It was a struggle getting back from New Delhi; the flight was at 4am; due to the chaotic renovation at the airport, we left the hotel at 12:30am as suggested by the hotel. Got there after 1:30am or so. There were 3 gates at the International airport labeled as Gate 1, 2 and 3. There was no sign as to which airlines using which gate; so you picked up in hope that was correct. As we arrived at the airport, it was the beginning of the real Incredible India. The Sh!t hole of India; Gandi would have turn in his grave! As we approached the drop off, the place resembled a place from Out of Africa in a chaotic backward train station. Things were all over the map, honking, cars stopping and parking wherever the drivers wanted, people with luggage wondering aimlessly looking lost because there were no signs for directions. India gov't, this is your bloody freaking International airport! You have shown people how stupid and inept you are! And confirm it!
The airport was in better shape back in 2006 December. Granted there is an airport improvement / renovation going on. But the way that is being conducted, really make things looked like crap. The airport interior ... Good thing there is nothing being done to the outside for the renovation; otherwise, it would have added more problems. As we walked into the airport, the first thing we encountered were stupid people that seemed never traveled before; had their carts sitting in the middle of the pathway to the X-ray machines talking on their cellphones. Then you put your bags thru the X-ray machine and security straps were put on your bags; well, well, well, only one guy was qualified to put the strap on and two helpers to "transfer" the bag to the strapping machine. The guy left to chat with people! Leaving all the bags piling up at the end of the X-ray machine after being screened. As luck had fallen upon us, the China Eastern check-in counter was in front of the X-ray machine. Good! There was no screen or signs tell you where airline counters were! There were non existed back then and non now! It was an Easter hunt. Checking was smooth with the airline. And the staff was very accommodating to make a worse situation better. They ensured we were going to the right direction - immigration. Ha, what a joke for the immigration. We snaked thru this line going towards the immigration counters I was stunned. We had this corridor with the wide of about 5 feet squeezing into a line. The immigration counters were perpendicular to the lineup with no direction as to which counter you should go. Take your pick; every so often, someone would hurl you toward the start of the line. But you wouldn't know which counter you should use, no sign, no anything. Then the immigrations people were taking their time processing; they talked as if you were there. And while we were waiting, one immigration guy saw his friend in the back of the line and just flagged him over while he already had a tourist in front of him being processed. Not good! And the guy even had the balls trying to introduce this friend to his supervisor pacing behind the counters. I didn't that superior was too amused. Give your head a shake! Once we had gone thru the immigration, we were pretty much in a no-man's land. The airline lounges were between immigration and security check. We went; and what a hell hole it was. There were only three lounges hosted by airlines. The one we used were shared with about 15 airlines. And the place was cramped, smoky, crowded - Indian gov't schedules all International airlines leaving approximately the same time in the middle of the night; so you could imagine the crowd of people in the lounge with that many airlines. We didn't stay for long as there were no seats; some seats were taking up by people sleeping. After about 45 minutes, we decided getting thru security to the departure gate waiting area. Another hell hole. The classic Indian style. Not enough seats, but there were shops for Duty Free, Chinese Dim Sum, Hot Dog stand, Subways and an Indian snack shop. That was it. Gate 10 and 11 were just next to this renovation area; so the sign was a 2' x 2' piece with Gate 10 and 11 labeled almost at the floor. Most of the time, the TV screen with the flight status was in Hindi. See English status listed was rare. I had to kept going back to behind the security check-in to see that huge status board; I believe it was the only one still in use after the one in Hong Kong's old airport over 10 years ago. I really didn't see how this Indian International airport will be modernized. Just keep on building on top of old stuff. With the Indian speed, everything will be old by the time it is done.
Finally after waiting that seem eternity in hell, it was our turn to board. As always, Indian confusion style. O right, forgot telling you the experience of going thru security. Each carry-on bag, no matter what size, what shape or what form - plastic bag included, must have a name tag. After our bags had been screened, there was this guy at the end of the X-ray machine putting a stamp on the name tag; this was to "say your bag is a OK". Of course, remember these guys were all single task. One person stamp, one person transfer the bags from the X-ray machine to the collection area; well the transfer guy was missing in action, so the bags were piling up at the other end. Not being transferred. And the guy with the stamp, as if he had blinds drawn still stamping whatever bags went thru the X-ray machines. Didn't even bother stopping the machines. Dumb. Word of warning - check the name tags of all the bags, make sure they have stamps on them! As this leads to the boarding experience. When it was time to board, a security guard checked your boarding pass ensure there were enough stamps on it as well as your bags; if you did not have all the proper stamps, you were being ejected from the gate and had to get all the right stamps. There was a family of four - Indian family got ejected; they sat there wondering what to do. So was this Chinese guy. Finally, we just told him, grab a name tag from the airline staff and have the security guy stamping it. People, people, this place is not North America; whatever they want to screw you they will; that's the land of India.
Ok, since we knew the drill from previous visit and from the hawk like observation :-P Remember, in India, you do need the wondering eyes observing your surrounding; you do not want to get screwed; and watch how people getting screwed so you can avoid the same. Pretty harsh words but they are true. We passed without much fan fare; got on the flight; ready to leave. Well, my personal hell began. While we were waiting to depart, this guy sat across the aisle from me starting to snore, snore was not the word. I believed he was making noise. So loud, my ears hurt. Passengers from behind him complained and requested ear plugs. That was all the way back to Shanghai with the except when we were being served our meals. The flight was 5 hours; but we were delayed for an hour due to the incompetence of the Indian traffic control. No paper work was being issued! The captain had to come out of the cockpit and got one of the inflight staff to chase down the airport staff getting the paperwork done! Welcome to the Incredible India, the land of Incredible incompetence - India style. We finally got off ground local time 5: 15am! An hour and some delay. And the long snoring back to Shanghai.
I was totally wiped by the time I landed in Shanghai. Stomach cramp, prickly skin, legs like jello; this must classified as one of the excellent adventures of Schroeder-Lo. O yeah, we did scheduled time with our PT in the evening. So off we went to the gym.....
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