Ah, India!

Delhi

This is my fourth time in the country. What has changed? What hasn't?

The air in Delhi is slightly less black. Probably because the auto rickshaws are electric now. No more black smoke spewing from behind. Honking is still mandatory. The traffic moves more or less in the same direction, but not necessarily. If the auto rickshaw driver is in a hurry, he can go on the opposite lane. He just needs to honk louder.

Cows still roam the streets of Delhi, oblivious to the craziness. Stray dogs and their excrements, garbage, horrible smells. Homeless people, wrapped in blankets, gather around a fire below a tree where their clothes are hung.

Not much has changed in Delhi. Except the touts no longer want to clean your shoes. Nowadays, they approach anyone with a backpack that looks like it could contain a computer with: need laptop fixing?

From Delhi to Jaipur

We traveled from Delhi to Jaipur by private car and driver. After about two hours of honking, we extricated ourselves from the city traffic. Then we took a highway, the real kind, where the driver pays a toll. The billboards at the highway entrance are humongous. So many rules and regulations, it's impossible to read the entire billboard before driving past it. Maybe it says that traffic should move in their own designated lane, but I'll never know.

The highway has four lanes, two in each direction, with a concrete barrier and tropical plants down the center and a fence on both sides. But this is India. There are holes cut into the fence. Motorcycles come from the opposite direction in our lane. Why would they cross the highway to go in the right direction, when they can just pop over to their neighbor by passing through a hole in the fence and driving in the opposite direction. Same for tractors. Isn't it easier to just drive on a four lane highway in the opposite direction to get to the adjacent field? Dogs take the highway as well. Some make it alive, while many end up as roadkill. Goat herds go to pasture by using the highway, why not, it's more convenient.

Considering the chaotic traffic, it's surprising that there aren't many serious accidents. I guess the unofficial rules of the road apply, honking helps and the speeds of moving traffic are not very high.

From Jaipur to Kochi, it's too far to go by bus or train, so we took a domestic flight with a transfer in Mumbai. I won't go into the details of the many hours of delays we experienced, it's part of travel. Let's just say that hanging around an airport is less uncomfortable than hanging around a bus or train station. Free wifi? Only if you have an Indian mobile number. Beer? No way, the sign states a fine of 500 rupees for anyone caught inebriated.

The first flight from Jaipur to Mumbai was surprisingly smooth, once we got on our way. It was a fairly new Airbus, quite clean with seats that were still in one piece and attached. I don't know where the pilot trained, but he managed to fly without honking and with no flying objects to dodge. When I was leaving the aircraft upon arrival, I saw that garbage was strewn on the floor and only one seat cushion was dislodged. But it appears that the cleaning crew does their job well enough. Why can't Indians learn to manage their trash? Throw it on the floor, of course, the servants will pick it up.

Once we arrived in Mumbai, we had to transfer to a different terminal. Should be easy enough, just like in any other airport in the world. But this is India. Nothing is easy. There's a free shuttle bus. Which runs every half hour. Many passengers were congregated in the small area where the bus arrived. There were too many passengers waiting already so we didn't make it on the bus. Had to wait for the next one which would arrive in a half hour. There was some semblance of a queue, but after a while, only the tourists continued to stand in the queue. The locals inched their way forward. I motioned to my travel mates to move forward, but they were reluctant to do so. It's impolite to cut the queue, isn't it? But if we had waited patiently, we wouldn't get on the bus again. We inched forward as well.

When the next bus arrived, we managed to shove inside. The guy said the drive is 6 kilometers. Because we arrived at the Mumbai international airport, I thought the 6 kilometer ride was to a smaller domestic airport. It turned out I was wrong. We only had to go to the adjacent terminal, which should have been easily walkable. However, the bus drove outside of the airport, took a few Mumbai roads in a semicircle, honked wildly in the local traffic, and ended up at the adjacent terminal. Only a tour guide was missing, otherwise we could have said that we had free Mumbai city sightseeing while transferring the terminal.

Mumbai airport

The Mumbai airport appears new, with a modern design and all the glamor of Bollywood. Why is it too difficult to have a second bus so that the transfer between terminals would be more efficient? Why are all the buses in India dilapidated, half broken down, with wobbly seats? Couldn't they invest in a new bus when they renovated the airport?

Also, the toilets in the fancy airport are disgusting, just like elsewhere in India: there may or may not be toilet paper, the floor may or may not be wet, the toilet may flush or may not, it may smell just bad or extremely horrible. The airport may appear glamorous at first glance, but has yet some way to go.

Kochi

Then we arrived in Kochi in the wee morning hours, about 6 hours later than planned. Slept like logs and checked our sorroundings the next day: tropical landscape with lush foliage, palm trees, banana plants, mango plantations. So incredibly beautiful. All travel hassle was forgotten.