India
Journey
After the flight with Swiss via Zurich and Bangkok to Singapore (the flight was fine-I just wanted to try Swiss-never had flown with this airline before-and I must say the flight was much better than LH, including the staff, service and helpfulness), after one-day stay in Singapore and three-day rest in Bali, I am now sitting on a Malaysian Airlines plane from Kuala Lumpur to Bangalore. I flew with MH even from Bali, but this is not what I wanted to talk about. I know I have promised this story many times ago, so here it is. When I was in Kuala Lumpur, Tomas, who was already waiting for me in Bangalore, called that we already had a car rented (he arrived in Bangalore flying with Kuwait Airways to Kuwait, where he had one-day stopover, continuing to Bombay with Jet Airways, and afterwards to India using Singapore Airlines). The car was to be a terrible, dirty Ford, and that he would wait for me at the airport provided he manages to find the car… So I hope he will.
I have to mention this flight with Malaysian Airlines, because I have never experienced anything like this during my tens (or maybe hundreds) of my flights. It’s got nothing to do with Malaysian Airlines, where the staff is very helpful and obliging, all this is fine (though their Economy Class cannot be compared with Singapore Airlines or Cathay Pacific). It is the fact the ¾ of the passengers are Hindu, and what is happening here is really unbelievable! If this is a foreboding of what’s it going to be like in India, well, we have got things to look forward. I have never seen so many passengers to call cabin crew so often to ask for something. They started during taxing on a runway, when even the staff has fasten the seatbelts. 20 seconds after the take off they wanted to use toilets and more and more of them were „beeping“ to call the staff. Probably their „teacher“ was the guy on my right-hand side, who seems he’d like to train them by „beeping“ every 4 or 5 minutes asking for this and that… Water, whiskey, lemon, claiming the food etc. He has already used the toilet three times! I wander what he’s going to work out in a while.
I forgot one thing that reminds me my experience from Indonesia, but it looks very similar here: When the airhostess asks if he would like vegetarian meal or chicken curry, the guy doesn’t want it-he would like a fish. The airhostess nearly faints. They don’t have fish today, he can only choose from the two offered. But the guy wants fish; he had it on his flight from India to Kuala Lumpur. So this has been my experience from flight MH192 so far, and I am wandering what’s going to come, as there is still 1 hour and 15 minutes ahead. I also forgot to tell you that we took of 45 minutes later due to „hunting“ of Hindu passengers at the airport. I just don’t understand why they didn’t close the gate leaving them there. Well, I only hope Tom will be waiting for me at the airport to take me to a hotel. Tomorrow we are handing over the contribution for children in Bangalore, afterwards quick getting-to-know of India. We would like to travel from Bangalore to Bombay via Goa by car, so we’ll see what happens.
The landing in Bangalore is fine, except from circling above the airport for about 45 minutes before we land. The suffering on the plane is over and real India adventure begins. Even the entry to the arrival hall speaks for itself-it seems like you suddenly occurred at the Pardubice railway station in the 80´s-maybe worse…
Before you go through the Immigration you need to fill in an entry card, then luggage. There is a belt about 20m long, our whole plane A330 staffed around it. They send 5 or 6 pieces, then nothing for ten minutes, another 5 pieces. I get to my luggage in 30 minutes – luckily mine was among the first ones because of a „priority tag“ I still had from Bali. Then just customs, and I can see Tom eventually! We greet each other and go though rain, jumping over puddles, towards the rented car-a small Ford, 84USD for three days, it’s a good price. In about 50 minutes, after we got lost a bit, we arrive at the hotel, where Tom has already checked us in, I just need to show my passport. In the room we take a beer, chat and go to bed. Demanding days are ahead!
