First time arrival experiences.

Nick-H

Absolutely. I think that, when I return to Chennai's humidity, that India throws her arms around me and gives me a big wet kiss .

modeena

I first went to India in January '07. I've been a voyeur on this site for the last week or so. It's great by the way. but onto my story. My first trip to India was also the first time I ever traveled overseas. I don't consider Canada or Mexico foreign travel as I live less than a half hour from the B.C. border and sadly Mexico and the Bahamas were both cruises. don't give up on me yet, I hate cruises. It's like being quarranteened in a Las Vegas hotel- whole body shiver. Again, back on point. Travel was about 24 hours, give or take. I was with a group of people, some of whom had been to India before, some hadn't. we were being met by friends who live in India. The whole process in the airport was bizarre, but it was like we were invisible. All of our suitcases arrived without anything missing- and we had electronic gadgets galore. Every checkpoint just waved us through like we didn't exist. It was calm and easy going. Oh, the calm before the storm. The first taste was the last area before going outside (I arrived in Mumbai) getting noisy- but oh, there's our friend. Outward we go. The wall of heat, the sheer volume of people. The begging. The arms. The sounds. And big eyed girl from NW Washington taking it all in. The group was split up and the experienced people all end up in one vehicle. Our luggage guys are asking for money and I don't have a dollar on me let alone a rupee. We learn they've been paid, but they don't allow us to close the door and then we get in the car and the driver doesn't seem to speak English. And we don't know where we are going. Panic is building a head, but then we finally understand he's from our hotel. Now I can people watch. You can't people watch at 1 am where I'm from. I feel like I'm on a back lot at Universal Studios. There's an accident and water gushing out of a pipe. bricks stacked here and there. men holding hands. and it's oddly light out. We finally get to our hotel and we can't cross. too much traffic. The children have found our car. First one banging on the windows, then a whole crew. Holding up things for us to buy. I am agonizing. Children on the street at 1am. babies being held up by young children. I don't have money, and I know it's best not to give any because more will descend, but still. Finally a pocket opened and we shot across the street. The hotel at last. I have a place to catch my breath before tomorrow begins.

PeakXV

Great Post Modeena! Hope you eventually found some rupees & had a great trip.

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Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

The crone

Please keep the experiences coming they are fascinating reading

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DUB_Louise

I'm SO glad I've found this thread and IM in general!

Everyone I know thinks I'm mad to go to India as a lone female! I'm not listening to them, instead I'm spending my time counterbalancing their negativity with all of the wonderful/crazy experiences from you guys!

My first 'experience' will be in December this year... I will post it soon as I'm back!

Nick-H

Welcome Louise .

Scandojazzbuff

After traveling overland for many months by car and bus, I took the bus from Lahore to the border in April 1970. I walked across and got on another bus to the train station. It was a very sleepy, quiet town, the name I cannot remember. I boarded the train, 3rd class, and found a seat in a nearly empty train. How peaceful, how idyllic. The next station the train pulled into made my mouth and eyes open wide. The platform was teeming with people and to my utter astonishment, as the train slowed down to a stop, bags, bedding, and, people began climbing through the windows and doors as if a dam had burst. It was sheer pandemonium like I had never seen before. Within 30 seconds, every seat both on the benches and floor, had a body occupying it with standing room only, and, almost every eye in the carriage was on me Welcome to India!

brownboy66

Great story scando

my first experience of flying into India was 15 years ago after 12 months on the ground (on and off) in Cambodia during UN peacekeeping. Most of that time was spent in remote villages, occasionally jungle - with various stints in Phnom Penh - so flying into Delhi felt like flying into civilisation! There were cars and rickshaws, and electricity! Their were hotels - and they had running water - even hot water! And there was street food (and its was all delicious).

I can still remember sitting in a taxi crawling through a crowded road with scooters, cows, bikes - more people than I had seen in months. Two auto rickshaw drivers had a crashed, got out, and proceeded to have a fight throwing wild haymakers at each other (they were more of a danger to the spectators rather than each other). I was watching it with a big smile on my face when my travelling companion said "why are you smiling". I simply said "look - no one's pulled out a gun - its just a straight forward, old fashion fist fight"!

funny the things you remember.

