29.10.2018
Today we would be leaving Varanasi already. Again I had to get up early and pack. Well, not much to pack since I have been living out of my suitcase anyway. Good thing about having to wear uniform is that there is not much choice in the suitcase anyway – one side is clean uniforms and the other side is dirty uniforms …
We had breakfast and the luggage got picked up by the porters shortly after. I had been told we would get picked up by our bus at 07:45. But no bus showed up – no agent either … I asked Mukund via whatsapp and he send me the number of the agent. They had changed pick up time to 08:00 without telling me … Oh well … no problem! The road to the airport had been upgraded recently and we got there quick enough in maybe 40 min.
Again I had to line up the guests according to the sequence on the tickets at the security check at the entrance. This time the agent had airport clearance, so he came inside with us. The luggage security screening was quick and while we did that the agent had already printed our boarding passes at the self check in machine. At the counter we just had to drop off our luggage and this time the excess luggage was booked and paid for all. Since the mess up last time was apparently a fault in the airlines system, we got a snack and drink included on this flight as retaliation for the inconvenience.
The airport in Varanasi is relatively small, but rather busy. Our flight was pretty much on time. The group was more or less seated together, but even though we all had been at the gate together we were missing Mr. Grumpy. He had not passed the gate together with us even though he was with the group in the waiting lounge. We all did not miss him much, but all got sort of worried, because he did not show up. We had all kinds of theories going. The plane was filling up quickly … and then he appeared up after all … the very last person on the plane … Phew …
The flight passed otherwise uneventful – we got chicken sandwiches and I had a Pomegranate Juice – and landed on time in Delhi. The wait for the luggage was a bit longer than last time, but eventually all bags had arrived and we met our transfer agent outside.
Indira Gandhi International Airport Delhi is spread over an area of 2066 ha 16 km from New Delhi city centre. Named after Indira Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India, it is the busiest airport in India in terms of passenger traffic. The first time I landed at Delhi Airport was in 1995 on my first trip to the Indian Subcontinent. I was going to spend 4 weeks in Nepal trekking and 2 months in India thereafter. Back then there were obviously no mobile phones and e-tix. My print ticket had been issued a few months before and stated 13 hrs lay-over in Delhi. I spent this in the – back then – dark and uncomfortable airport together with a girl from California who had also a ticket for the same flight to Kathmandu. When it was time to check in, we were informed, however, our flight had left 6 hrs earlier. We had been sitting there and nobody had told us, no announcements, nothing … If I had been alone, I would have doubted myself, but since there were 2 of us … not our fault … Well, we made some big ballaballa with the Air India agent, got led into a dark back office and issued a stand-by ticket for the next flight which was on the next day. With a very rickety old black and yellow Ambassador taxi we rode into town to a guesthouse near Connaught Place, stayed there overnight and rode back to the airport the next morning, where we got checked-in without further problems.
That was enough of Delhi for me for a while. I bypassed the city and the airport regularly on purpose on my trips later, until I had to come here when I accompanied my first Ganges cruise in 2016.
Delhi Airport has changed considerably since 1995. With the commencement of operations at Terminal 3 in 2010, it became India’s and South Asia’s largest aviation hub. Terminal 3 building has a capacity to handle 34 mio passengers annually and is now the world’s 8th largest passenger terminal. The airport was adjudged “World’s Best Airport” at Airport Service Quality Awards 2017 in the highest category of airports handling more than 40 mio passengers annually.
Our bus was waiting for us – we had reached civilization and the bus was huge compared to our mini and midi busses before. The transfer to our hotel Vivanta by Taj Dwarka took only about 30 min and we reached it approx 14:00. The hotel is one of the best business hotels in New Delhi located close to al airport and to the Sector 21 Metro station. Group check in was quick and the guests were stunned by the set up of the hotel. The afternoon was free time for all. In the beginning of our journey they all had planned already to go to the city center for this afternoon. Now seeing the beautiful hotel basically in the middle of nowhere they all decided to stay in the hotel and enjoy the facilities. They thought a taxi to the city was too expensive and they would be stuck in traffic anyway. And by metro …. well, they were not adventurous enough, I guess. I did not tell them I would take the metro in – I needed some time off the group for a bit.
