Travel Pains - India Day 1

My journey starts bright and early on July 8, 2011. When the super shuttle arrives to pick me up to take me to LAX at 3:15am. That, in itself, was un-eventful. My reservations indicated that I would be flying Continental to New York, JFK. So, the shuttle drops me off there. There is a huge line, and, I, as a dutiful citizen, get in the back. After about 10 minutes or so, an agent comes by and inquires to where I am going. When I responded, JFK, I was told that, that flight is actually being operated by United and I was in the wrong terminal.....

So, I get out of line (thank goodness it was only one short terminal over!) and head to United, which, gratefully, has no line. So, check in was a breeze and I'm off to security (which is a breeze this early in the morning) and then on my way to JFK.

When I get the JFK, I get off, collect my bags, la de da. Then I call the shuttle service that is supposed to take me from JFK airport to Newark, NJ airport so that I can fly to Delhi. The lady sounds confused. She says, she'll call me back in 5 minutes. 10 minutes pass. I call another number on my random reservation sheet - they don't seem to know. Thankfully, the lady calls me back and says the driver will be here in 7 minutes to come get me. Except, she said - black sedan...do you know how many black sedans are flying by?

So, after acting like a hooker and asking the driver of almost every black sedan that remotely looks like they are "working" and not just picking up a loved one, I finally find my man and onward! Thank god the traffic was tame - for New York/New Jersey area. Dropped off at Continental Airlines in Newark with 6 hours to spare.

Check in was...unusual. The flight was "oversold" and therefore I was not assigned a seat number. But the agents were too busy discussing if I should fly to Frankfurt and take the $600.00 they were offering to volunteers even though I told them, I cannot change my flight plans. That I stood at the desk for a good 10 minutes after check-in because they were too busy discussing other things than to tag my bag. Finally, bags tagged, security done. I went to find dinner - the only place that remotely interested me was this pizza place. Unfortunately, the guy running it was too busy calling at everyone walking past to come inside and eat and neglected to prepare my food. So after paying for it and waiting, waiting waiting, my food came - and it's airport food. Not much to say about that. Then to the terminal to wait.

At 2 hours before boarding, I go stand in line to see the gate agent and see if I can actually get on this flight. They made an announcement that they plane was oversold and blah blah blah. But this was my lucky day! Just as I got the the front, they opened up the passenger list and I got the first seat that someone gave up! Even though it's a middle seat, one should not complain. So I go sit my booty down, unfortunately, in front of a man who had the worse breath and was talking on a cell phone.

Then they announced that this flight would be participating in a volunteer weight program and if we didn't mind, they would be weighing random passengers. You just saw everyone put the junk food down and look around. Pretty funny.

So, they started calling seats - we are about 30 minutes delayed right now. And the Indian's, just like the Chinese, all started storming the gates to get on the plane. And the poor gate attendant is simply screaming at everyone to sit down and telling everyone that since they plane was full, they would have to check bags, which incensed the mob crowd. I just sat and waited. After boarding a few people, we were told maintenance was now on the plane and boarding was paused.....

Now we are and hour and half late. We finally all get on and we are on our way. The plane was equipped so that I could watch my own movies, which was lovely. So, besides having to get up several times so the lady in the window seat could pee, I watched movies and napped. The food was good, but spicy! I had forgotten how spicy Indian food was..I'm going to die on this trip. When the announcement was made that we were starting to descend 12 hours into the 13 hour flight....the lady next to the window wants to get up and go pee again...only this time, she looks at me and says..I'm sorry, did you want to switch seats? There are no words people....there are no words.

So, out of the plane, customs, which was pleasant. Except I was grilled about "traveling alone" and the fact that I have Indian friends which is why I was here.... I was on my way to get my bags and then find the prepaid taxi station. Where, I once again, ran into another asian custom I hate...the lack of personal space. There is no need for you to ram your stuff up against me while we are waiting in line. Plenty of room...sir. Thank you. I get my ticket and head out to the taxi.

A gentleman, who I think is my driver, takes my bag and loads it into the taxi and then to my surprise gives my ticket to the actual driver and demands a porter service fee from me. Which I refused to pay. Just as we are about to take off - two men jump into my taxi as well!! Well, this is interesting....

So, we go, apparently, the two men were late to meet a train, and this was the first taxi going that way, so with apologies, we headed to the train station first. Then I was dropped off at my hotel. Where, the car was checked for security. Then my bags were checked for security. Then I was checked for security. It was more secure than an airport! Anyways, got in and crashed.