An Eventful First Day in Delhi

At London Heathrow!

The flight was comfortable an uneventful, but with snippets of hilarity mainly from Melman with regards to his costume and commenting that he was 'letting it all hang out'!!  The air steward also mistook his costume for a blanket during take off, which also led to some amusing moments when he requested Melman remove his clothing!!

During the flight, we watched films and tried to sleep.  Marty and Gloria were also responsible for ensuring that Melman did not spill anything on his onesie ... there were some hairy moments!!!

Ready to fly off... 

So we landed in Delhi at 11 am.  The weather was gorgeous ... very hot, but lovely and sunny!  There were no problems at Immigration ... some very odd looks and many questions asked though!!!  We were all sweating bucket-loads - waiting at the baggage belt ready to do some serious weight lifting - when we bumped into Dr Sahdev from Luton!!  Such a small world :)

Having successfully found our baggage, fended off some odd looks and fought our way through the throng of taxi/rickshaw drivers offering lifts, we managed to flag down a licensed cab to Civil Lines, the are of Delhi where our hotel was situated.

Snoozing on the plane

The taxi driver started driving ... 'so where is the hotel?' he asked, and we proceeded to give him the address.  This was meant with a blank look... and 'yes, but WHERE exactly is that?'.  We didn't like to point out, that if we knew the answer to that question, we wouldn't be in need of a taxi!!

1hr 15 mins later, tired, hungry and hot we were still trying to find the hotel!!!  Not sure who was more annoyed - the taxi driver or us!!  'Tamaro hotel owner pagal hai' = 'your hotel owner is crazy' ... in response to some unhelpful directions from the hotel!!

Finally we reached Petite Hotel.  From the outside it looked quiet, well kept and serene.  On the inside, it was a completely different matter.  Our King Emperor suite that we'd been promised, with rooftop views, living room and kitchen, was what can only be described as a shed with a few bits of furniture, that hadn't been touched in 10 years!!!  The sofa had holes in it, the electrics were falling apart, the TV required some coaxing to get started, and the bathroom (which did not lock or close), had definitely seen better days.

Ladies seat!!!

Oh dear.  4 weeks here?!  Really?!  We thought not.  Lets use the 'free internet' to research some other accommodation ... even that was proved difficult as the only internet signal was in the garden!!!  Having researched and found a new hotel that we subsequently checked out (involved using the Metro for the first time ... not knowing how to use the chips; Melman sitting in the ladies seat, Marty's foot being run over by a cycle rickshaw), we had to face the old hotel owner to tell him we didn't want the room!

But not just the hotel owner.  This time he had a friend with him.  Friend to him, definitely NOT to us.  A large dog, about 1m tall, huge sharp front teeth, panting and glaring, sat beside the what-can-only-be-technically-termed-morbidly-obese hotel owner.  We broached the subject about not wanting to stay... and in the blink of an eye, the dog pounced...  Baring it's teeth, growling and scratching ... it went for Ricky.  The hotel owner, tried to grab the dog's collar and failed.

We fled.  Paid one day's rent, and left.  The hotel owner didn't seem to understand why.

The new hotel was a palace in comparison.  And cheaper.  Bonus!!!  Finally had time to sit down and shower...

Ahhh but our day was far from over... Marty's cut from the crazy dog was worrying us all.  It's always been said, that a little knowledge can be bad.  We started thinking about rabies ... the health of the dog... the consequences etc etc etc .... and yup, you guessed it, we ended up visiting a private hospital to get some injections.

Obviously, this trip wasn't simple either.  We got lost (again) and there was much debate on the cleanliness of the hospital.

Aaaaannnnnyyyyywayyyy, we are back at the hotel and getting ready for bed.  RCB vs CSK is on ... (come on RCB!!) and we're going to drift off to sleep soon.

Much (tired) love,

Marty, Melman and Gloria xxxx