Bangalore
It’s 7am and we go for breakfast. It didn’t disappoint – it was great! We go to seek the archbishop and his Archbishop House, which shouldn’t be more then 20 minutes drive according to our map. After several phone calls, driving in all directions in India traffic, where the rules of the bravest one and the one with the louder horn are the only valid, where after asking they always send us to another direction (people here often know just their street and never get any further throughout their whole life), we finally get to our aim! First Sister Theresa, and a while later Archbishop Moras receive us. We arrange details and go by their car, followed by a three-wheel lorry, to distribute the gifts that arrived here by Fedex in advance. We drive through streets bustling with cars, people, cows and dogs to schools that come under the local Church. The children here are from slums. When we get off the car on a yard, we cause a little chaos-all the kids rush to greet us and want to shake our hands. You shake a hand to one of them and another tens-or maybe hundreds-want to shake your hand too. The school director guides us through the school and we make films and take pictures. Afterwards we handle the gifts. There are many, many children from 5 to 14 years old here. The school is well equipped – they even have school-desks! As we well see in other schools, it is not so common. The kids are very happy for the gifts-clothes, toys as well as the school things. A great „trophy“ is a pencil or pen. After about two hours we leave, the Sisters are already hungry. We go to a local buffet, letting the Sisters to make an order. Rice, chapati and loads of sauces is our meal. We pay 55 CZK for all the six of us. We head for another school-this time a girls´ school. The distribution is the same as in the previous one, only the girls are training for a march in a yard, so it looks more like a military exercises. It’s late in the afternoon and we drive to the last school, where a nice director welcomes us, the same one we met in the morning at the Archbishop’s. We only unload the boxes arranging to meet the children next morning. We return to the hotel via Archbishop House, to which we are looking forward after the all-day long driving, plodding and distributing gifts. During dinner we call Bohunka – a lady who had contacted us and has lived in Bangalore over a year now. We arrange breakfast in our hotel for the next morning; afterwards she would visit the schools with us.
After a short stop at the Archbishop House to load another boxes, we visit other schools. First the one from yesterday’s evening. Then a different school, a state school. This school is in much worse state then the other ones. Some children learn outside sitting on a concrete, some inside the classrooms. We arrive at lunchtime; the lunch is some kind of liquid with rice served without any basic hygiene.
Unfortunately we need to go to the hotel for my charger, as my battery is low, so we lose 1 hour and a half. Then we visit another school where the Sister-director in one person invites us for wonderful lunch-noodles, rice and vegetable. A huge line of children and an unbelievable glimpse of happiness in their eyes after every present is a great experience, as it was in the previous schools. It’s all for today, we arrange prolonging of our stay and visiting other school with „our“ Sisters (well, we won’t go to Goa by car, and maybe it is better. It is around 600 m and seeing the local roads, it would take some 15 hours-we will fly). Now we need to go to the hotel prolong our stay there (we mentioned it in the morning, so hopefully it’ll be all right). Bohunka leaves us at the hotel-she will pick us up again in two hours to take us to the airport and then for a coffee. The receptionist forgot (no surprise in Asia, though it shouldn’t be happening in this hotel) and the hotel is totally full. After a while of quarrelling we ask for a manager. Luckily thanks to my „no blackout dates“ profile we get a room. It is normal, that even if the hotel is full, they have a few free rooms for unexpected situations and clients. In the room we search a flight to Goa and Tom makes a reservation in the system. Hopefully it won’t be cancelled before we pick it up at the airport. We’ll fly with Jet Airways (these days one of the best airlines together with Air India, Indian Airlines or Kingfisher. There is also Air Deccan, Air Sahara, Spicejet, Goair, Indigo etc.), 1.300CZK for a one-hour flight to Goa with Boeing 737–800. This is one of the reasons to use this airline-new aircrafts and good reputation. Bohunka picks us up and before going to the airport we make a short visit to her home. The reservation is still valid, so we buy tickets and arrange a frequent flyer programme with Jet Airways. Hotel Leela is not far from the airport so we call in for a coffee and dessert. After a nice chat we head for the hotel to go to bed.
It is Wednesday morning and after another breakfast with Bohunka and checkout, we go to the last school-another one with no desks and benches. The local Brother and a school director in one person welcome us by a regular prayer, where the whole school gathers together. At a loss we are being introduced. Unfortunately, we have to leave after two hours to go to the Archbishop House and then to the airport.