I changed quickly and walked approx 7 min to the Sector 21 Dwarka metro station. It was a straight walk along the road. The station is the terminus of 2 of Delhi’s metro lines – the Blue Line and the Airport Express Line. I wanted to go to Connaught Place and had to do some asking before I found the right entrance for the Airport Express Line to the city center. I could not get the ticket machine working, but no problem. After passing security – yes, in India there is a security check on every entrance to a metro station, shopping mall, airport, train station etc. – I bought a token at the info desk. A friendly young man had told me – when the security guy I asked did not understand me – to get off at Shivaji Stadium Station for Connaught Place. The token was Rs 60 and had to be passed through the gate machine at the entrance.
The next train came quickly and the ride was approx 35 min. The train was very modern – culture shock after the Indian province. The train was spotless clean, air-conditioned and quiet.
The Delhi Metro is the 2nd oldest metro in India after the Kolkata Metro which started operating in 1984, the largest and busiest metro in India and the world’s 9th longest metro system – reminded me of the Moscow Metro which is the 6th longest in the world. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was founded in 1995, construction started in 1998, and the first section opened in 2002. The development of the network was divided into phases – Phase III is scheduled to be mostly complete this year. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was certified by the UN in 2011 as the first metro rail and rail-based system in the world to get “carbon credits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions” and helping in reducing pollution levels in the city by 630 000 t every year.
The Shivaji Stadium Station indeed was close to Connaught Place. Pretty much immediately when I exited the station a man started talking to me – the usual – Where are you going? – Just wandering around. – You want to go shopping? – No, not really, just walking. – Welcome to India! Where are you from? – Germany? – Oh, I like Germany! Bayern Munich! – Yeah … – Is it your first time? – No, I came many times already. – How long you staying? – Going home tomorrow. – You want to do some shopping? – No, not really … – You go to CCCI! It is a good shopping mall. You will like it. – No, I do not want to do shopping …. – Hey, do not be afraid of me, I am going to meet my brother over there. – I am not afraid, why would I be? – I do not know? Why would you? – I am walking this way now! – OK, I go the other way. Have a good stay! – Thank you.
I walked around the block looking at my map and another guy tried to talk to me. He also wanted to send me to CCCI. Well, since I had no particular plan, I decided to check it out. I found a tuktuk and for Rs 20 I rode there – it was maybe 5 min. Of course it was a handicraft emporium and not what I wanted to visit, so I turned on my heels and was out of there in no time. Sorry for the tuktuk man who probably had hoped for a good commission for bringing me there. I walked towards Connaught Place again and after a few minutes the tuktuk man stopped next to me again on his way back. – You no like? – No, sorry, I did not like it. – You go back? – OK, take me back to where I came from … So, for another Rs 20 he dropped me off where I had gotten on.
Connaught Place is one of the largest financial, commercial and business centres in New Delhi and the main commercial area of the new city. It is a place of pride and is counted among the top heritage structures in the city. It was developed as a showpiece of Lutyens’ Delhi with a prominent Central Business District – construction work began in 1929 and was completed in 1933. Connaught Place’s Georgian architecture is modeled after the Royal Crescent in Bath, has however only two floors with an open colonnade which make almost a complete circle intended to house commercial establishments on the ground with residential space on the first floor. The circle was designed with 2 concentric circles, creating an Inner Circle, Middle Circle and the Outer Circle with 7 roads radiating from a circular central park. However currently the design is in a poor state of repair with unsympathetic infill of balconies, mismatched shop fronts and development of central park.
I walked all around the inner circle of Connaught Place – Rajiv Chowk – which is huge. There are all the international shops here same as at home, same as the usual burger joints – only that they sell no beef burgers. I had not been to Connaught Place since my first unintentional visit here in 1995 and recognized of course nothing.
I came by an excited crowd with many press people and cameras in between. A man was being filmed when giving out Free Anti Air Pollution Masks. Later I learnt it was Manoj Tiwari, a politician, singer and actor from Bihar. He was head of the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP organisation in Delhi when the party recorded a record victory in local elections in 2017. He was campaigning to tackle the air pollution problem which the city faces regularly. The National Air Quality Index AQI was launched in New Delhi in 2014. There are 6 AQI categories – Good 0–50, Satisfactory 51 – 100, Moderately polluted 101 – 200, Poor 201 – 300, Very Poor 301 – 400 and Severe 401 – 500. Today it stated 348 in Delhi … Not that I would walk around with a face mask, though – we only stayed here for a couple of days – but for those living here it probably is a health risk.
