India Arrival
Got to India 4 days ago. The American Airlines direct flight from Chicago to Delhi was simply excellent. Though it was fourteen and a half hours, it was mostly during the night, so it was easy to sleep. Also, the Boeing 777 was equipped with individual seatback entertainment systems, which made the time pass by very quickly. Now all they need is power in every seat and wifi on plane and then it would be a breeze. Comparing my recent trip to Sydney on United with this American flight makes me wonder how I can stand to travel on United. The United flight had the old style single movie projection and the food was horrible.
Once we landed in Delhi, the disembarkation process as a breeze along with baggage claim. Boy, was it humid when we landed though. We stayed at the Intercontinental at Nehru Place, which is a nice hotel with a great pool and fitness club. I had some minor complaints, but all in all quite decent. I only stepped out of the hotel once in 2 days to get a SIM card for my cell phone. I went to the first mobile phone shop that I saw and goet a Vodafone SIM. The process for getting a SIM in India is not exactly easy. I had to show them 2 proofs of identification (i.e., passport and US driver’s license). I then also had to provide a passport sized picture. There was then a 2 page application that needed to be filled out. I had to use my hotel as my local address. After about one hour, I finally got the SIM, which works perfectly.
On Tuesday, we took the flight on Indian Airlines from Delhi to Allahabad via Kanpur. We flew on a propeller plane that was small and hot; I guess they wanted to conserve fuel by skimping on the air conditioning. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t exactly pleasant. But it was only about a 2 flight, so it made little difference. The biggest issue with the flight was our excess baggage. Because it was a small plane, they only allow a single bag to be checked in with a maximum weight of 15 kgs. We had 4 seats, so were eligible for 60 kgs. However, we had 93 kgs worth of baggage. For each excess kg they charge 95 rupees. So, I had to pay nearly 3300 rupees for the baggage fee.
After arriving in Allahabad, it has been smooth sailing. Not much new to see in the city and it is hot and sticky during the day, so no one feels like doing something. I did go for a jog yesterday at noon when the sun was at its brightest. No one does that here, so they thought it was a little strange, but it felt great to sweat and really feel the heat and humidity. In this kind of humidity, the environment can not be ignored and you know that your body is alive.
