Hi all,
Well I'm on my way, but not in Africa yet. I spent a night in Taipei, not much to report there, it was a nice city and it has the world's tallest building, well it's the tallest until the
one in Dubai, which is actually taller, gets officially recognised.
My real adventure started in Delhi. On the plane over from Taipei I realised I hadn't taken any Malaria tablets and I figured I should have some protection. I'd also heard that Quinine, which is found in Tonic water, either discourages mozzies, or helps Malaria some how. So I ordered a Gin and Tonic on the plane. They must have been strong because I'd only had 4 and fell asleep halfway through Spiderman 3. The movie may have had something to do with it.
Anyway I arrived at Indira Ghandi International airport at about 1:30am. The nice lady in the seat beside me recommended that I order an official pre-paid taxi. But unfortunately you had to pay for that before you can get to an ATM. I had been to the ATM and was discussing with the security guy how I need to get back in to buy the taxi. Then a guy came up to me holding my VISA card. "You want to hang on to this", he said. I thanked him. But that wasn't enough. He also required 100 rupee. It was then I wondered if the 4th Gin and Tonic was such a good idea.
So I buy the taxi ticket head outside and jump in. Some other dodgey guy jumps in beside me. He tells me he's finished his taxi shift and requires a lift home too. I wasn't in a position to argue. Now, trucks are only allowed to enter New Delhi at night time. At 2am the roads were full of them. Due to their poor visibility they have "Please Honk" written on the back. So they can tell that you are there. One even had "Please Honk, then wait for left or right". There didn't seem much system as to which side they were going.
So we get into town and the taxi passenger informs me he's not sure how to get to my hotel. It's one I'd prepaid, so he takes me to a travel agent. With my bags and passport and everything in the cab they asked me inside. The more often they said "bag OK" the more nervous I became and ended up grabbing the one with my passport. So now they ring "my hotel" and I'm passed the phone. I'm then told "There's a very unfortunate occurance" I asked him to elaborate. He said someone has decided to stay an extra day and I have no room. I said but I'd booked. He reiterated that is was "a very unfortunate occurance, sir" but he had a sister hotel that I could stay in. He didn't seem that keen on my idea of throwing the other guy out so with few options I agreed to the new hotel. It was then the travel agents started talking about a tour of the golden triangle. I said I just want to go to bed. I'll never know whether I really spoke to my hotel or not. As I was about to jump into the car the travel agent came after me with my passport "you'll want to hang to that", he said.
So the next day the travel agent is at my hotel and drives me back to the agency. Now I was planning to go to the Taj Mahal which I understood should be around $80 USD. He suggests I go to Jaipur, stay the night, then Agra and stay the night. The punches some numbers in his calculator and shows me $1675 US. Hmm I said. I was looking to pay a little less than that. That's OK he says they are for 5 star hotels. Then he punches some more numbers and shows me $1250 USD. Again I shake my head. He informs me this is for medium hotels. Then he comes back with $675. Now this is for 4 days, driven everywhere in an air conditioned car, to all the sites, including an elephant ride, and accommodation. But it is also India. I told him if I tell my friends I spent $170 USD a day in India they'd all laugh at me. I eventually got him down to $500 USD. That's probably still worth a chuckle.
Today I saw all the sites of New Delhi. Various temples and such. At lunch time the driver took me to a fancy restaurant which had prices around $10 USD. I said I want to try a more local place. I found a dirty smelly fly invested place that looked perfect. I settled on a Chicken Biryani for about $2 USD. I guess I'll find out if Delhi Belly is really smelly later tonight. The day ended with a tour of the shops for which the driver earned a kickback and I earned 2 beers.
Tomorrow Jaipur. Wish me luck!
Travelling Trav back on the road.
Well I'm on my way, but not in Africa yet. I spent a night in Taipei, not much to report there, it was a nice city and it has the world's tallest building, well it's the tallest until the
one in Dubai, which is actually taller, gets officially recognised.My real adventure started in Delhi. On the plane over from Taipei I realised I hadn't taken any Malaria tablets and I figured I should have some protection. I'd also heard that Quinine, which is found in Tonic water, either discourages mozzies, or helps Malaria some how. So I ordered a Gin and Tonic on the plane. They must have been strong because I'd only had 4 and fell asleep halfway through Spiderman 3. The movie may have had something to do with it.
Anyway I arrived at Indira Ghandi International airport at about 1:30am. The nice lady in the seat beside me recommended that I order an official pre-paid taxi. But unfortunately you had to pay for that before you can get to an ATM. I had been to the ATM and was discussing with the security guy how I need to get back in to buy the taxi. Then a guy came up to me holding my VISA card. "You want to hang on to this", he said. I thanked him. But that wasn't enough. He also required 100 rupee. It was then I wondered if the 4th Gin and Tonic was such a good idea.
So I buy the taxi ticket head outside and jump in. Some other dodgey guy jumps in beside me. He tells me he's finished his taxi shift and requires a lift home too. I wasn't in a position to argue. Now, trucks are only allowed to enter New Delhi at night time. At 2am the roads were full of them. Due to their poor visibility they have "Please Honk" written on the back. So they can tell that you are there. One even had "Please Honk, then wait for left or right". There didn't seem much system as to which side they were going.
So we get into town and the taxi passenger informs me he's not sure how to get to my hotel. It's one I'd prepaid, so he takes me to a travel agent. With my bags and passport and everything in the cab they asked me inside. The more often they said "bag OK" the more nervous I became and ended up grabbing the one with my passport. So now they ring "my hotel" and I'm passed the phone. I'm then told "There's a very unfortunate occurance" I asked him to elaborate. He said someone has decided to stay an extra day and I have no room. I said but I'd booked. He reiterated that is was "a very unfortunate occurance, sir" but he had a sister hotel that I could stay in. He didn't seem that keen on my idea of throwing the other guy out so with few options I agreed to the new hotel. It was then the travel agents started talking about a tour of the golden triangle. I said I just want to go to bed. I'll never know whether I really spoke to my hotel or not. As I was about to jump into the car the travel agent came after me with my passport "you'll want to hang to that", he said.
So the next day the travel agent is at my hotel and drives me back to the agency. Now I was planning to go to the Taj Mahal which I understood should be around $80 USD. He suggests I go to Jaipur, stay the night, then Agra and stay the night. The punches some numbers in his calculator and shows me $1675 US. Hmm I said. I was looking to pay a little less than that. That's OK he says they are for 5 star hotels. Then he punches some more numbers and shows me $1250 USD. Again I shake my head. He informs me this is for medium hotels. Then he comes back with $675. Now this is for 4 days, driven everywhere in an air conditioned car, to all the sites, including an elephant ride, and accommodation. But it is also India. I told him if I tell my friends I spent $170 USD a day in India they'd all laugh at me. I eventually got him down to $500 USD. That's probably still worth a chuckle.
Today I saw all the sites of New Delhi. Various temples and such. At lunch time the driver took me to a fancy restaurant which had prices around $10 USD. I said I want to try a more local place. I found a dirty smelly fly invested place that looked perfect. I settled on a Chicken Biryani for about $2 USD. I guess I'll find out if Delhi Belly is really smelly later tonight. The day ended with a tour of the shops for which the driver earned a kickback and I earned 2 beers.
Tomorrow Jaipur. Wish me luck!
Travelling Trav back on the road.
Stumble It!
2 comments:
Crazy place ! Crazy people ! And...crazy travellers who want to go to Delhi Belly !!!
Yes it was crazy. I now have the Delhi Belly but it took a few days before i got it. I think that's a win!
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