According to the World Health Organization WHO Delhi was the most polluted city in the world in 2014, by 2016 WHO downgraded Delhi to 11th worst in the urban air quality database. An estimate states air pollution causes the death of about 10 500 people in Delhi every year.
The air pollution is always worse in the winter time. The last couple times I was here in January and the index was rating the air as “severe” – that did feel heavy on the breathing. We all coughed a lot back then.
Walking along I visited a couple big local shops, but did not find anything I needed and went back to the metro station. There was a wine shop and they actually had wine. It was not a hole-in-the-wall dark affair, but a modern shop without barred windows, but a rather unfriendly sales man – well, considering that woman are not supposed to buy alcohol I should not blame him. Nevertheless, I bought 2 bottles of Indian Sula wine to take home.
Paying the wine in cash – Rs 700 per bottle – I now had to find an ATM to get more cash. State Bank of India is my preferred choice and sure enough I had to walk all the way back to the circle of Connaught Place to find one. I passed a few ATMs – but they were either out-of-order or did not accept foreign cards or only gave Rs 100 notes and not for the amount I needed … Finally I found a working machine and even got money. I would not need much for the last day of this trip, but it is always good to have a couple of thousand rupees for the next trip in case the ATM at the airport is out-of-order.
On the way back to the metro station I passed a gas station which actually had a proper minimarket attached – believe it or not – yes, we were back in civilization. They even had my preferred choice of tonic water – Schweppes Indian Tonic Water! I was happy! There was still that bottle of Mischief Vodka which we bought in Murshidabad in my bag ….
Back at the metro station I got my token for Rs 60 this time directly at the info desk. The train was busier this time, but not yet crowded, most everybody had a seat. The ride was another 35 min and then the 7 min walk to the hotel.
Arriving there I picked up our passports – of course the Swiss express train had been impatient again and had picked up hers already. At 18:45 I went down to the restaurant to check for our table for dinner. We had said 19:00 for dinner, but since everybody had relaxed all afternoon – and they are German – everybody came down too early of course and we had to wait a couple of minutes for our long table to be set up. I distributed the passports and the Swiss express train said – And where is mine? – You picked it up already, madame! – Yes, I did … – Madame, you have not managed to get me out of tact during the entire trip! You will not succeed during the last few days either! I am used to people like you! … Ok, I did not say it out loud! But I wanted to ….
Dinner was great, the buffet was huge with so many choices – everybody was happy – only Mr. Grumpy complained that a small Kingfisher cost twice as much as a big Kingfisher was in the province …. I ate way too much again. The Vodka & Tonic afterwards was well deserved and necessary!
30.10.2018
Everybody had a good night’s sleep. Nobody complained about the air traffic … On former trips guests always complained about planes taking off and landing on the nearby airport all night. In Germany airports close the runways during the night – usually between 22:00 and 06:00 take off and landing are prohibited – not so in India. For once this group was happy, though.
Breakfast was huge again, the buffet fantastic. At 09:00 we all met for our City Tour. Our guide for the day was Kalyan and we had the same big bus again like yesterday. We left the hotel and once we reached the main road near the airport traffic got heavy as expected. The difference here was that traffic was in up to 8 lanes … It took us a long time to even reach the center.
Delhi is a city and a union territory of India including New Delhi, the capital of India. Delhi’s city proper population is over 11 mio, the second-highest in India after Mumbai. It has been continuously inhabited since the 6th century BC. Through most of its history, Delhi has served as a capital of various kingdoms and empires. It has been captured, ransacked and rebuilt several times, particularly during the medieval period, and modern Delhi is now a cluster of a number of cities spread across the metropolitan region.
New Delhi is actually an urban district of Delhi which serves as the capital of India and is the seat of the Government of India. The city was founded by Emperor George V during the Delhi Durbar of 1911 and was designed by British architects. The new capital was inaugurated in 1931. Although usually Delhi and New Delhi are used interchangeably, these are 2 distinct entities, with New Delhi forming a small part of Delhi.
