At this point I could hear Steve's line about it not being an adventure unless something went wrong. And I was heading at full speed towards a real big adventure. I started asking whether it would be possible for me to visually identify the suitcase, saying that there shouldn't be many unclaimed bags. Apparently not because the sorting is done inside a warehouse and I'm not permitted access. They advised me that I would need to file a claim when I got to India. I indicated that my name was on the exterior of the case and couldn't the bag be identified this way? No. By this time I'm worried as it's clear they're sticking to their rules. Judith pursued the claim procedure direction. The clerk indicated that upon landing we would need to head to the baggage claim area and begin filing a claim with Air Canada. They would need the flight number and baggage claim number. Judith asked how it was possible to file a claim without the baggage claim number. At this time the counter staff manager radioed down to the baggage warehouse and instructed them to "let the Air Canada bag on the flight". And then told me that my bag would make it on board. I guess being persistent worked. I know I wasn't about to accept "no" for an answer.
We got into Delhi around 5:00 Feb 4th. Almost 14 hours in the air. We were met by the tour rep Shekar who called for our driver, Mr Amrit to pull up curb side. Judith had worked with the agent in Toronto to design this trip and once it was done, the agreement was that they would look to book others on this tour. We found out s few days before we left that they didn't book anyone else, so we've ended up with a private tour,
The ride to the hotel took about an hour as the traffic was crazy---exactly as you read about. A bit of unregulated jockeying through the streets with liberal use of horns. 99% of the vehicles have battle scars--scrapes and dings from getting too close to other vehicles or fixed objects. It was slow and all the cars, motorcycles, busses, tempos (motorized three wheeled bike cabs) working their way along the streets trying not to let anyone cut in. No lanes on some roads and they ignore them anyways. If there's room to squeeze in between two vehicles, a new lane forms. We actually made it into second gear a few times and eventually made it to the hotel which Shekar told us was in one of the swankiest areas of Delhi.
Shekar accompanied us to the hotel and was there to hand-hold us until we got settled. During the ride he gave us survival tips--that there would be lots of scam artists coming up to us to sell us stuff or offer services, but unless he or Mr Amrit said it was OK, we needed to ignore these offers. He went on to say that as a tour company they were responsible for our safety, so wanted to make sure we didn't get led astray by these people.
The hotel had an airport-like security checkpoint. You pass your bags through a scanner and walk through a metal detector. Every time you go into the hotel you go through their security. The room looked great. So far so good.
We asked Shenkar about going to the mall that was part of the swank enclave and he said that would be fine as long as we were back by 9:30 - 10:00. Once checked in we connected to their Wifi and then proceeded off to the mall. It felt and looked very similar to downtown malls in North America.
It was a bit unsettling to go outside to walk to the mall, swank enclave or not. It was dark and there were a few men milling around. In fact I noticed lots of men milling around on all the streets on our way to the hotel. Some women, but at least 90% are men. And a another security check point to enter the mall. We have our guards up.
I fell asleep before I finished this day's blog. Had a good night's sleep so off to get ready to explore breakfast and then Delhi.
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