Posts
Auckland Airport
Well, the first two big hurdles have been crossed. I may have been a bit overweight on my checked bags, but because the young man at the check in counter was impressed that I was off to India to volunteer, he chose to not turn on the scales. And he did not ask to see my carry on bag. That was a great relief. I expect I would be right on the 30kg (66 lbs) mark, had he flipped the switch, but I was happy not to know for sure. He did something else very nice for me: he gave me the best seat I could have: the window bulkhead seat - on both legs of the journey to India. They keep these seats aside for special cases, it appears. I am so looked after! Thanks to everyone who has sent blessings and prayers my way. This is a good start to this adventure.
Next hurdle: security. At security they weighed my carry on bag. It weighed 13.5 kg . It was supposed to weigh only 7 kg. They were unimpressed that I was heading out to volunteer. Oh oh. But because everything I had in my carry on bag was electronic, they said it was OK. In fact, they imparted a very important bit of inside information. There is no weight limit for electronic gear in your carry on bag! This is because they would rather you carried it on the plane than take responsibility for it in your luggage. So as long as I keep under the size limits, I should be sweet in the future when carrying laptops, cameras, etc. Second big hurdle crossed.
But then, I had to get through the x ray screening. I tried leaving the laptops in the carry on bag, but the x ray guy made me go back and take them all out. 4 laptops, 4 trays. And questions. I was most concerned that they would make me turn them on to prove that they were functional laptops. This was a worry because all the power cables and transformers were in my checked luggage. Only one would of the 4, mine, would have probably turned on without its power cable, because the batteries in the old ones are shot. Fortunately, he didn't make me do this, and I was allowed to pack them back in my carry on bag and continue. As I was doing this, a security officer on the gate side of the x ray machine came over to read the pin I was wearing. The one that says "Don't yell at me, I'm a volunteer". I told her about the destination for the laptops. She let me go. I think that the fact that they were etched with Hope Disability Centre helped as well. It probably also helps that I don't fit the profile of a terrorist, though factory farmers and dairy farmers who dock their cows' tails might think otherwise.
My 30+ pound bag was hoisted into the overhead bin by my seatmate - a big strong Frenchman who has been living in New Zealand for 2 years - the kind of guy the airlines keeps those bulkhead seats for. He wasn't fat, but had to pry himself into the seat. There is no way he would have survived one of the regular seats. We had interesting conversations about Rio, New Zealand, and animals during the 11 hour flight to Hong Kong. Both he and his wife have qualifications as veterinarians, though neither are practicing vets at the moment.
Hong Kong Airport
We had to go through security again on our way to our connecting gates. I held up the queue for a bit as I produced laptop after laptop from my carry on bag. I heard the comments, as the people in line counted them. Like a magician pulling doves out of a bag. The security staff didn't bat an eye, though. No question, no comments, no discussion among the staff. Not even a raised eyebrow. Excellent! Load them on, run them through, pack them up again.
Flight to Delhi fom Hong Kong
As I was walking down the runway to board the aircraft, I passed an airline official in a tense discussion with a couple of Indian men. I overheard the airline guy say "come on, we've been talking for 5 minutes. I know you have more than 7 kg in that bag!". Grateful for the diversion, and doing my best not to reveal the weight of mine by gently rolling it along, I sidled past the men. The airline security man looked at my bag as it passed, but said nothing. I didn't want to have to go through the doves out of the bag routine again. Maybe this guy had a different interpretation of the allowed weight of electronics in carry on bags. I didn't want to find out.
The flight attendant showed me to my lovely bulkhead seat, and fortunately left me there to help other passengers. I managed to hoist the carry on into the overhead bin by myself. Safe.
I was able to sleep a bit on the 5 hour flight to Delhi.
I debated about what to put on the customs form for value of gifts being brought into the country. I decided to put the maximum allowable gift value on the customs form, since I really had no idea of the vale of the donated laptops. And, since I had no other red flag items (plants, seeds), I was destined for the 'Nothing to Declare' line.