The first part of our city tour would lead us to the Raisina Hill, the Government District. In 1911 when it was decided to transfer the capital of British India from Calcutta to Delhi, a planning committee was formed and a site 5 km south of the existing city of Delhi, around Raisina Hill which provided ample room for expansion, was chosen for the new administrative centre. Photo stops are not allowed here, but our bus driver did a couple of turns around the traffic circles so everybody could have a good look at the impressive buildings.
First we passed the Secretariat Building or Central Secretariat, where the Cabinet Secretariat is housed, which administers the Government of India. Built in the 1910s, it is home to some of the most important ministries of the Cabinet of India. The Secretariat buildings are actually 2 blocks of symmetrical buildings – the North Block and South Block – on opposite sides of the great axis of Rajpath and flanking the Rashtrapati Bhavan – the Presidential Residence previously the Viceroy’s House. Due to the weather – fog, haze and air pollution all playing together – we could not even see the Rashtrapati Bhavan – the official home of the president – located at the Western end of Rajpath, which was approx 1 km away …
We did see the Sansad Bhavan – the Parliament House – located close to the Secretariat Building. The construction of this circular building took 6 years and the opening ceremony was performed in 1927 by the Viceroy and Governor-General of India. The parliament is 170 m in diameter and covers an area of 2.4 ha.
On our way to Old Delhi we could also take a glimpse of India Gate in the hazy distance from afar. We would see it up closer later in the day, though. Further was stated in the guests’ program we would see the Red Fort … Well, we always see it driving past it. There is just not enough time to actually visit the fort and a visit is not included in our program. Today we saw it driving by in the haze.
The Red Fort is a historic fort and was the main residence of the emperors of the Mughal dynasty for nearly 200 years until 1856. It is located in the center of Delhi and houses nowadays a number of museums. It is named for its massive enclosing walls of red sandstone and is adjacent to the older Salimgarh Fort built by Islam Shah Suri in 1546. The fort was plundered of its artwork and jewels during Nadir Shah’s invasion of the Mughal Empire in 1747. Most of the fort’s precious marble structures were subsequently destroyed by the British following the Revolt of 1857. The forts’ defensive walls were largely spared and the fortress was subsequently used as a garrison. The Red Fort was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.
Our next stop was in Old Delhi the Masjid-i Jahān-Numā – literally the World-reflecting Mosque – commonly known as the Jama Masjid of Delhi – one of the largest mosques in India. The road to the North Gate 3 – the preferred entrance point for tour groups – was clogged with tourist busses. Our bus basically got stuck approx 200 m before the entrance and we had to walk. Again, we left everything behind in the bus. There are no bags allowed, each camera is Rs 300 in fees and ladies had to put on long wraps. Our Swiss friend started an argument again on why I had not told the ladies to take their scarves if we had to cover up. – Because we did not have to cover our heads but rather wear long outfits! – But we could have put our scarves around our waists like a skirt! – No, you could not have done that! The wrap needs to be floor length and your scarf would not have been sufficient! End of discussion!
We walked to the entrance through thick traffic with only our cameras and the Rs 300 in our hands. Jama Masjid was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan between 1644 and 1656. The mosque has 3 great gates, 4 towers and 2 minarets each one 40 m high. Everything is constructed with strips of red sandstone and white marble. The courtyard can accommodate more than 25 000 people. There are 3 domes on the terrace which are surrounded by 2 of the minarets.
A long flight of 39 steps was leading up to the gate and we had to leave our shoes outside again. There was no real security check, but on the bottom of the stair security personal watched visitors intently – no bags got past them, it seemed. Up the top the shoe man would point out the no bag rule as well and then the camera guy who grabbed Rs 300 or US$5 or € 5 for each camera would do the same. Then there was the wrap man who shouted after every woman and sort of threw a wrap in their hands. Thereafter, nobody cared how we were wearing the wrap. It was supposed to be closed by velcro straps in the front, but nobody actually did. It was hot and those cheap polyester things were hot.
