India - Traveling for Advanced ;-) (Day 18 of the world trip)

22.09.2019

As the plane was landing, you could already see the lights of New Delhi, but at first it didn't look like you were flying over SUCH a big city. It could have also been Düsseldorf with all its suburbs :D

After getting off the plane, you entered a very long corridor, which also has "conveyor belts" so you can walk faster. We didn't use the first one. Fitness first :p But after the first 300m we decided to use one of those moving walkways ;-) We obediently followed the signs on carpeted floors and with calming Indian music playing from the speakers until we reached immigration. For some reason, the term always reminds me of how the Irish immigrated to the USA. I imagine someone standing at a harbor in the 19th/20th century with a heavy coat and a suitcase, trying their luck in the country.

I don't imagine that you actually only want to be a tourist here, but times have changed^^ Since we had already applied for our e-visa, we simply approached the still empty counter and were unfortunately rejected immediately because we still needed to fill out a tourist card on site, just like with a typical visa on arrival. Oops! With all our documents ready, we wanted to go back to the counter, but suddenly there were a lot of other people there :/ So we obediently lined up and as it always happens, our line was the slowest :D

When we no longer had anyone in front of us, a probably over 50 bureaucrat went behind the security glass and beckoned us. At first he was very friendly and almost wanted to make small talk, but after a brief review of Jonas' documents, he was asked to look into the camera. He kindly complied with the request, but when he turned his gaze away after more than a minute, he was immediately reminded to continue looking into the camera. Okay... Somehow he managed it and I followed suit. We got our next stamp!

Short side note: when leaving Istanbul, Jonas neatly got his exit stamp under the entry stamp from Gaziantep, and when entering India, his next page was used. In my case, it looks like this: entry into Turkey on page 2, exit from Turkey on page 8, and entry into India on page 21. Tzz. How am I supposed to proudly show that off? :( :D

After the entry stamp, you walked a few meters and around the corner there was another official who wanted to see our passport and the stamp. With a rather disdainful gesture, we were silently waved through. Welcome to India^^

Since we had a connecting domestic flight, we followed the "transfer" signs, but at some point they simply stopped :O We stopped at an ATM to get our first cash - 10,000 rupees. Then the ATM displayed that it was now out of cash. Oops. Sorry! ;-) We continued towards the signs that still said "Domestic" and a nice gentleman told us to take the elevator on the left.

We thanked him, wanted to go in that direction, but were stopped by a soldier. We also showed him our ticket and he told us that we had to go to Terminal 3. And Terminal 3 is not here. But there is a shuttle bus between the terminals. Great :) A few meters towards the exit, someone stopped us again, this time dressed in a safety vest. He told us a similar story. We had to go to another terminal by shuttle bus. However, he claimed that we were in Terminal 3 and had to go to Terminal 1 (which turned out to be true afterwards!). So we took the regular exit and of course had to fend off taxi drivers who wanted to take us to the city center ;-) At the pillar where the shuttle bus stops every 20 minutes, there were already several other people waiting with 4-5 suitcases.

Despite the 6am local time, you could already feel the humidity in the air and I was already worried about what it would be like if the bus didn't have open windows or air conditioning :O When the bus finally arrived, the other people waiting rushed in. Every time I thought the driver would close the door, another man with several suitcases somehow managed to squeeze in, stacking them on top of each other in the aisle^^ We had already decided to take the next bus when a man waved us in. I couldn't imagine how it would fit, and I immediately stepped on a woman's feet with my hiking shoes, who was wearing the typical sandals. I apologized, but well, what could I do? :D Two women somehow squeezed in as well and then the bus drove off. Although we were on a (huge, like its own city) campus the whole time, there were small stalls on the roadside, cows on the street and on the traffic islands, and people doing their morning exercise on the green spaces between honking cars. A bizarre sight.

From time to time, doubts arose about where this shuttle would take us, but ultimately we made it to Terminal 1. The ride allegedly cost 35 rupees per person. I only had a 200 rupee note and got 100 rupees back - they seem to round generously ;-) Terminal 1 is noticeably smaller and less fancy than Terminal 3, where international flights arrive. In the elevator, people were again tightly packed, which is a real challenge for me with a slight tendency towards claustrophobia (once a mosh pit, never again :D). I know I'll have to get used to it in India, but it might not be so easy for me.

The next "highlight" was after checking in our luggage, where we had to sign a sticker stating that there was no power bank in our checked luggage, which was then stuck on the backpack, we had to go through security check again. Here, we had to drink all the water we had bought in Istanbul and then unpack everything. Each country has a few different requirements for which items have to be individually placed in a basket for scanning.

It went smoothly for me - I asked beforehand if I should have the boarding pass and passport in hand (passport no, boarding pass yes) and was then waved into a cabin covered with curtains, where I had to stand on a podium in the corner and then be searched with the wand. Then I received a stamp on my boarding pass and could leave. By the way, my flashlight or anything similar was absolutely no problem. It can be so different...

It was different for Jonas. After he didn't have the boarding pass in hand during the personal check, he was sent back to the beginning, where he had to ask the officer who scans the items to give him his backpack in order to take out the boarding pass. "Take out your camera, too," he advised. Done. Jonas obediently put the camera individually in a basket and I went to the restroom. When I came back, Jonas still wasn't finished :D :D Because suddenly, the officers wanted to see the entire contents of our tech bags (charging cables, USB cables, etc.). It wasn't enough to put both bags into the scanner. No, he had to completely empty both bags. I would have loved to see the expression on the officer's face :D

Finally, we both made it to the gate, where we are sitting now and trying not to fall asleep. It is now 9:45 am here and our next flight is not until 1 pm, boarding at 12:15 pm. By the way, that's another funny thing. The time here in India is 3.5 hours ahead of Germany. That half hour sounds really strange, but it's a fact :O :D Now we have to wait out the time and then we're off to Dehradun.

From there, the plan is to take a taxi to Rishikesh to our accommodation. According to the homestay operator, it should cost 800 rupees and I have packed exactly that amount in a separate wallet so that the taxi driver doesn't see how much money we have with us. We will report on whether the 800 rupees works out :)

It worked out! :) At Dehradun Airport, there were a few taxi stands that each offer a prepaid service, which means, as the name suggests, that you pay in advance. This way, as a tourist, you can protect yourself from the price being changed during the ride. Really nice!

However, the taxi couldn't take us all the way to the hostel because the road up there is too narrow. So we had to walk the last few meters uphill (another hill :O :D ). The guest house is really pretty and is located like a thousand others here in the narrow alleyways. And we have a huge terrace.