Arrival

Inge in Indiareis 2018 2018-04-28 07:30, laatste update 2020-09-30 13:00

It was a very long day. We gathered at 6.30 in the morning (Dutch time) to get on one of the first trains to Schiphol. It was very nice to see there were some people who came to see us off, no matter the time. Pieter gave a nice speech, all dressed up, and handed over the Marie flag to signal the official start of our study trip.

And then the long journey began. First by train, then by plane and finally by car we arrived at our hotel.The moment we entered the plane, it was pretty clear our airline was Indian instead of Dutch. This is because it must have been at least 30 degrees in there. Fun fact: most Indian-looking passengers were in winter coats or wrapped in blankets. We just used the airconditioning.Apart from the temperature, the plane was pretty fancy. Everyone had their own tv-screen at the back of the next chair, got headphones, and could chose a movie, music album or even some games. The food also seemed pretty Indian to me, though it was still airplane food, so I'm not sure. The dessert, however, was pretty clear: ice cream!

By the time we were landing, we had already seen a colourful sunset above the clouds, so all we could see of Delhi were little lights. Even after we left the airport we couldn't see very much of the city. There was a nice temple that was illuminated, but otherwise it was pretty dark.

Somewhere in the reader I read that Indians don't follow rules as precisely as Dutch people do, and this was very clear in traffic. It seems like the person who can force the other to slow down has priority, changes in direction are signalled by honking and lanes don't mean anything. But there were no accidents, so I guess the drivers know what they are doing - even if it doesn't look like it.

So after almost being scared to death several times in the car, we arrived at the hotel. And by now it's time to start exploring the city before we leave for Agra tonight!