Passpot control told me I needed special permission to go to Kashmir. This was news to me! I better check this out right away.
While waiting for my bags to arrive at baggage claim, the need to find a toilet became evident. Welcome to India! My bags all arrived OK, and as I headed toward the exit, the lady in front of me was singled out to have her bags x rayed. I looked at the official to see if he wanted me, too. I realised later that they were doing random checks, not screening everyone like they do at Los Angeles. I could have probably walked right out of the airport, no questions. But since I asked, he said yes, go through the x ray. So I followed the woman over to the x ray machine. As I was waiting, a female official sitting on a chair nearby asked me if I was traveling together with the lady I had followed in line. When I said 'no', she said "You don't have to do this. You can leave." Great! But as I was starting to head out, the male official said something, and the lady on the chair said, 'oh, sorry, just screen that bag, pointing to my backpack. How fortunate, that the backpack was the only bag I had without laptops! Any of the others would have resulted in lots of questions at minimum, and possibly big import duties. The x ray operator wanted to know what all the electrical equipment he saw in my bag was, but didn't question me further when I pulled out 5 electrical cords and transformers! He let me go! As soon as I was outside the door, I realized I had made it withot lengthy discussions and who knows how much import duty. I was elated. But it could easily have gone the other way. I doubt whether I will be this lucky every time I try bringing laptops into India, if I do it again.
And, like clockwork, a driver was holding a sign with my name on it. There were two young men from the Ajanta Hotel to pick me up. As we walked out through the corridor to the parking lot, we stepped around a man and a toddler sleeping on the floor, with hundreds of travelers walking past them every couple of hours. No one took any notice. It was 3am in Delhi. People were sleeping in cars and on top of cars in the paking lot, or sitting in small groups on the pavement, or walking. It is cooler at night, so those who can go out then would do so, I imagine. When we walked out of the airport, it was like walking into the scene of a recent fire- a chemical fire. The air was so full of exhaust fumes and diesel smoke, even at this time of night, that the streetlights had orange halos around them. I so wanted a dust mask! My sinuses started hurting in 15 minutes. The only thing I can compare it to was chain smoking unfiltered Camels which had been soaked in dirty crankcase oil. Lung disease must be rampant here. I could well imagine how welcome the monsoon rains would be - to get this stuff out of the air! The drive to the hotel took an hour, and greenery was minimal. It reminded me most of Mexico City, with the grimy metal garage-like buildings, nearly every building in various stages of decay or neglect, and the never ending renovation debris. At 3:30 in the morning you see different sights than you would if you arrived in the daytime. I saw people sleepng in their motorcycle taxis, legs and arms flung outside like they had been killed and hastily dumped. I hadn't realised that many of these drivers had nowhere else to sleep at night.
I thought it might be nice to take a tour of the city during my one day in Delhi. But I won't contribute any more pollution than necessary, so no air conditioned taxi or mini bus. It would have to be by bicycle taxi, and perhaps a gas mask.
All the trucks say Please Honk on the back. I watched the hotel driver closely to see if I could figure out that meant. I would have asked the driver, but I could not understand his English.
The Ajanta Hotel, Delhi
The Ajanta Hotel is clean and comfortable and safe. With friendly, efficient staff. I was happy to get to my room after the long trip.
The water and tumblers looked inviting, 
but I won't drink the water here until it goes through my carbon filter first. I am already seeing effects from the Hong Kong tap water on the plane, let alone Delhi tap water!
There is no cold water in the bathroom taps. Only warm and warmer. I was thinking how delightful this would be on a bitterly cold January morning in Minnesota. Instant perfect bath temp water out of either tap. I need to remember never to drink the tap water, nor even brush my teeth with it - at least at first! It is hard not to do this, as it is so automatic when brushing your teeth in a sink.
I celebrated my successful arrival in India with a nut bar and a photo.
