Sitting in the plane, late in the afternoon, at Ghangzhou airport, awaiting take-off, and the energy of the mostly Indian nationals onboard is suspicious yet playful. Peter was told by a friend to be aware that Indians will rip you off while smiling pleasantly at you. I have experienced that in other countries too. This will be an interesting adventure indeed. Our haggling skills will need sharpening I think if we are to survive the three weeks.
We had a long flight (long, tedious and rather unexciting 9hrs by my standards) from Brisbane to Ghangzhou. Changed planes there to a much smaller aircraft. Hundreds of passengers lined up at the airport to transfer to other flights, and we needed to get to our next flight quickly. How to get through the tightly packed throng? We told an official of our plight and was directed to a side area that was free of human traffic.
Quickly moving along we were soon at the door that would allow us passage onto the bus transport that trolleys us to the awaiting plane about 5km away. Why they put a plane out in the middle of a paddock to take-off is beyond me. Stepping outside, we breathe in the hot, humid, polluted air. Visibility is actually good here, about 2km. There is no blue sky and clouds, well not visible anyway.
As I write this, suddenly all the lights within the cabin go out, as the plane taxis down the runway. Do they turn off the lights to save fuel? Or maybe, the pilots don’t want anyone seeing the plane in the dark. My imagination runs away with me at times. And maybe I’m just very tired. My body clock is telling me it’s time to go to bed. But it’s only 7pm locally. And even when we get to India, it’ll only be 10pm, whereas my body will be aching for sleep, considering it would normally be fast asleep at 2am Brisbane time.
Many friends asked me if I was excited to be coming to India. I certainly don’t feel excited about the trip. Although, I know from previous travel experience, I often feel the excitement in the moment. We fly into Delhi tonight and tomorrow morning we are off to Agra and a tour of the Taj Mahal. I’m really looking forward to that tour. I feel rather emotional about seeing it and I don’t know why.
Seeing the Taj is one of my “bucket list” items. These are the experiences you’d like to have before you “kick the bucket,” or rather leave this planet. Epitomized by the actors, Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, in the movie of the same name, The Bucket List.
My first impressions of India, or rather, Delhi, were hot, hot, hot!! And very humid. Being nighttime we couldn’t see much. Peter did ask me if I saw the people sleeping on the streets, I didn’t. But I know it does happen. It’s a different world here from Australia.