Well, I left the U.S. from San Francisco on a Sunday afternoon and it is already Thursday night in Madhya Pradesh, India. A recap of the highlights thus far:
1) After a 9-hour first leg, we landed at the Schipol Airport in the Netherlands for a 2-hour layover; I spent most of the time roaming the corridors of this stylish airport which reminded me of IKEA with its Scandinavian furniture (I knew Dad would appreciate the designs). I will upload the pics as soon as I purchase a "data"/internet card which I can use at the Institute. If you ever have the chance to stay at Schipol for a couple of hours though, make sure to relax in the rest lounges! A paradise for those who take to Mondian-resembling and retro furniture, certainly.
2) Flight: Royal KLM airlines kept stuffing me with food on both legs of the journey. Since I was marked as a "strict vegetarian", the stewardesses would magically appear at my seat with a new plate of food (which looked measurably better than the chicken and fish entrees). Overall, both flights were fairly pleasant...
3) Airport: Arrived at New Delhi airport at 10:00PM. My ambitious plan to stay overnight...was successfully accomplished, but not how I expected. To my dismay, there was little/no room for ambitious and cheap travelers (a.k.a ME)who don't want to spend a short night in a Delhi hotel. Being ambitious and confident of my ability to brave the night, however, I parked myself and belongings on a rows of seats located near the luggage pickups. Before that I exchanged $100 worth into Rupees, but they inconveniently handed me denominations of 500Rps...meaning that I wouldn't be able to buy myself a cheap drink at the vending machine that doesn't accept 500s!
And so I sat, and sat, and sat on those seats...from 10PM-6AM the next morning...AWAKE. There was no sleeping for me that night. But luckily, I met a few friendly Indians while I glued myself to the seat and had some extensive conversations with some very unlikely people, including a middle/upper-class working woman who was returning to New Delhi after a group trip to Thailand, and an Indian man who lives in Singapore but was on a business trip to South India.
4)A day in Connaught Place/Paharanj: At 7AM I left the ND Airport, eager to be away from it and see the city itself! The newly-constructed Airport Metro Express was superb. Once I stepped out into New Delhi...I was bombarded by the heat, the gazillions of people, the traffic, the dirt...and as an ignorant traveler I stepped into Connaught Place early in the morning, when the shops were still closed. BIG MISTAKE...will tell more later because my time is up!