The last 2 times I had visited this mosque I had never gotten any photos of it. The first time it was Republic Day, the old town was rather deserted and the guide back then told everybody not to go inside. The 2nd time I paid for the camera and then it broke before I could take a photo – the lens just would not cooperate with the camera anymore …. so I have no photos from there from before. This time it would happen, though. I had told everybody, they had to go in, because from the elevated platform of the mosque the view of the Red Fort would be spectacular. – Not this time, though … The Red Fort was totally hidden in the fog, haze and air pollution today! Nothing to see at all. Oh, Mr. Grumpy was not happy! He pointed to his program and demanded to see the Red Fort! – Well, we would have seen it, but weather conditions are – luckily – beyond our control ….
We had same free time to walk around the mosque. It is considered as the best among all mosques built during the Mughal Empire as it has the best mixture of marble and limestone. The Eastern gate was the royal entrance. The mosque is built on a red sandstone porch. The edifices are filled with calligraphy. The prayer hall measures 61 m by 27.5 m and is made up of high cusped arches and marble domes. The mosque is covered with white and black ornamented marble to look like a Muslim prayer mat.
Coming out of the mosque our bus had advanced about 50 m. Some of the guests went back to get their bags and cameras – those who did not want to pay the fee. Right by the entrance was the pickup point for the regular cycle rickshaw tourist circuit through Chandni Chowk. We took 5 rickshaws for the 30 min tour.
The Chandni Chowk – Moonlight Square – is one of the oldest and busiest markets in Old Delhi and was built in the 17th century by Mughal Emperor of India Shah Jahan. The bazaar once shaped as a square was given elegance by the presence of a pool in the centre of the complex. The pool shimmered in the moonlight – a feature which was perhaps responsible for its name. Shops were originally built in a half-moon shaped pattern, now lost. The market was famous for its silver merchants which also have contributed to the name of “Silver Street” as silver is referred to as Chandi in Hindi, a slight variation of which forms Chandni. The pool in the chowk was however replaced by a clock tower until the 1950s, but the market remains one of India’s largest wholesale markets.
Dirty, gritty and teeming with color and people – experiencing Delhi is not for the faint hearted – but the guests were hopefully toughened up by now. If you ever want to know what organized chaos looks like – come to Chandni Chowk – the buzz and liveliness of the place is both shocking and enchanting at the same time. The narrow alleys and passages were crammed with shops and overflowing with shoppers, hawkers, motor bikes, cycle rickshaws with tourists or filled with cargo. There was the ever present maze of confused electricity and telephone cables overhead – Chandni Chowk seems to be a study of chaos – there is really nothing quite like it and a 30 min rickshaw right is absolutely not enough to even get a glimpse of it.
Back on the bus we rode through the Muslim quarter around the Jama Masjid back to the main road and past the Red Fort again. Our next stop was Rajghat.
Raj Ghat is a memorial dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi. Originally it was the name of a historic ghat of Old Delhi. Close to it was Raj Ghat Gate of the walled city, opening to the west bank of the Yamuna River. Later the memorial area was also called Rajghat. Winding through traffic it took a while to reach the parking lot at the entrance to the memorial site. Again we had to pass a security check at the entrance. Our guide Kalyan gave an overview and then there was enough time for the guests to walk around the spacious site.
A black marble platform that marks the spot of Mahatma Gandhi’s cremation on 30 January 1948 a day after his assassination is the center of the site. It is inside a walled enclosure and an eternal flame burns at one end. The memorial was designed to reflect the simplicity of the Mahatma’s life.
A stone footpath flanked by lawns leads to the walled enclosure. The upper path with a good view of the memorial was under reconstruction at the moment. Nevertheless, it was busy with visitors below.
At the parking lot outside the actual memorial sites a new Gandhi Statue is located. It was the first time I saw it. Our guide Kalyan said it had been put up only earlier this year.
It was midday by the time we finished our visit at Rajghat and our bus brought us back to New Delhi where we stopped for an optional lunch. Pindi Restaurant is a fancy spot with excellent food. Some of the guests opted to have lunch, the others rather stayed outside. There was not really anything around the Pandara Market. New Delhi is rather spacious and the roads are wide.
After lunch we passed India Gate close up. The India Gate – originally called the All India War Memorial – is actually a war memorial located astride the Rajpath, on the eastern edge of New Delhi.