Goa
We arrive at the airport 1,5 hours in advance and are surprised by the number of security controls (they check every bag, even if it’s just a camera case or a plastic bag-everything has to be tagged otherwise you won’t be allowed on the plane). The plane leaves on time and after one-hour flight we land at an airport reminding us the one in Čáslav – Goa. The luggage arrives in soon, then we take a taxi to the hotel. After a devilish drive of the local driver we arrive to our hotel to relax in a restaurant with a full buffet. We load us up unhealthily! Now we just need to store and see the photos and videos, plan the next programme and go to bed.
It is Thursday and we wake up at 11.30am – too late for breakfast. So we go for lunch after which we arrange a taxy for 150 km ride around the local sights. We arrange a price-2700 Rupee, which is around 1300CZK-well, it was booked through the hotel, so it is slightly more expensive. We go to see the old Goa, full of old buildings and churches. Till 1961 Portuguese occupied Goa, so the town sometimes looks like the Portuguese Riviera. You can find here many beggars and people selling anything you can imagine. Eventually one of them tells us in to a „bargain“-I buy an old stamps collection and postcards, and Tom buys coins. We couldn’t resist though he might have cheated on us a little, but we have two days to rest, so some shopping should be done. Through spices plantations (and buying of some of them) we come to Goa beaches, promoted even by many travel agencies in the Czech Republic. The beaches full of excrements, people and dirt don’t enchant us much. After that we head to a beach being said to the most beautiful, the beach is more tranquil and much cleaner, though it does not remind of „a paradise beach“. We have a beer, wait till the sunset and go to the hotel. Tomorrow we fly to Bombay (it has been Mumbai for the last three years). It doesn’t matter we don’t have any flight tickets. They keep cancelling our reservation from the system, so the price varies from 1,300 to 2,900 CZK per flight. We’ll see tomorrow. After loading us up with food again, we go to sleep.
It’s Friday and it’s day of our departure. Tom relaxes on a deckchair by the hotel and I write postcards. We take a complimentary shuttle to the airport where we arrive in one hour and buy flight tickets. We manage to get them for 1,280CZK. The problem was they didn’t accept credit cards so we had to look for an exchange office to exchange dollars. Credit cards are problem itself in India, especially in cash machines, where you are usually not able to get any money, so it’s better to always have some cash on you. After one-hour delay we leave Goa and fly towards Mumbai. Goa, for all its „India dirt“, engrossed us for its Portuguese buildings and peace reminding us of a sea resort.
Mumbai
Now, after arriving in Mumbai, we can expect the real hustle! The new domestic terminal welcomes us. The luggage arrives in 50 minutes, but they are here! And it didn’t matter that much, we could at least sort out some problems at work. We want to prepay a taxi to avoid arguing about the price. There is a counter „Pre-paid Taxi“ with 5 employees telling us this service hasn’t been activated yet (well, the important thing is to have 5 employees there…). At least a guy gives us the real price we should pay to Juhu beach where our hotel is situated. It makes 100–150 Rupee (divide two and you get a price in CZK). Good price for one-hour ride! The taxi driver tries us to pay 300 Rupee, but eventually we agree with 150 Rupee. To drive in Mumbai you really have to be tough. It’s a real adventure in this traffic and chaos. The traffic in Balgalore is nothing compared to this. After one-hour drive we arrive to our hotel. We just leave the staff here and take another taxi to take us to Bombay centre, which is about 40 km far from the hotel. In the local traffic it will take two hours to get there, the price is around 300 Rupee for the way there and back including the waiting tax (it is better to wait for us one or two hours than going all way long back free of charge). On the way we can see what the real India poverty is-hundreds of people lying and sleeping (living actually) on street, pavements and sometimes on the roads with full traffic, not mentioning the terrible smell. At every stopping (in this traffic it’s every other minute) we are being attacked by crowds of beggars (from four-year old children to seventy-year old men and women) and by sellers of whatever. After two hours and a half we arrive in the Bombay centre where we take a walk on the riverbank, go to see hotel Taj and India Gate. We meet the family Peter took a picture of the last time, which we used as a poster for the charity. They still live here, we give them some money and they have no idea what for. Since then we cannot get rid of their children running and shouting after us. After 20 minutes we „hide“ in a British-like pub where we have a beer, beefsteak (you see it’s not such a problem even in India) and a couple of beers more. After finding out taxi driver easily (he waved at us from far away), we leave for our hotel; the journey takes 1 hour 45 minutes this time. We take several more pictures, but we are knackered looking forward to going to bed.
