doc and the Big Ben clock is chiming. I realize the cruise must leave on the hour and I am about to miss it so I start running. I board the boat and it pulls away. I feel like all my waiting at the bus stops has now evened out because I was so lucky to make that boat. The guided tour is great and I see things like where Shakespeare and Daniel Radcliffe went to school.

I've now done everything I wanted to do and seen everything else on the tour bus. I go to the start of the tour near Piccadilly Circus to look around at the shops and for something to eat. I still haven't eaten fish and chips or drunken tea so I need to do that for dinner. I see a half price ticket booth and ask about Avenue Q, a play I have wanted to see for a while. It is a show with puppets that has adult humor and I had heard good things. They still have tickets for tonight's show, and I have to get one. I end up getting 9th row center and am thrilled.

The show starts in less than two hours so I decide to find somewhere to eat, find the theater, and shop. I find a little pub that has great fish and chips and friendly service. I order a tea and they bring it with a side of milk. I have never heard of milk in tea, but I decided to try it. I thought is tasted terrible, maybe that is an acquired taste. The theater is a 10 minute walk away, but takes me 15 minutes because I get a little lost.

Avenue Q was hilarious and really well done. I sat next to a really nice couple from Missouri who saw Avenue Q on Broadway with the original cast and said this show was just as good. I want the soundtrack, the songs are so funny.

After doing the bus tour for two days I realize that my hotel is fairly close to Piccadilly Circus, so I decide to be brave and walk back. I took one wrong turn which I quickly corrected, but other than that there was no problem. It was a 15-20 minute walk back to the hotel. I packed up my stuff a little and went right to bed.

I was very blessed to have cool weather with no rain, since it is winter there and it rains a lot. Both days I was there the weather was lovely and the lines at attractions were short. In the summer, the lines are very long.

Some Interesting Things About London

• They call restrooms "Toilets", lines "Queues", elevators "Lifts", and trash "Rubbish" (apparently trash is an American word).
• They drink their tea with milk.
  
• The street signs are on the buildings at the corner.
  
• There are no shoulders in the road and a lot of one way roads.
  
• When a red light is about to turn green the yellow and red light are both illuminated.
  
• Pedestrians do not have the right of way.
  
• It is a very expensive city, especially for Americans where everything is twice the price due to the low value of the dollar compared to the pound.
  
• Restaurants are not allowed to cook with salt, but salt is provided on the table.
  
• You can take a super-fast train and be in Paris in three hours, but it is cheaper to fly.
  
• It is a very safe and pedestrian friendly city.
  

Flight from USA to London

I am writing this from 38,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean. We are two hours away from London. The in flight entertainment just ended, and time has started passing very slowly.

My flight from Austin to Chicago was 30 minutes late which meant by the time I landed at O'Hare my flight to London was already boarding. I took a second to run to the bathroom and then boarded the plane. I was in such a rush that I was very surprised when I walked onto the plane and saw how big it was. First and business class looked really nice, each seat had lots of room. I will enjoy flying business class the rest of my travels. But for this segment I am in coach. I expected to have more leg room than on a regular plane and for the seat to recline farther. Instead, they just put more seats on the plane. The flight is less than half full, if that is a normal occurrence it would be nice for American Airlines to take out some of the seats to make it a little roomier. In coach, each row has two seats on each end and a middle section of 5 seats. Since the flight is so empty a lot of passengers traveling alone have a whole row to themselves. The families are still sitting together, but I would spread out if I were them. I have a window seat and have had my legs up on the seat next to me for about 2 hours. If the plane were full it would be miserable, but as it is there is plenty of room.

I usually board a plane scanning for a blanket and pillow, but on this flight each seat had a new blanket, pillow, and headset waiting. That was nice. Once we were in the air we had two brunch options, omelet or cheese crepe. I chose the omelet and it was my first ever hot meal on an airplane. It was tasty, but small. Luckily they also gave us some crackers and other snacks or I never would have made it to dinner (which I am hoping is soon).

Each seat has a little TV in the seat back in front of it and a remote control in the armrest. The TV is touch screen, so I don't think a remote control is necessary as my hand is 2 feet away from the TV at all times. They have some music channels (mostly elevator music), TV channels (have some TV shows, movies, and cartoons), and a flight map that shows you where you are, how long till you get there, etc.

I watched Stranger than Fiction, 3 episodes of Three and a Half Men, 2 episodes of The Simpsons, and an episode of Everybody Hates Chris.

All in all a very good flight.

Bye Bye

I am flying out in the morning. Bye USA, I hope to see you again real soon.

Check back for pictures and stories from London and my trip report of traveling across the world.

Travel Itinerary

I leave the country in 8 days and things are finally falling into place.

Done:
Flight booked
Hotel booked
Work laptop received
Blackberry received
Travel adaptor received
Easy Mac and Crystal Light (turns bottled water into lemonade) purchased
All shots taken
All medication purchased
India travel guide purchased

To Do:
Book weekend excursions in India
Buy one more travel adaptor
Buy comfortable work shoes
Borrow suitcase from a friend
Pack

Waiting on:
Visa and passport
Company credit card

Here is my travel itinerary:

3/14 6:20 am Depart Austin on American Airlines (coach)

3/14 10:35 pm Arrive in London

3/15-3/16 Tour London

• Staying at St. Gilles Hotel http://www.stgiles.com/londonhotel/index.html
• Use hop on-hop off tour bus for two days of sightseeing http://www.theoriginaltour.com/

3/17 10:00 am Depart London on Emirates Airline (business)

3/18 3:00 am arrive in Delhi

3/18 - 4/14 Staying in New Delhi at Radisson http://www.radisson.com/newdelhiin working in a suburb called Gurgaon (pronounced Gurgow)

4/14 12:15 am Depart Delhi on American Airlines (business)

4/14 11:45am Arrive in Austin!!!

Weekend Excursions in India:

3/24 Day tour of Delhi and New Delhi http://www.tourism-delhi.com/delhi-sightseeing.html

3/31-4/1 Two days and one night in Jaipur, traveling by high speed "luxury" train

4/7 Day tour of Agra (Taj Mahal) http://www.tourism-delhi.com/delhi-agra-delhi.html

Stressed Out

I can't believe it is already March! I will be leaving for India in two weeks, and I am getting freaked out. There is so much to do before I leave, and I am not mentally prepared yet.

I hope to get a lot done this week. Maybe I will feel better on Monday, or maybe I will be even more nervous. Once I have everything together I think I will feel better.

I have been a procrastinator and not sent in my Visa application yet, and now I am totally stressed out about it. Why did I wait to long?! It takes less than a week to get done, but if I am leaving in 2 weeks, why did I wait until today? I feel very dumb for putting myself in this situation.

I think the part of me that doesn't want to go to a third world country by myself ignored the situation thinking that I had plenty of time. Now that I look at the calendar I see I was fooling myself.

I am excited about the opportunity, but as the date approaches I get more nervous, and the scarred feelings are currently outweighing the excited feelings. I know there is no use in worrying, in fact in only hurts the situation, but nevertheless I am fighting worry. Makes no sense, and I know it.

Ready or not, India here I come.