Thursday October 15th posting. I need to back up to my “lost day” of travel on Oct 14. I spent the day at the Sheraton Skyline hotel and rested. I recommend this hotel to travelers who find themselves in a similar situation. The lobby was bustling with businessmen working busily on their laptops and huddled together in small meetings. I took the bus to the terminal at 6pm and was delighted to see the brightly colored Virgin Atlantic terminal complete with large red neon WELCOME sign over the entry. When I checked in at the Upper Class (I love saying that) desk I received complicated instructions about which signs to follow to circumvent the normal security and immigration process and go through Virgin’s own private route. While the process was really the same as the normal one, the number of people going through was far fewer. Eventually one meets back up with the unwashed masses in the Duty Free shopping zone (which is pretty good at Heathrow by the way; allow extra time). I found something I’d been trying to find for eons; a special plug for the Mac to connect to electricity on the airplane. The special thing about this one is that it’s lightweight and small, unlike any other I’ve seen.
Then on to the uber special flagship Virgin Clubhouse! It took a bit of walking to find it, but when I did I wished I left the hotel earlier just to be able to hang out there and try to be as cool as this lounge is. I don’t know if my photo will convey much but suffice it to say that it looks like a cross between a mid-century modern home and the space-age house of George Jetson. Pink, purple, yellow, blue lights bathed the ceiling; people sat in swinging round Lucite chairs suspended by chains from the ceiling; I chose a more sedate Eames chair. Again the waitress service and dinner and drinks could be ordered, all free of charge. I felt like a country bumpkin who doesn’t get out much as I marveled at the enormous projection TV beaming “football” onto one wall, the spa complete with spray tanning, panels of electrical outlets disguised as armrests at many seats. I felt like I had died and gone to travelers heaven. Did I really have to catch my plane? My flight was just as nice as the previous one, but because it was much fuller, service was not quite as attentive. But I still rate the airline with high marks. I include a picture of my Upper Class cabin.
Took off at 10pm and landed in New Delhi at 11am on October 15th. The time difference between New York and Delhi is 10 ½ hours. I had been concerned that after exiting baggage claim I’d be met with a sea of swarming people none of whom were waiting for me. The reality was that it was quite organized as I exited the airport. Two rows of gentlemen waited for their pickups with neatly marked signs. I immediately saw “Spirit of India” and met my contact Raj. The driver, Vijay, who we happened to have met last year, was a welcome sight. Vijay whisked me to the hotel in about ½ an hour. As I landed I noticed thick smoke in air that the weather forecast had mentioned. But as we drove into the city I saw more blue sky. I am staying at the Imperial Hotel which a glorious place. Photos of the exterior, interior and pool are included. The entire place is fragrant with jasmine. I met Cliff and Cathy immediately as I was checking in. They had arrived at 7am and had a bit of a jump on me. They went off to walk around for the afternoon and I opted out in order to settle in and discover the hotel. I walked and walked, checked out the excellent hotel bookstore, and sat outside for a while a read and enjoyed a peaceful afternoon.
Around 4ish I happened to run into C&C again and this time Cliff was on a mission. He’d just bought a small cheap disposable phone (with prepaid minutes) to use in India because using our US cell phones to call anywhere is quite expensive (the per minute rate for my Blackberry is $2.99; that can add up quickly). His new Indian Nokia is only a few cents/minute for an international call and a couple of rupees/minute for a call within India (translation: practically free). The problem was that it hadn’t activated properly and he needed to return to the store to sort out the problem. I thought about it and decided that it might make sense for me to get one too. We will need to coordinate with our travel provider, call the driver, call restaurants, call each other if we get separated, etc. For a few bucks I’d do the same. So I went with C&C on their return visit to “the store”.
Cliff had said it was “just down the street”. We left the Imperial compound and reentered the real world of Delhi with its bustling streets, sidewalk vendors, tourist shops, tuck tucks, bicycles, cars, busses, and many honking horns. After about six very long blocks, dodging all manner of vehicles and trinket peddlers, we finally arrived at what looked like a dingy alley and Cliff said we should turn here. The alley led to similarly dingy small “shops”. We stopped at one that I would never have noticed or thought to buy from. It sold all sorts of things (in other words it was an electronics store and certainly not a mobile phone store) and in one case it had mobile phones. I won’t go into the blow by blow of what transpired but we were there until 6pm (I almost thought I’d faint from fatigue, jetlag and lack of water) getting Cliff’s phone set up and my phone activated (that’s what took most of the time) and working. What was funny and also exasperating was how many times you need to ask for something before you actually get it. We were very clear that we wanted 400 rupees of calling time on our phones. Somehow Cliff got his but after my confirming about 15 times that I wanted the same, and the man in the shop had repeatedly said 'yes yes', somehow suddenly it came time to add minutes to my phone and “there were only 200 minutes left to give out”. He promises to add the remainder to my phone tomorrow, which I’m sure will mean that I have to call him throughout the day to remind him.
It was all very funny and I suspect quite a lesson about how things work in India. We left completely exhausted and headed straight to the Imperial Bar and to a lovely restaurant in the hotel that serves pan-Asian fusion food. We were told that the restaurant took 10 years to build and the elaborate décor was a cross between Thai, Burmese and Indian. Very spectacular and I was very underdressed. We shared several delicious dishes and managed to make it out before all our heads fell into our plates.
