Wed, Jan 26 Dubai – Delhi
The Dubai International Airport was modern and bustling with activity the entire night. We left our room in the airport hotel at 1:30 am in search of a Starbucks. “Surely there MUST be a Starbucks,” we thought and in fact we spotted one just as we exited the elevator from the hotel. Grande decaf mocha, extra foam – YES! We shared a tiny table with a fellow who didn’t smile and who did a good job of ignoring us by sliding his chair back and away from the table, raising his newspaper and pretended to be someone very important.
After coffee, we perused the concourse with amazement at both the number of vendors AND the prices. This was definitely a tourist destination. I really wanted to stop at Cold Stone for ice cream but I resisted… I decided I would save that for when I am back home – for movie night in CDA. Ice cream and a movie go so well together… especially in the summer. It's very natural to drift back home... I find myself doing it all the time. I already miss my friends and family!
The 2 ½ hour flight to Delhi was crowded but uneventful. I watched another movie - SALT with Angelina Jolie (on steroids). When we off loaded, the air smelled of smoke or smog or a combination that was nothing like the fresh air back home.
Getting through customs went smoothly and I was hopeful that both of my checked bags AND my bike had made it in one piece. We snagged a couple of carts and headed for the turnstile and as I waited for my bags I secretly chuckled when I thought of the comedy of errors that played out the last time I went to retrieve my bag from one of these hungry beasts - the time I had to pry my bag from its jaws!
Jan’s bags came thru right away – she was sure that it had nothing to do with the fact that she was in first class but I knew better AND I also knew that the hungry turnstiles prefer first class luggage accessories to those of the economy class every time. I watched with anticipation to see if her first class luggage would survive – which it did! Whew! She was one of the lucky ones! J
Then we waited for mine……. and waited. The turnstile stopped spewing luggage from its mouth… and we waited. Then round 2 sent more luggage down the chutes… and we waited. Large RED North Face bag, small TANGERINE North Face bag… that’s all I cared about, come on, come on!!! And we waited. It was a beautiful thing when I finally saw my tangerine bag followed by my red bag dropping onto the moving belt… but of course they would have to ride the beast all the way around the loop before I could rescue them. And I waited… I calculated where they were when they went out of my sight… then my fears were realized when Jan said… “hey, some guy has your bag!”
Inspired by Angelina Jolie, I commanded Jan to stay with our stuff and I took off after the thief! I rounded the corner and sure enough “Red” was in his hands! I was on my way to rescue Red from her abductor when he tossed her back onto the belt, two bags down from Tangerine. Thank heaven that I wasn’t forced to use my unrehearsed ”female on steroids” routine on him! And Thank heaven I had my bags!
My bike was waiting for me too – no holes in the box, but it had been opened and the straps were gone. The box was heavy – that was a good sign. When we got to the hotel we assessed the damages… and other than my bike box and my small bag being INSPECTED, nothing was missing or damaged. This is a great picture!
I knew the time would come when I would be riding a taxi in India – we prepaid for a van and then pushed our carts thru a throng of “solicitors” out the front of the airport to the awaiting van. Our bikes and bags barely fit inside but we scrunched in and were on our way thru the streets of Delhi. As we left the airport, I kept hearing myself say “wow” in a low and breathy tone, not audible to Jan or our driver - only to me. This “Wow” is the kind of wow you say when you’ve heard bad news or the unbelievable. “Wow,” there were armed military men on the streets leading away from the airport; “Wow,” there are young men playing cricket in the large dirt field to the left; “Wow” our driver is honking his horn every 5 seconds; “Wow” there’s a dog… with mange, poor thing; “Wow” people drive fast here; “Wow” even the trees are covered with dirt; “Wow” am I the only feeling stressed in this car?; “Wow” there are cows laying down between the lanes of the road; ”Wow” we are ¼ inch away from that motorcycle; “Wow” that gal on the back of the motorcycle is sitting side-saddle holding a baby; “Wow” the buildings, shacks, tents, clotheslines, garbage and dirt – they are everywhere…. Wow.
We had a driver take us to see some of the sites of Delhi – today was a national holiday here – their independence day. We saw some of the parade floats, visited a temple, saw the Sikh temple and India Gate. Here is the India Gate:
It’s night now and we leave for Agra in the morning. We’ve put our bikes together and will leave our boxes here, load up in a large rig at 8 am – it will take 3.5 hours to get to Agra. My computer still won’t access internet – I’m disappointed but am journaling my trip until I can update my blog... hopefully tomorrow.
