We made it to India! (July 6th)

I made it to India! What a trip! After I drove 2 hours to Charlotte, waited 2 hours for my flight, took a 2 hour flight from Charlotte to Newark, waited 3 hours for the flight to India and then sat on a plane for 14 hours from Newark to India, then took a one hour bus ride from the airport to southern Mumbai, we’re here!!! 

The plane ride wasn’t as long as I thought it would be.  This was a big plane, unlike the one from Charlotte to Newark which only had one seat on the right and two on the left for 19 rows.  I had the window seat for both flights which was great so I see the view and what we were flying over.  We flew over Afghanistan where my brother is so that was neat to see.  On the flight to India, I sat next to a man who was originally from India.  He lives in the U.S. and works for United Airways. He was flying home to surprise his mother in Mumbai on her 92^nd birthday.  He was hoping to be in the dining room when she woke up in the morning.  

Another thing that was unexpected was the fact that they served us Indian food on the flight.  I didn’t read too much into what I thought of the food since it was basically airplane Indian TV dinners.  We also got a “snack bag” for the middle of the night and then they served us breakfast before we landed.  I was starting to feel car/plane sick so I passed on the breakfast.   

We arrived at our hotel (The Trident) around 11pm.  It took a while to go through immigration, get our luggage, go through customs, get rupees out at the ATM and get on the bus.  Then we had an hour drive to south Mumbai from the airport.  Even though I was jetlagged, tired, and possibly car/plane sick, I was still alert enough to be intrigued with the “night scene” of Mumbai. The Trident is one of the two nicest hotels in Mumbai.  It is definitely the nicest hotel I've stayed at.  Our tour guide told us that this hotel and the Taj Mahal hotel were the ones that had the terrorist attacks a few years ago.  Now the security is very strict. There are metal detectors and police officers everywhere.  There is also a guard who has a mirror on wheels who takes it around your car (or bus) to check to see if there are any bombs hidden under it.  I am thankful for the strict security at this hotel.  

From roughly 10:00-11:00pm we drove through the bustling, loud, traffic packed streets on Mumbai.   There were children begging on the streets and running into traffic.  Seeing kids on the streets (even babies) unattended this late at night was a shock.  The traffic here is unlike traffic I have ever seen.  When Matt and I went to Puerto Rico for our honeymoon, we thought the traffic there was insane.  On the inner city roads, very few people stay in their “lanes”.  In fact, I’m not sure that some streets have lanes.  They are more like extra wide roads and people scatter about.  Cars, rickshaws, taxis, buses, bicycles and mopeds swarm the streets honking as they dodge one another, cut each other off and slam on the brakes.  It was madness.  When we stopped at stop lights, beggars would come up to the bus to try to sell us an angry bird balloon, a pink rose or something else.  Many people would follow the bus just asking for money.

We had a warm welcoming to the Trident Hotel.  They told us they would take our luggage to our rooms for us.  I was so tired and I stayed up till 12:30am waiting for it. Finally I called the front desk and my luggage was at my room within a minute.  Needless to say, I only slept from 12:30-4:30am. I guess I slept a little too long on the plane!