I opened my laptop to discover another very pleasant surprise - Free unlocked WiFi internet access. Which is why I have been able to post this blog entry so quickly.
By this time it was 6am, and getting light. I could have stayed up and watch the city awaken, but decided to sleep instead.
Got up at 9:30 and decided to see what the view was behind that big curtain in my room. Not pretty, but very interesting:
I talked to the hotel manager first thing about the special approval to go to Kashmir. She told me that since I was going to stay with locals, and not just traveling by myself sightseeing, I would be fine. She tried to talk me into using her travel agency to go on sightseeing tours in India. No thanks. Then she tried to convince me to take an air conditioned car on a tour of the city. I insisted on a cycle taxi. There is no way I am going to contribute to Delhi's pollution more than necessary.
I had an Indian breakfast in the hotel, and took a look at the clothes on offer in the hotel shop. Prices weren't bad, but I didn't want to buy anything until I had seen what the markets offered.
I got ready, camera, some cash, a business card from the hotel, and my water bottle, and the hotel manager found a cycle taxi driver for me. He was one of the few with a shade cover, and I was grateful for it. The sun is very filteredby the pollution, but still hot. My driver was Soom.
He is the one on the right in the photo with the young juice seller. Soom had a bad tooth in the front of his mouth which he was embarrassed by, so did not smile openly. He also spoke no English, but we managed fine. I was surprised to find that I was not as bothered by the pollution as the night before. It is still there, and occasionally made my eyes burn, but I didn't get a headache from it. Aren't humans amazingly adaptable creatures???? I did see a few people with kerchiefs over their mouth and nose to filter the air, though. So it is not my imagination. And you can see from the photos how polluted the air is.
The electrical wires were a real jumble - like the conglomeration found behind most office desks in the West, but on a much grander scale.
There were only two bullock carts on the streets that I saw. And I spotted a handful of horse drawn carts. But nearly everything seems to be transported by human power here - sometimes with the aid of bicycle gears, but often not.
He took me to the Jama Masjid,
the largest Muslim mosque in India. 
It was in between prayers, but there were 
plenty of people sitting around, or washing themselves in preparation for prayer, where I had a guided tour. My tour guide 
pointed out all the best photos. I forgot to ask in advance what the tour fee would be. 
Silly me, I had at first thought it was included as part of the 200 rupee fee for visitors. But as the tour progressed, I knew this would be extra. I was caught by then. and charged me 150 rupees. I didn't quibble, and he gave me a postcard.
The cycle tour was the best way to see the life of the city. I had noticed from my hotel window that almost no one wore sunglasses, so I left mine at the hotel. And I am glad I did, because I had lovely eye contact and smiles with many people as we went along. I saw no fights, and only a couple of displays of temper. A beggar approached me as soon as I left the cycle taxi to enter the grounds of the mosque. I was not prepared, and planned to give her money on my way out. Unfortunately, she was gone. I must learn to be better prepared with smaller enominated rupee notes now that I know I am not going to be mobbed by beggars if I set foot outside.
I was quite relaxed in the cycle taxi with all the honking traffic. They honk a lot, but it isn't accompanied with shouting and shaking fists, so it seems quite civilized. And only once or twice was it loud enough to hurt my ears. Being a cyclist myself and living intimately with traffic and pedestrians, helped a lot in being able to relax and enjoy. I was fairly circumspect in my photos, and only took people photos of children who wanted to be photographed. Having hauled heavy loads up hills on my bike, I also did't feel uneasy as Soom tackled a couple of hills with me riding. He was so skinny, though! II asked him to stop and bought a lemonade for him
, and would have bought him a meal, but he didn't understand. He took me to a couple of clothing places, and I bought a couple of tops, but I have not seen what I am looking for, and will keep on looking. I gave him 500 rupees for his several hour tour, about $10 US or $18 NZ. Made his day, I'm sure. Hope he has a big meal and a rest. 