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shashank.aggarwal

I bet it would have been a pretty sight for you, after what you saw for those 12 months.

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Scandojazzbuff

Brownboy, I was also in Cambodia 15 years ago during the UN ceasefire. 10 of us boarded a plane for Phnom Penh enroute to Angkor. Phnom Penh was eerie in those days. Ironically, we got into a cab from the airport to the hotel and on the radio was playing Dire Straits 'Brothers In Arms'. Spooky, man.

That was one heck of a trip. Mortar and machine gun fire in the distance. On the road to Banteay Srei on motorcycles, barefoot soldiers with rocket grenade launchers and automatic weapons riding 3 to a motorcycle laughing like school kids. Signs posted everywhere to stay on the paths because of landmines.

Back at the hotel in Siem Reap, when asked about Khmer Rouge, he said yes they are here. Some are staying at the hotel.

puchoo

That says it all!

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rhill1

Best of luck Dub_Louise! I was over in India for 2 weeks in late June July...what an experience...mainly good. Just makes me appreciate Australia so much more. I want to go back next year for the I.P.L.!!
Best wishes,
rhill1

TBird

Here Here!! Everyone thinks I am nuts too - flying alone to Mumbai end of Nov for 5 weeks - perhaps we could meet up?

DUB_Louise

Hey TBird,
Yeah, would love to chat more about your plan and see if we could meet up somewhere along the way...

I fly into Mumbai Dec 17th and back on Jan 7th. I'm going to head to Kerala (Trivandrum) for about a week, but besides that I haven't got an intinerary!

Louise

Lord Average

My first experience of India was flying into Bombay in 1984. I was 20 years old and considered myself a seasoned traveller because I had spent six months hitching round Europe and Turkey beforehand.

I hooked up with a couple of Dutch girls off the flight and we managed to get a local bus from the airport to Colaba without any problems. However two minutes into the journey I began to realise how naieve I really was, and started to wonder if I had done the right thing!

The bus trip went along side a huge slum area, and being first thing in the morning, everyone was out squatting by the side of the road emptying their bowels! This was not what I had expected to be my first sight of India!! It was also my first sight of real poverty, and it shook me.

We got to Colaba as the sun was rising, and everything was gold and orange with what seemed like thousands of pigeons flying around. We found a cheap hotel in what looked like a quiet street, and crashed out for a couple of hours.

When I woke up the quiet street had totally transformed into a busy market that was teeming with life. I went out to explore and managed to get adopted by a lovely homeless guy who showed me round the area, and sold me some Keralan grass.

I went back to the hotel to smoke it with the Dutch girls and we then went out into the evening. We were so stoned we started tripping out, and we found ourselves having to navigate our way through what seemed like thousands and thousands of people sat in the road watching a Bollywood movie that was being projected onto a sheet strung up across the street. When we finally got to the "screen" we thought we had made it, only to find there were thousands and thousands of people sat on the other side, watching it in reverse!

It seemed like an eternity of tortuously picking our way through a sea of waggling heads! The whole experience was incredibly intense, surreal and unlike anything any of us had experienced before.

I remember that we came across a small petrol station, and we didnt want to leave it because it was the one and only thing that bore any resemblance to a familiar culture. Eventually the effects of the grass began to wear off, and we found the courage to get back to the hotel, and had some fun on the way, sampling all the things that the friendly road-side stalls had to offer.

We got back in the early hours, and I greatfully shut the door to my room and sank into bed exhausted, but relieved to have survived. Two hours later I was woken up by shouts and crashes as the police raided the room next to mine and arrested the two Nigerian guys staying there. Instant paranoia as I still had a large bag of grass!!

However thank god they didnt come crashing through my door, so eventually I got to sleep. The next morning I found out that one of the Dutch girls had already decided that India was not for her, and she had gone back to the airport!

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