As I keep saying I seem to have little angels on this trip helping me out when it comes to getting on and off trains, planes, buses etc and this trip was no different. For some reason my train confirmation ticket that I printed off the Indian train site didnt have my seat or carriage number, only that I was first class. Oh let me get off track for one minute... so the train arrives and I walk over to one of the first class doors and patiently qeue along with the rest of the travellers. It's nearly my turn to board the train and a Indian English speaking lady and her family behind me decide to yell out to the tall foreigner down the front and inform me that I can actually board at the other door. Now before you think she was helping me out to enter through a special foreigner door, let it be known that there is no such thing this was an unfortunate display of rude manners that I have encountered time and again with some Indians who will just give it a go to see if they can get me out of there way and get where they need to go faster. Ha! Crap to be her because I knew what she was hoping to acheive so I politely smiled and said "no thank you but I am fine to enter through this door" I was quiet proud of my restraint as in my mind I was visioning a snap attack and lecture on people like her thinking foreigners are stupid - but I breathed and remembered this is all part of the expereience and not to let a few rotten apples rock me.
So boarding the carriage a young boy in uniform helped lift my bag up into the train along with this rather large Punjabi guy sporting enough gold to sink the Titanic. So the young boy went above and beyond anything that is expected of his job and franticallyt tried to work out my carriage and seat number as he hauled my big bag along and flicked on all the cabin lights much to the disgust of other travellers in mid sleep, so I quickly followed behind him turning all the lights off and apologising profously to all the angry travellers whose obviously much needed beauty sleep we were interuppting :)
Finally we came to my cabin - of course it was the first one we walked past but the last that we checked. He pulled aside the curtain and switched on the light - waking the lone Indian sleeping in the lower bed. Again I climbed over my bag apologising that we woke him and in British English the man says its no problem. There were nowhere to store my huge back pack so he agreed to let me leave it beside his bed since I was sleeping on the upper bed opposite him. I settled in with my trusty reading light and Three Cups of Tea book and the man in our pitch dark AC carriage asked where I was from etc. Over the course of the next 30 min I learn that he is a Officier in the Army heading home to see his wife and children which he only gets to do 6 times per year. He was very sweet and I was feeling safe already to have him in my carriage. It turned out that the only other person sleeping in our room of 4 was the gold clad Punjabi guy whose snores played its own Bhangra hits!!! For our early morning arrival into Dehli the Army Officer was already awake with his bedsheets folded and shoes on - sure sign they are military. He had ordered me a chai and we sat there talking about his service with the Indian army and conflict with Pakistan which as many people close to me know is a great area of interest and of course my ears shot up when he mentioned his time in Afghanistan and work with the US military to build schools - I excitedly told him that the book I was currently reading was all about that and I wish for nothing more than that I could go and work with the schools there in the mountains - he obviously agreed that a sole female traveller into these areas was certainly not adviseable.
So after his suggestion that I look for the prepaid auto stand at Dehli station I employed the services of yet another porter to carry my bag through the crowds to the stand - his added benefit was that he fights off all the touts on the platform trying to offer me a overpriced taxi to my destination of choice. He was a happy guy saying Tuk tuk as clearly this was one of the few words some other tourists had called their "auto rickshaws" I paid for my rickshaw which was 65 rupee and went to pay him - he wanted 100 rupee and claimed he was poor and my bag was really heavy - one of the few times I caved was with this guy and told him he was more expensive than my rickshaw and that the only reason he was getting it was because he cracked me up with his tuk tuk commentary - no doubt every tourist arriving into Dehli train station should thank me for their barage of Tuk Tuk words from this guy :)
So I only had the day in Dehli as I was getting a 3pm flight to Chennai - I decided it was time for a pamper after 2 months in India and made my way to the Oberoi - the most expensive hotel in Dehli for a much deserved visit to the spa :) I think I fall into this new category of travellers - not quiet backpacker but definately not affording 5 star hotels. My rickshaw pulled up at the gates of the Oberoi where for image purposes a rickshaw is not allowed up the driveway, so there's me rolling my big ass backpack up the long driveway to the confusion of the security and doorboys who are thinking that surely I could not afford to be staying there. I quickly confirmed their thoughts and said I would need to lock my bags up for the day as I was visiting the spa and having breakfast. I made my way to the restaurant now keep in mind I have been dressed like a Indian for 2 months, am wearing anklets that ring bells with everystep and walk into a 5 star restaurant packed with white collars staying for business. Needless to say their heads all turn and the staff usher me to the quietest part of the room - the out of sight thing I think was happening! So I decided that 500 rupee for a 5 star buffet was just what I needed and went to town on pastries, fruit, bottomless cups of chai (the staff smirked that I refused the english breakfast and insisted on Masala chai) I used the bathroom at the Oberoi and let me tell you I was considering asking management if I could pay to stay in one of the cubicles - a massive step up from my accomodation in parts of India! Once the pamper was over I caught a taxi sitting in Dehli's disgusting traffic to the airport - Sydney is nothing in comparison. At the airport considering my bags were full I swore not to shop and only to look - automatic jinx deployed.... I found a DVD and CD store packed with all the Bollywood goodies I dream of at around $2 each!!!! I dragged myself out of the store determined not to cave and watched some financial news instead - 5 min before I was due to board I realised that I should just buying it all as I will only be paying 10 times the price once I get home, so I was just about to head back when they called me for boarding grrrrrrrr I still regret not buying and am swearing to myself that I will shop next time.
Next blog... Coimbatore and the mission to meet my sponsor child in Tamil Nadu.
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