India Gate is a memorial to 70 000 soldiers of the British Indian Army who died in WW I and the Third Anglo-Afghan War. 13 300 servicemen’s names, including some soldiers and officers from the United Kingdom, are inscribed on the gate. The India Gate, even though a war memorial is often compared to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and the Gateway of India in Mumbai.
About 150 m East of the India Gate war is a 73 m high cupola – the Canopy. It was constructed in 1936 as tribute to the deceased Emperor of India King George V. An original statue of George V was removed and relocated in 1968. Even after India’s independence in 1947, the statue remained standing at its original location for another 2 decades, but increasingly became a target of opposition and it was decided to relocate the statue to Coronation Park to join other British Era statues.
We drove around the India Gate Circle almost completely, but the view was blocked by a 3 m high construction – or security – fence on all sides but the Eastern entrance. It was not allowed to park or even stop the bus there, so photos had to be taken out of the bus. But our driver kind of crept along very slowly for everybody to get a shot.
Our last stop for the day was Qutub Minar, the 2nd tallest minaret in the world made up of bricks. The minaret forms a part of the Qutub complex – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was quite a long bus ride to get there, but it was in the direction of the hotel in any case.
Qutub Minar is one of my favorite sights in Delhi. The 73 m tall tapering tower has a 14 m base diameter reducing to 3 m at the top. It also has a spiral staircase of 379 steps – unfortunately it is not open to visitors. Qutab-Ud-Din-Aibak – founder of the Delhi Sultanate in the 13th century – started construction of the Qutub Minar’s first storey around 1192. In 1220 Aibak’s successor Shamsuddin Iltutmish completed a further 3 storeys. In 1369, a lightning strike destroyed the top storey. Firoz Shah Tughlaq replaced the damaged storey and added one more. Sher Shah Suri also added an entrance to this tower while he was ruling.
The Minar is surrounded by several historically significant monuments of the Qutab complex, including Quwat-ul-Islam Mosque which was built at the same time as the Minar and the much older Iron Pillar of Delhi. The Iron Pillar of Delhi is a 7 m column of fame or victory column originally erected and dedicated to the Hindu deity Lord Vishnu in 3rd to 4th century CE by king Chandragupta II. It is famous for the rust-resistant composition of the metals used in its construction. The pillar has attracted the attention of archaeologists and materials scientists because of its high resistance to corrosion which apparently results from an even layer of crystalline iron hydrogen phosphate hydrate forming on the high-phosphorus-content iron.
We gave the guests some free time to roam around and take photos. There was a security guy who made some extra cash – and not too little considering he is probably there all day – by taking photos of the tourists in the perfect position.
Since the airport is relatively close and one of the runways seemingly aligns with the Qutub Minar, there were airplanes in short succession flying directly over it. Those also made for a great photo if you did not miss it while being busy taking photos of the many monuments around.
It was a long ride back to the hotel with rush hour and crazy traffic. Our guide left us shortly before the hotel – there was no need for him to come there with us and then go back in this traffic. We reached the hotel by 17:30. Remembering the flight from Germany via Dubai to Kolkata everybody was nervous about the seemingly short layover in Dubai for tomorrow’s flight home. They all wanted to sit as far to the front as possible on the flight from Delhi to Dubai in order get out, go quickly and be sure to make that connection. When we got to the hotel I therefore got my laptop and sat in the lobby with free WIFI and online checked in everybody who wanted and brought their booking reference number. I had checked myself in this morning already. Doing it now for 5 guests took quite some time. Only Mr. Grumpy did not need any special check in, because he was flying business class, and the 3 guests from Switzerland probably did it themselves. I made sure to check-in Mrs. L next to the other guests flying to Hamburg, so they would sit together and she would not miss her connection again like on the way here.
Just when I finally made it to my room I received a message from our Delhi agent Sonal – she messaged me that she was waiting in the lobby. Shee…. I had totally forgotten, that she wanted to meet me for feedback on the land program … I ran back down and we talked for a while, but then I had to quickly change for dinner – I did not want to sit in my sweaty uniform in the nice restaurant. Sonal said she would stay for dinner with us, so I ran back up for a quick freshening up and change. Dinner was good as usual and I could chat some more with her. All the guests only spoke German and she did understand a word.
