India Day 1

Get yourself a drink and a comfortable seat. Day 1 in India was a long day.

As previously mentioned we were late getting into Colombo due to some engine issues and for a few days, it was not clear if the India Overland tour would go ahead. We did eventually get a notification about changes to flights on the first day which would obviously lead to some further changes on the first day but we were just happy the tour would be going ahead.

The initial change was to replace the scheduled 2 p.m. flight from Columbo to Dellhi with an 11 pm flight to Mumbai and then a 6 am flight to Delhi. So red-eye flights and a stopover to replace the planned night in a hotel in Delhi.

We set off for the airport which is an older style and a bit run down and had our first security check in order to enter the building. After check-in, we headed to the lounge to wait for our flight. At this point, we were able to watch the last session of the first ashes test in comfort.

The cricket was going down to the wire with England favoured to win and Australia slowly grinding out the required runs. Three times we reluctantly got up and tried to leave the lounge only to be told each time that the plane had been delayed and they would notify us when we should leave. So we stayed and saw the final runs in a great victory before heading out to the gate and more security checks.

I skipped the meal and slept all the way to Mumbai.

Our first visit to India and it is truly an experience and initially an assault on the senses. The sea of humanity, The mix of cultures and dress, The overwhelming press of crowds, the noise, the heat and humidity, The mixture and juxtaposition of high-tech and petty bureaucracy and all of this was at the airport.

India is now a nation of over 1.4 billion people and it seemed like most of them were at Mumbai airport at 2 am for some reason. We had a 4-hour window allowed for our arrival and transfer to a domestic flight to Delhi. It took all of that time to navigate the multiple security checks, The Immigration counter with its mix of strange characters with unusual passport and visa issues and somehow emotionless officials constantly conferring with each other and their supervisors. More security checks, baggage collection, customs, finding the transfer desk and checking in, endless corridors, halls and escalators then departure gates where the other half of the population were already waiting. A bus ride to the plane then the welcome offer of juice or water from the steward and a comfortable seat. I believe we did not lose any of our 80-strong group during this exercise, I don't know how.

New Delhi. a new airport with similar crowds but this time we did not have to go through immigration and customs or transfer to another flight we only had to find our guides and get onto 3 buses for a trip to what was supposed to have been our hotel for the previous night. So, out into the traffic we ventured and the sights and sounds of India outside of airports were presented as we gripped our seats for the thrill ride of no-rules driving combined with a large variety of vehicles and animals.

We did get a teaser of what we had missed by using our rooms to shower (in comparison to the ship in ballroom-sized showers) and have lunch before heading off to Agra and being exposed up close and personal to train travel Indian style. It was explained by our guide that the roads were actually uncrowded due to the school holidays. This however meant that the stations and trains were particularly crowded with people travelling for the holidays. Words cannot describe the platform experience. So here is a short video.

Once on the train itself, we had reserved seating and not on the roof so it was a comfortable trip at a reasonable speed with attendants bringing water and a tray of snacks along the way. (only trying to extort a tip from one or two of our group) Once out of Delhi, we were travelling through rural areas with farms. People could be seen working in some of the fields, in groups of 4-8 with no machinery in sight.

On Arrival at Agra station, it became a contested scrum to get off the train. As we were a large group of not particularly mobile westerners it was taking some time for us to disembark. The crowd of holidaymakers on the platform were so keen to not miss their trip they were pushing on as we tried to get off. In the end, it was only the possession of the high ground on the train that enabled all of our group to get off the train in time.

Back onto busses and into the maelstrom of city traffic and onto a second hotel and time to drop our bags before heading off to visit Agra Fort. A useful description offered by our guide was to think of the forts as analogous to European castles with both a military defensive purpose and a palace/residence. When we looked at the outside walls and defences and then the internal palace areas this made a lot of sense.

In a day of assaults on all of our senses, the Fort was impressive both inside and outside. The scale and the architecture both have a grandeur of scale and attention to detail. There were the obligatory security checks and aggressive souvenir vendors before reboarding the bus for our hotel.

Back at the Hotel and time for dinner. Expansive buffet selection of unidentified mostly Indian dishes. The Indian food was good but mostly too hot for my taste. Difficult to make a selection without any indication of which dishes were hot or super hot. On the first night, I was tricked when the pappadums turned out to be the hottest item on my plate. Still, there was always homemade ice cream to cool things down and it turns out I can survive three days mostly on desserts.

Back to our rooms after being up for almost 40 hours although I did some snooze on the flights.

Dreaming of traffic jams...