16th: We left Singapore at 11 am and arrived in New Delhi at about 9pm (India time is about 2.5 hours behind Singapore). The plane made a quick stopover in Bangkok to take in some more passengers. My trip mates and I, Apo and Rhoda slept through that stop, waking up only when the flight attendants would hand out food (the goat cheese!).
You’d think we’d be cranky from that long flight. Hardly. We were met at the airport by our first guide, Basheer and driver (and would-be constant companion throughout the trip), Santosh. with leis. Now that’s a warm welcome!
In the car, Basheer briefed us on our itinerary and made small talk about New Delhi.
My first impression: New Delhi is like Manila. There was traffic, major construction of flyovers and highways, street peddlers, lots of motorcycles, and crazy drivers. First stop, dinner. We expected nan bread and chapatti, chicken biryani, all those Indian food, but were amused when we went into a Chinese restaurant. I guess they didn’t want us to go into immediate culture shock.
On the way to the hotel, we passed by several office buildings, residential areas and the India Gate. This huge structure consists of about 41,000 names of Indian soldiers who died in the First World War. Around it is a picnic area where the locals hang out. Think Rizal Park on sundays.
We got off the car to take pictures, and went closer to the gate. Curious locals, mostly children, surrounded us.
It was about 11 pm when we reached the hotel. That’s 1am Singapore time. We were exhausted from the flight, but were excited for the next day. There was a lot more to come.
This is a series of posts about my India adventure. Here are the rest:
Agra
The Taj Mahal
