It’s been a crazy few days. We left work after midnight on Tuesday and by the time I’d finished up my blog entry it was after 2am. Since the hotel move, we now have a commute of over an hour to reach work and so I was up early to hop in a cab in order to make the center by noon.

We worked until 2am – taking two hours out to make a short trip to the mall and grab a suitcase and cell phone simm card – and by the time we’d flagged down a cab and landed back at our hotel, it was after 3am. Sleep beckoned but didn’t win as I had more work to do (aside: see a theme here?) and I finally crawled into bed at 6am. Four hours later it was time to get up, shower and head back to work.

We’ll be there until after midnight tonight.

Our travel plans are starting to firm up and we’re heading to Mumbai on Thursday afternoon. Friday is a work day, but we’ll have the weekend to ourselves to recharge and tour a bit of the city. On Wednesday it’s off to Pune, then we head back to Mumbai for a night on Friday. Saturday sees us flying to Bangalore where we’re spending a week before making the trip across the ocean to Manila.

No wonder I can’t tell if I’m coming or going this week!

Technorati Tags: travel, India

After advising our boss of the issue with the accommodations on Friday, we decided to pack up our valuables and trek off to Agra for the weekend.

Since I don’t always sleep well and there was a good chance that I’d already be awake, we agreed that only Ted would bother attempting to get a wake up call. We wanted to get to the train station as early as possible, so we settled on meeting up at 6am. 6am rolled by and I was up – but Ted hadn’t received his wake up call. By the time he was up, dressed and ready to go it was already after 8am.Â

We called a Taxi and headed into New Dehli to catch the train to Agra. After multiple trips to and from the Tourist Office – and fending off multitudes of hawkers selling their wares and those attempting misdirection through lying about whether or not the TO was open – we managed to get seats in 1AS on the 10:20 train to Agra. We were assured that this train would see us arrive in Agra in around 3 hours.

With just over an hour to spare before the train arrived, we headed across the street in search of a money exchange office. After passing up on three dubious looking places, we managed to convert some $$ to rupees and rushed back across the street to catch our train.

4.5 hours later, we arrived in Agra. During the journey we’d decided that we’d be staying overnight to see the Taj at night and at dawn the next day. We caught a pre-paid auto rickshaw to the area around the Taj and walked to the Sheela Hotel. Aside from having a great write up in Ted’s travel guide book (Rough Guide), I thought it would be a hoot to stay in a hotel that shares my name. We managed to get a few rooms – Ted took the one without the running water – dropped our gear and headed straight to the Taj Mahal.

The line up of expectant visitors wrapped around the block. At 4:30pm we joined the queue to purchase tickets, then 20 minutes later were once again in queue – this time to get in the door.

There’s been quite a bit of anger about the recent jump in the price of admission to the Taj Mahal for tourists. While residents pay 15 rupees to view this monument to everlasting love, all non-residents are charged a whopping 750 rupees (approx 20$ USD). The locals in line with us seemed far more indignant about the rise in admission for tourists than any foreign nationals. I’m certain many of us would have paid far more to see this man made wonder of the world.

From 5:30pm – 7pm we watched the sun set on the Taj Mahal. It was spectacular.

Inside the gates to the Taj Mahal

Mosque @ Taj Mahal

After watching the sun set on the Taj we headed back to the hotel and ordered supper. Despite appearing on the menu, there was no Dal Makhani to be had so I settled for a potato and pea curry. After a nice pot of lemon tea and a trip to an internet cafe to send a quick email to the hubby, we toddled back to our rooms to pass out. A 5:30 am wake up call was arranged so we could get into the Taj when it opened and see the mausoleum at dawn.

Despite crawling off to bed at 10:30pm, I didn’t manage to fall asleep until well after 2 am. There was loud singing, partying, car and auto rickshaw horns were honking – it sounded like a great party. I was tempted to investigate, but was more interested in trying to sleep so I wouldn’t be dead on my feet for our travels the next day.

Every good story must come to an end. This seems a natural place to rest for a bit. It’s 2am and I’m exhausted. I’m heading to bed. I’ll post part 2 of the trip to Taj soon.

Technorati Tags: Taj Mahal, Agra, India, train, Sheela Hotel

Despite the fancy Web site, our hotel does not fall under my definition of luxury in any sense of the word. I know I said I wanted to see how the other half lives, but I was wrong. I’m a spoiled North American and I’d rather be in a comfy and secure standard hotel than where we’re at now.

Where did we go wrong? Let’s see, the site advertises the following amenities:

1. 24 hours room service – not even close. I’ve yet to have a meal at this place. Not that that’s a bad thing if the rooms are anything to go by.
2. Elevator to all floors – only 2 people can use it at a time. I’ve been getting a lot of exercise on the stairs lately.
3. 100% power backup – not exactly. We’ve had a number of brown outs and my first took place while I was in the shower. Not exactly comforting when there’s no windows and no source of light.
4. Wall to wall carpeting in all rooms – try laminate flooring. I see no carpeting anywhere.
5. Direct dial STD/ISD facility – the phones in the room have no dialtone. When people try to call us, they get a busy signal and can’t get through. We’re getting cell phone simm chips so we can be reached.
6. Colour TV with satellite channels – don’t know, haven’t turned it on yet.
7. Same day dry cleaning & laundry
8. Fridge in all rooms
9. Running hot and cold water – try running cold water all around the bathroom floor from a leaky toilet and you’d be closer to the mark. There’s lukewarm water in the sink, but the water in the shower is freezing cold. I do have a nice bucket to use in the meantime *shudder*
10. Valet service
11. Safe deposit – not in the rooms. There are signs asking you to deposit all valuables at the front desk. The guy at the front desk was sleeping with a blanket covering his head. Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the security. Explains why we’re sleeping with our valuables though!
12. Credit card acceptance
13. Doctor on call
14. Travel services – just don’t count on airport pickup. We’re 0 for 2.