Well, the first two big hurdles have been crossed. I may have been a bit overweight on my checked bags, but because the young man at the check in counter was impressed that I was off to India to volunteer, he chose to not turn on the scales. And he did not ask to see my carry on bag. That was a great relief. I expect I would be right on the 30kg (66 lbs) mark, had he flipped the switch, but I was happy not to know for sure. He did something else very nice for me: he gave me the best seat I could have: the window bulkhead seat - on both legs of the journey to India. They keep these seats aside for special cases, it appears. I am so looked after! Thanks to everyone who has sent blessings and prayers my way. This is a good start to this adventure.
Next hurdle: security. At security they weighed my carry on bag. It weighed 13.5 kg . It was supposed to weigh only 7 kg. They were unimpressed that I was heading out to volunteer. Oh oh. But because everything I had in my carry on bag was electronic, they said it was OK. In fact, they imparted a very important bit of inside information. There is no weight limit for electronic gear in your carry on bag! This is because they would rather you carried it on the plane than take responsibility for it in your luggage. So as long as I keep under the size limits, I should be sweet in the future when carrying laptops, cameras, etc. Second big hurdle crossed.
But then, I had to get through the x ray screening. I tried leaving the laptops in the carry on bag, but the x ray guy made me go back and take them all out. 4 laptops, 4 trays. And questions. I was most concerned that they would make me turn them on to prove that they were functional laptops. This was a worry because all the power cables and transformers were in my checked luggage. Only one would of the 4, mine, would have probably turned on without its power cable, because the batteries in the old ones are shot. Fortunately, he didn't make me do this, and I was allowed to pack them back in my carry on bag and continue. As I was doing this, a security officer on the gate side of the x ray machine came over to read the pin I was wearing. The one that says "Don't yell at me, I'm a volunteer". I told her about the destination for the laptops. She let me go. I think that the fact that they were etched with Hope Disability Centre helped as well. It probably also helps that I don't fit the profile of a terrorist, though factory farmers and dairy farmers who dock their cows' tails might think otherwise.
My 30+ pound bag was hoisted into the overhead bin by my seatmate - a big strong Frenchman who has been living in New Zealand for 2 years - the kind of guy the airlines keeps those bulkhead seats for. He wasn't fat, but had to pry himself into the seat. There is no way he would have survived one of the regular seats. We had interesting conversations about Rio, New Zealand, and animals during the 11 hour flight to Hong Kong. Both he and his wife have qualifications as veterinarians, though neither are practicing vets at the moment.
Hong Kong Airport
We had to go through security again on our way to our connecting gates. I held up the queue for a bit as I produced laptop after laptop from my carry on bag. I heard the comments, as the people in line counted them. Like a magician pulling doves out of a bag. The security staff didn't bat an eye, though. No question, no comments, no discussion among the staff. Not even a raised eyebrow. Excellent! Load them on, run them through, pack them up again.
Flight to Delhi fom Hong Kong
As I was walking down the runway to board the aircraft, I passed an airline official in a tense discussion with a couple of Indian men. I overheard the airline guy say "come on, we've been talking for 5 minutes. I know you have more than 7 kg in that bag!". Grateful for the diversion, and doing my best not to reveal the weight of mine by gently rolling it along, I sidled past the men. The airline security man looked at my bag as it passed, but said nothing. I didn't want to have to go through the doves out of the bag routine again. Maybe this guy had a different interpretation of the allowed weight of electronics in carry on bags. I didn't want to find out.
The flight attendant showed me to my lovely bulkhead seat, and fortunately left me there to help other passengers. I managed to hoist the carry on into the overhead bin by myself. Safe.
I was able to sleep a bit on the 5 hour flight to Delhi.
I debated about what to put on the customs form for value of gifts being brought into the country. I decided to put the maximum allowable gift value on the customs form, since I really had no idea of the vale of the donated laptops. And, since I had no other red flag items (plants, seeds), I was destined for the 'Nothing to Declare' line.