It’s our last day in Bombay. We have breakfast, Tom rests by the swimming pool and I return to the room to write some postcards. The housekeeper is there so I go to join Tom. On the way to the swimming pool I hear my name-and I can see Alvin, a friend of mine from Singapore. He tells me he is in India on business-he was in Delhi and now here (he wrote me an email he would be in India, but was supposed to leave two days ago-he prolonged the trip). This happy meeting proves the world is really small! We agree to meet for an evening coffee and leave for the airport together (his flight leaves at the same time as mine, but Tom won’t go with us-his flight to Kuwait departs 5 hours later so he’ll stay at the hotel). I say bye to Alvin and go with Tom to the greatest Bombay laundry-Dhobi Ghats (it is actually a city in the city). About 20,000 people work here and they wash up to 500,000 pieces of laundry a day. First we take pictures of the laundry from above, and then we head into the local streets and typical India mess into the „entrails“ of the laundry (by „entrails“ I mean the whole complex of open laundries). For a small fee we are allowed inside, we take pictures and are amazed by what all can be possible. We spend here half an hour and then another 2 hour ride back to the hotel – travelling in 15 million inhabitants Bombay requests time and strong nerves! Quick rest, coffee with Alvin and departure to the airport, which takes only 40 minutes this time (it’s 22.30). I say goodbye to Alvin who leaves from the other side of the airport. I head towards check-in counters being attacked by so called „servicemen“ who want to help with the luggage. They pretend to be the airport employees offering the service free, but of course they ask for money eventually. You need to be careful with this in whole India. Check-in is smooth and I am in transit already. Don’t thing you will buy here anything. There are several shops here but look more like in Czechoslovakia in the 70s (empty shelf, rarely anything to buy). I have Cuba Libre in VIP Lounge arranged by Swiss and I write about our stay in India. The flight from Bombay departed only half an hour later, now we’re heading to Zurich.
A piece of extra information
An additional info about India: you can get a spatial offer tickets for about 15,000 CZK, but normally the price varies from 21 to 24 thousand CZK including airport taxes. Accommodation in India is of all levels, you can find one from a couple of hundreds to ten thousands. I recommend staying at least in a 3+ hotel, but still it is better to check it (in many you can even „meet“ a rat) and book it in advance. The accommodation prices in India are increasing and high quality 5 star hotels can be booked several months in advance for about 250 USD per night. When booking later, you can get up to 600 USD per night-the number of business traveller rises and India still lacks hotels of high quality.
Travelling by car is only for the strong ones and I wouldn’t recommend it for longer distance journey. It takes long time wherever you go. Travelling by train is only for the adventurous ones (the train doesn’t necessarily arrive for half of a day). With nowadays prices it is better to travel in India by plane.
It is better to take cash to India and don’t rely much on your credit cards, it could be a problem, roaming is not – there are four basic nets there. The only trouble could be an unstable signal. You can eat for a couple of crowns in the streets. In luxurious restaurants or hotels you spend from 500 to 700 CZK per person. When taking a taxi, it is better to arrange the price in advance to avoid arguing endlessly later on. In case you run over a cow, expect to pay 2,000 Rupee fee plus the damage caused (around 20,000 Rupee per cow).
In case of international flights, it is better to arrive at the airport three hours prior to departure. One hour should be enough for domestic flights.
I recommend drinking only packed water, local beer (the most famous is Kingfisher-also an airline) is good and you buy it from 30 to 100 Rupee, depending where you buy it (I´m talking about 650 ml bottle).
India is full of paradox, you can see here poor people living on the streets (where they live, sleep, work, breastfeed, wash and ease nature without even being ashamed-it’s just their home) and next to them stand Bentley and other luxurious cars. But India is definitely worth visiting, and I’m already looking forward to our next journey Bangalore – Delhi – Agra-Varanasi – Nepal next year.