It was a rather early night again – I had to pack for the flight home.
31.10.2018
For this morning we had ordered an early breakfast at 05:30. It would be mainly cold breakfast while the buffet was being prepared for the regular breakfast at 06:30. But that was OK for us and anyway it turned out that they worked quickly and had a lot of choice anyway.
I had ordered the luggage pick up by the porters for 06:15 in order to be leaving to the airport at 06:30. I had paid my drinks bill the night before and so had some of the guests. Mr. Grumpy did not want to have his luggage picked up, he wanted to bring it down by himself in order to have 15 min more time. But then he came and had to pay his bill and of course his credit card was not working immediately and he got even more grumpy than usual. When I checked if everybody from the group had checked out and paid, there were 2 bills still open and I had to call the guests back to the counter. They started arguing that they had paid last night – but it turned out that they had paid before last night’s dinner drinks had reached reception …
By the time it was all sorted it was 07:00 that we were able to leave – finally. Fortunately, it was only a 30 min drive to Terminal 3 of the airport. It is a huge terminal and I really like it. I had several times reminded the guests to have their travel documents ready for check at the entrance to the building. I did not have copies of their international flight details. I had it on one tour before that guests had disposed of every unnecessary stuff before departure and had also thrown their itinerary with serves as e-tix away. The security guard at the entrance would not let them in by any means – no ticket, no entrance. I showed them the list with the flight details I had, but it was not sufficient. We had to go through the official airline lists which were thankfully at the security desk to check their names.
I was used to leave Delhi on a very early flight – we always came for check-in in the middle of the night around 01:00. And at that time the airport is awfully busy with huge lines everywhere. But not so this morning, it was pleasantly empty. The agent here had also airport clearance and brought us to check in. Also passport control and security check were very quick. After security, when I put my watches back on – I always have to take them off otherwise they beep and I hate to be searched – I snagged my trusty, very real Indian watch which I bought for Rs 650 in Trichy in 2016, on something and it fell to the stone floor and burst into a 1000 pieces …. Oh no! … Oh well! … Guess it is time for a new one! – I collected the pieces and they landed in the nearest garbage bin ….
We had all check through so quick this morning, that we had a lot of time until our 10:30 flight to Dubai. I did some window shopping and then did what I usually do in the airport – I found the bar and had a large G & T. The Irish Pub was the best place to hide anyway and somewhere it was 18:00 already …. Who cares?
Shortly before boarding time I found the gate and sat there chatting with – or mainly listening to the guests chatting … By the time boarding started I said dutifully good-bye to those who had a different connecting flight from Dubai, because we surely would not see them again.
Good by India! I will see you again next January!
The plane was obviously not fully booked, because I had 4 seats to myself. But it was a day flight and sleeping was not an option. The TV screen was working this time and I watch one movie after the next … and ordered a few G & Ts along the way.
In Dubai we did not have so far to go to the next gate this time. I had time to even wonder arround. I found a Hard Rock Cafe sign and was happy – unfortunately it was still under construction. Pity. I ended up at McD for a salad and some fries even though I was not hungry. Could not find the bar, that is why. I just did not want to sit too long at the gate … having to chat with the guests again.
The next flight was as uneventful as the first. The A 380 was full, but I still had one seat empty next to me. It was still day time – that meant movies and more G & Ts for me. We reached Frankfurt in time around 19:00. Luggage took a long time coming, but I was in no rush. I said good-bye to the few guests that had flown to Frankfurt as well and then went to the train station. There was no train home anymore tonight, so I went to the supermarket at the station to stock up on drinks for tomorrow. Then I had some green curry & noodles for dinner. This seems to have turned into a tradition whenever I arrive in Frankfurt – before I get on a train it is supermarket and curry & noodles at the same place.
I then took the S-Bahn to the city center and checked into the same hostel as before and fell asleep quickly.
01.11.2018
Due to the jetlag I was wide awake by 03:30 and left the hostel by 04:45. I had to take the S-Bahn for one stop to the main station. The first train in my direction was leaving at 06:14, so I had time for a coffee & croissant at the platform before the 7 hrs train ride across the republic.
It was very cold in Germany …. Welcome home!