So, what’s good about the hotel? It’s a short walk to work, so Ted and I made the jaunt together this evening to call the boss and let her know the situation. As always, she put on the hero boots, cape and belt and is working on new accommodations for us.

There’s no way any of us could have known what we were getting into, so it’s been a learning experience all around. I’m feeling older and wiser already.

Keep your fingers crossed. We’re moving to a new hotel on Sunday.

Technorati Tags: hotels, India

But not to an auspicious start.

If this morning is anything to go by then our trip may be jinxed. Despite saying the following sentence aloud not 10 minutes before check in

“I’ll give you my winter jacket when we get inside and you can take it home.”

I completely forgot to hand over said jacket. By the time I realized I was still wearing it, I was 1/2 way through the customs line. A bout of mad packing and unpacking occurred and I’m now carting my winter jacket with me in the space I had previously dedicated for bringing back gifts.

Upon arrival at Seattle airport, I discovered that I didn’t have a gate number listed on my pass. This is also when I discovered that there are nice TSA agents and there are really rude ones. Since it was 4 hours until my flight boarded, the flight info wasn’t up on the screens yet. I stopped a female TSA agent who really didn’t seem to want anything to do with helping me find my way. Instead, she sent me on a wild goose chase throughout the airport looking for the NWA gates. After much airport speed walking, my feet were getting tired and I was becoming more and more frustrated. I finally gave up and asked two mail TSA agents for help. After declaring myself lost, the first one immediately told me he knew exactly where I was – right here! After that, they pointed me towards the train and told me how to find the TSA gates. Since the flight info still wasn’t posted on the board yet and I had some time to kill, they suggested I get breakfast in the central court as there was more selection before heading off to the “S” gate area. I don’t know their names, but they certainly made my day.

Landing in Amsterdam was like visiting a whole other world. Wandering through the airport, I kept smelling heavy cigarette smoke and kept looking around for a smoke room. Instead, I found people lighting cigarettes beside my gate. There was a small coffee shop outside of it (no separate ventilation) and people were smoking away at will. Odd that this would be such a culture shock since I can recall similar situations in Canada only 15 years ago. It’s amazing how fast you can become accustomed to the “new way” when the old way is outlawed.

I had a 3 hour layover in Amsterdam – not enough time to enjoy the city – so I checked out the Rejk’s Museum. It’s the world’s only free airport museum and they had a display of Maritime artwork interspersed with some portraits and landscapes. Not a bad way to kill some time when you’re waiting for a flight.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a trip to India without something happening to my luggage. One of my bags was ripped open at the side and I have to go hunting for a new bag on Sunday. Rest in pieces little Windriver, you were an excellent traveling companion for many years.

Ted, my traveling companion who arrived in Delhi the day previously, met me at the airport. He had come with a driver from the “luxury hotel”, but the driver didn’t wait for my flight to arrive. After much searching for the driver in the parking lot (over an hour), we called the hotel. They promptly informed us the driver had never left and was waiting outside. So, outside we went.. and waited another 45 minutes for the driver who was supposed to be parked in the lot in front of us to appear.

The hotel needs a post all of it’s own…

Quite an eventful night. I’m off to go pass out now.

Technorati Tags: India, flights, travel, luggage

Ow! My arm is killing me. I’m sure MOT is cursing his offer to act as a photographic model after our stint at the Traveler’s Health Clinic for last minute vaccinations. Since I had 90% of the vaccinations when I traveled to India in 2003, I only needed to pick up a few boosters (Typhoid, Diptheria, Polio) and some anti Dehli-belly pills this morning.

When I called to make the original appointment over a month ago, I was annoyed that the only one available was only a few hours before I leave. Granted, my chart was pulled up and mulled over before this decision was made. I had all the important shots and wouldn’t need multiple visits for boosters, so I wasn’t an emergency case. On the bright side, this scheduling decision did mean that I didn’t have to get a Rabies booster for this trip. I swear those dogs in India knew I was the only one in our group with the shots and chased me on purpose [also here].

I have to be careful, like all other travelers, but the Rabies shots made me so sick last time I’m glad I won’t have to get the booster now. Lucky me, I also won’t need the full round of treatment if something does happen, since my first full series of shots will provide some protection not available to someone who hasn’t done the Rabies song and dance before traveling.

With the exception of my carry-on bag, which can’t be considered packed until I pull the plug on my laptop and add it into the mix, I’m finally packed and ready to go. At around 3am last night I gave up on the idea of attempting to only bring one giant bag. Sure, the hockey bag was big enough to fit a body in – but trying to keep its weight under 50lbs was killing me. So, I’m back to using the two bags I normally bring with me.

The hubby is not impressed that I dragged him out hockey bag shopping to end up putting it away in the closet this morning.

Hopefully I’ll have enough room to bring lots of gifts home with me. As is, I’m pretty full on the way out. It’s not that I’ve packed enough clothes to last a month (honest, there’s only 8 days of clothes), it’s that I don’t like to travel to India without the important toiletries and sundries. Mosquito repellents, antibiotic cremes and pills, antacids, band aids, tylenol, etc., all take up room and I’ve already jettisoned clothes in favour of extra Deep Woods Off.

I did manage to get 6 of the 8 chocolate bars in my bags, so at least I’ll come bearing yummy gifts for my Filipino friends.

Technorati Tags: travel, vaccinations, India, rabies, packing