Road to New Delhi

7:00pm Shanghai time; we were all packed and ready to go; this was the first time that my iron-wife was ready ahead of schedule. Haha.... Last minute stuff, unplug all water heaters, heated toilet seat, removed the water cooler - it leaked and required a new one. 7:30pm, my cellphone ran; the driver was ready waiting for us. 7:40pm, we were on the road to Pudong Airport. Wow, that was 5 minutes ahead of schedule. This time of day, the road to the airport was good; no traffic; only occasional dumb people driving between lanes or doing the same as some Regina drivers do during morning traffic - extremely slow crawl on any lane. By 8:30pm, we arrived at Pudong airport. We use T1. T2 has just opened for passengers about 3 days ago; good thing we didn't need to use it yet. After all the formalities of checking in, we proceeded thru immigration and security. Checking in, yes, we flew Biz Class with China Eastern. The price was CAD$2,100 as compared to Singapore Airline of double the price, not to mention the layout in Singapore; we would have to fly south then north again vs direct with 7 hours in the air. The CAD$2,1000 is pretty much a full fare econo with Air Canada internationally. The China Eastern aircraft is a new Airbus 300 with the individual pod that you can lay flat and dedicated power plug. Nice. I could work. Just be warn though, the in-flight entertainment was pretty lacking; but who cared at that time, you got on, late dinner, sleep. Our flight left at 10:20pm arrived at New Delhi at 2:30am local time, the next day.

Anyway, the flight itself was enjoyable; service quality was good if not better than a North American airline. In-flight meal was good; nice curry and spicy. Just didnt' have scotch. Darn it; but I could wait. For the price, I only wanted the bed and more room to sleep. Everything else was secondary. The lounge was a bit spare at the Pudong airport, as expected. Just drinks and packaged snacks of peanuts, dried octopus, dried BBQ pork strips, Chinese crackers.

The New Delhi International airport is going thru a renovation. Indian style; slow and chaotic. Nothing has really changed since we were here in 2006 Dec 24th with exception of signs everywhere apologizing about the renovations. Immigration was a breeze. Since all International flights come in around the wee hours in the morning, I don't think anyone wants to stay there ... After clearing immigration, off we went picking up our bags. Well, well, well.... No TV screens informing you of which turn table to pickup. You have to be very observant. I managed to find it; then someone from the airline came up and told me that was the turn able. Right. Luggage came very fast. Getting out... Well, my iron-wife decided to rush thru the custom while me chasing after her in bags. Well, the Custom guy tried to stop me as I had all the bags and one looked like a laptop bag. He tried but I pretended not understanding what he said and kept on going. India, just pretend you don't know and keep on going. Remember, corruption is everywhere! Local survey ranged corruption within the police force in Delhi is Number 1.

Once exited the Arrival area, we spotted our hotel pickup. You have to be careful existing the arrival area; it's like in Jakarta, people are ready "to take your bags with open arms". The driver said a few words to the "greeters" and they left. On the road to the hotel - The Intercontinental Nehru Place, was fast even though we had to slow down for pot holes, semi-refilled road constructions and green light caution (we had the green, just the people running red lights at the time of day). From leaving the airport to the hotel, it took about 40 minutes. Along the way, you could see the destitute, the middle-class, the wealthy, all mixed together. At one intersection, a hill was taken over by the lower class. I saw the "shelters" were constructed entirely from scraps; but there was a light shining out from a door. Overall, Delhi is not a nice place. From previous experience. We are currently sitting on top on the 12th floor of the hotel - the club lounge overlooking the city. All we can see are buildings and haze shrouding the surrounding area; will take pictures and post later here. I am not China anymore! So I should be able to .

The hotel itself is elegant; the price is steep; the room we are in, an old one with semi-worn out carpet and a bathtub that peels off, is R15,000 + taxes per night; that translates to a little over US$300+ per night; thanks to Bush, the exchange rate has lost its purchasing power! It used to be US$1 for R50; but now, US$1 is just shy of R40. Good thing we are not paying for the hotel room. The place just feel dusty. The windows are not insulated well so you can hear the hustling and bustling outside - continuous car honking and traffic police directing traffic. OK, the room does include free b'fast for two daily. Yumm... Masala tea. Not that good though; I have had better; but the coffee at the club lounge, nice coffee... I guess, the room price includes a bit more 'perks'.