Passpot control told me I needed special permission to go to Kashmir. This was news to me! I better check this out right away.
While waiting for my bags to arrive at baggage claim, the need to find a toilet became evident. Welcome to India! My bags all arrived OK, and as I headed toward the exit, the lady in front of me was singled out to have her bags x rayed. I looked at the official to see if he wanted me, too. I realised later that they were doing random checks, not screening everyone like they do at Los Angeles. I could have probably walked right out of the airport, no questions. But since I asked, he said yes, go through the x ray. So I followed the woman over to the x ray machine. As I was waiting, a female official sitting on a chair nearby asked me if I was traveling together with the lady I had followed in line. When I said 'no', she said "You don't have to do this. You can leave." Great! But as I was starting to head out, the male official said something, and the lady on the chair said, 'oh, sorry, just screen that bag, pointing to my backpack. How fortunate, that the backpack was the only bag I had without laptops! Any of the others would have resulted in lots of questions at minimum, and possibly big import duties. The x ray operator wanted to know what all the electrical equipment he saw in my bag was, but didn't question me further when I pulled out 5 electrical cords and transformers! He let me go! As soon as I was outside the door, I realized I had made it withot lengthy discussions and who knows how much import duty. I was elated. But it could easily have gone the other way. I doubt whether I will be this lucky every time I try bringing laptops into India, if I do it again.
And, like clockwork, a driver was holding a sign with my name on it. There were two young men from the Ajanta Hotel to pick me up. As we walked out through the corridor to the parking lot, we stepped around a man and a toddler sleeping on the floor, with hundreds of travelers walking past them every couple of hours. No one took any notice. It was 3am in Delhi. People were sleeping in cars and on top of cars in the paking lot, or sitting in small groups on the pavement, or walking. It is cooler at night, so those who can go out then would do so, I imagine. When we walked out of the airport, it was like walking into the scene of a recent fire- a chemical fire. The air was so full of exhaust fumes and diesel smoke, even at this time of night, that the streetlights had orange halos around them. I so wanted a dust mask! My sinuses started hurting in 15 minutes. The only thing I can compare it to was chain smoking unfiltered Camels which had been soaked in dirty crankcase oil. Lung disease must be rampant here. I could well imagine how welcome the monsoon rains would be - to get this stuff out of the air! The drive to the hotel took an hour, and greenery was minimal. It reminded me most of Mexico City, with the grimy metal garage-like buildings, nearly every building in various stages of decay or neglect, and the never ending renovation debris. At 3:30 in the morning you see different sights than you would if you arrived in the daytime. I saw people sleepng in their motorcycle taxis, legs and arms flung outside like they had been killed and hastily dumped. I hadn't realised that many of these drivers had nowhere else to sleep at night.
I thought it might be nice to take a tour of the city during my one day in Delhi. But I won't contribute any more pollution than necessary, so no air conditioned taxi or mini bus. It would have to be by bicycle taxi, and perhaps a gas mask.
All the trucks say Please Honk on the back. I watched the hotel driver closely to see if I could figure out that meant. I would have asked the driver, but I could not understand his English.
The Ajanta Hotel, Delhi
The Ajanta Hotel is clean and comfortable and safe. With friendly, efficient staff. I was happy to get to my room after the long trip.
The water and tumblers looked inviting, 
but I won't drink the water here until it goes through my carbon filter first. I am already seeing effects from the Hong Kong tap water on the plane, let alone Delhi tap water!There is no cold water in the bathroom taps. Only warm and warmer. I was thinking how delightful this would be on a bitterly cold January morning in Minnesota. Instant perfect bath temp water out of either tap. I need to remember never to drink the tap water, nor even brush my teeth with it - at least at first! It is hard not to do this, as it is so automatic when brushing your teeth in a sink.
I celebrated my successful arrival in India with a nut bar and a photo.
