Greetings All,

We reached Delhi after an unexpected 12 hour delay in Amsterdam. If you can believe it, we were not grounded by snow in DC or Amsterdam (as others before and after our departure suffered), but by a dense fog in Delhi that descended and blanketed and blinded the city, leaving behind a mob of stranded travelers, delayed or cancelled flights, and halted trains.

We flew KLM and the airline could not have been more unhelpful. In fact, we did not know of the Delhi dilemma or that our flight, scheduled to leave at 11:00AM had been delayed until 11:00PM until the cashier at the snack counter told me. I had been sitting in the waiting area for an hour and 30 minutes without warning. When we arrived no one mentioned there was a problem or made an announcement and the flight was posted as on time. Word of the extreme delay spread like wildfire. Passengers were anxious for information, but KLM would not share. Instead we all dutifully waited and begged for crumbs of information, which were doled out like precious gems. Thank god we flew first class so we had access to a lounge with free drinks and snacks, beds, and showers.

The best part was trying to get on the plane. There was never an announcement so an hour before the flight was to leave passengers swarmed the check-in desk like hungry pigeons fighting for the last breadcrumb. The KLM desk was manned by one lone and frazzled ticketing agent with a paper list of passenger names that she used to manually confirm seat assignments because the computers were down. Apparently some people were issued two boarding passes, one that was given earlier in the morning and another later in the day when the flight was delayed. People were pushing and shoving and waving their boarding passes as if they were the coveted golden tickets to Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Security came and put up two trash cans to hold back the stampede of bleary-eyed travelers. Veta and I finally pushed our way through only to get separated. Veta had my passport and boarding pass and was poised to go through security when I got shoved by the guards behind the trash can barriers (I suppose it would have been more appropriate to dump me inside, but that’s another story). Veta was pointing at me and saying that we were together. The security guards looked at my passport and then at me, but would not let me pass. Flashback…I thought I was back in Romania trying to get a package from the post office.

After what felt like an eternity, I was told I could come from behind the trash cans to go through security. Needless to say, the flight was even later departing.

When we finally arrived in Delhi around 2:30PM, I was very surprised. I expected to be overwhelmed by people, sounds, smells, beggars, etc., but it was quite calm and a relatively clean but well-worn city. We were met by our car and driver and were taken to our hotel – The Imperial (a real throwback to the old colonial days). Our guide took us on a tour of the city. Because we were so late arriving, we were not able to explore the monuments, museums, and sites as originally planned because most were about to close. We were able to drive around and get a feel for the city and residential areas. We did see a few cows running down the street, but the traffic was quite calm for rush hour. I expected a hectic confusing clusterfuck of traffic like I saw in Vietnam, but it was all quite organized.

We did tour Humayun’s Tomb, which was the inspiration for the Taj Mahal. We saw India Gate, Connaught Palace, Embassy Row. At the end of the day, our guide took us shopping. I did not buy anything. It was too early in the trip for me. I am not a big shopper and need to warm up to it, but my sister holds a black belt in it. She went crazy for pashminas. I want to buy some miniature paintings in Udaipur, which comes later in our trip.

We ate at the restaurant Spice Route, which is rated one of the 10 best restaurants in the world by Conde Nast Traveler. It was yummy, but more Thai style dishes than Indian. Also, I ordered two extremely spicy dishes, but they were pretty tame. I need to see colors and feel the booty burn the next day!!!!!!!

Due to the fog, our early morning flight to Jabalpur is delayed from 6am to 9:30. Hopefully, they will set up some big fans and blow the fog away, cuz I need to see me some tigers. The flight is only 2 hours, but we have a 5-6 hr drive to the Bandhavgar National Park. We will stay at Mahua Kothi (name of an Indian tree), which is supposed to be the best place to stay because it is run by a South African safari company and they have raised the level of tracking tigers and preserving the beauty of the bush. Can’t wait!!!!! We will be there for three nights. WOOOOOOHOOOOO!!!! Fingers crossed we make it there. After that we head to Khajuraho to see the famous temples with all the amorous drawings and pick up a few new positions to bring back to the US — that is the Peace Corps way and I was a model volunteer in Romania 😉