I opened my laptop to discover another very pleasant surprise - Free unlocked WiFi internet access. Which is why I have been able to post this blog entry so quickly.By this time it was 6am, and getting light. I could have stayed up and watch the city awaken, but decided to sleep instead.
Got up at 9:30 and decided to see what the view was behind that big curtain in my room. Not pretty, but very interesting:
I talked to the hotel manager first thing about the special approval to go to Kashmir. She told me that since I was going to stay with locals, and not just traveling by myself sightseeing, I would be fine. She tried to talk me into using her travel agency to go on sightseeing tours in India. No thanks. Then she tried to convince me to take an air conditioned car on a tour of the city. I insisted on a cycle taxi. There is no way I am going to contribute to Delhi's pollution more than necessary.
I had an Indian breakfast in the hotel, and took a look at the clothes on offer in the hotel shop. Prices weren't bad, but I didn't want to buy anything until I had seen what the markets offered.
I got ready, camera, some cash, a business card from the hotel, and my water bottle, and the hotel manager found a cycle taxi driver for me. He was one of the few with a shade cover, and I was grateful for it. The sun is very filteredby the pollution, but still hot. My driver was Soom.
He is the one on the right in the photo with the young juice seller. Soom had a bad tooth in the front of his mouth which he was embarrassed by, so did not smile openly. He also spoke no English, but we managed fine. I was surprised to find that I was not as bothered by the pollution as the night before. It is still there, and occasionally made my eyes burn, but I didn't get a headache from it. Aren't humans amazingly adaptable creatures???? I did see a few people with kerchiefs over their mouth and nose to filter the air, though. So it is not my imagination. And you can see from the photos how polluted the air is.The electrical wires were a real jumble - like the conglomeration found behind most office desks in the West, but on a much grander scale.
There were only two bullock carts on the streets that I saw. And I spotted a handful of horse drawn carts. But nearly everything seems to be transported by human power here - sometimes with the aid of bicycle gears, but often not.
He took me to the Jama Masjid,
the largest Muslim mosque in India. 
It was in between prayers, but there were 
plenty of people sitting around, or washing themselves in preparation for prayer, where I had a guided tour. My tour guide 
pointed out all the best photos. I forgot to ask in advance what the tour fee would be. 
Silly me, I had at first thought it was included as part of the 200 rupee fee for visitors. But as the tour progressed, I knew this would be extra. I was caught by then. and charged me 150 rupees. I didn't quibble, and he gave me a postcard.The cycle tour was the best way to see the life of the city. I had noticed from my hotel window that almost no one wore sunglasses, so I left mine at the hotel. And I am glad I did, because I had lovely eye contact and smiles with many people as we went along. I saw no fights, and only a couple of displays of temper. A beggar approached me as soon as I left the cycle taxi to enter the grounds of the mosque. I was not prepared, and planned to give her money on my way out. Unfortunately, she was gone. I must learn to be better prepared with smaller enominated rupee notes now that I know I am not going to be mobbed by beggars if I set foot outside.
I was quite relaxed in the cycle taxi with all the honking traffic. They honk a lot, but it isn't accompanied with shouting and shaking fists, so it seems quite civilized. And only once or twice was it loud enough to hurt my ears. Being a cyclist myself and living intimately with traffic and pedestrians, helped a lot in being able to relax and enjoy. I was fairly circumspect in my photos, and only took people photos of children who wanted to be photographed. Having hauled heavy loads up hills on my bike, I also did't feel uneasy as Soom tackled a couple of hills with me riding. He was so skinny, though! II asked him to stop and bought a lemonade for him
, and would have bought him a meal, but he didn't understand. He took me to a couple of clothing places, and I bought a couple of tops, but I have not seen what I am looking for, and will keep on looking. I gave him 500 rupees for his several hour tour, about $10 US or $18 NZ. Made his day, I'm sure. Hope he has a big meal and a rest. 
