Why all the fuss?

I arrive in Delhi, Bharat (India) on the 8th to quite a curfuffle, paparazzi everywhere – maybe my blog is more read than I’ve realised. But at least the G20 Summit takes the heat off me a bit. Anyway, I quickly get my bag and go through customs. I assume as a non-national the queue will be a bit of a pain although both Sri-Lanka and Maldives immigration have been rather quick, but India was the bee’s knees. I follow the purple line for E-Visa entries and there are six or seven immigration officers waiting in their booths waving me over. Once I make my choice, the immigration officer jokes I am arriving on the same day as Sunak but he doesn’t reckon Rishi has to go through this.

Once through I do what I have been planning to do every time I get into a new country: get some cash out and buy a sim. The sim I go for is an Airtel I choose this provider mainly because it is the only one available that I can see in the airport and secondly it has in big writing all over its booth ‘Pre-Paid SIMs – Instant access’. So after buying a sim I am standing at the desk waiting for my phone to connect when the employee tells me it will take an hour to connect and then I have to call up and activate the sim.

Well, this is gonna make ordering an Uber difficult. I have a rough idea of what a taxi to my accommodation should cost, so with a sim that is gonna be useless for a while, I speak to various taxi ranks that try and charge me between double to four times what I think I should be paying. Eventually I find a help desk for transportation and the man hotspots me, so I can order a Uber. Turns out I was a little off with what to expect to pay, but still cheaper than what I have been quoted so far. Anyway I thank the man and start to head to the pick up point, forgetting that as soon as I walk away I will lose connection. Finally I find the Uber bay in the parking lot, and I wait. After 10 minutes I decide to go ask the guy at the Uber stall, as my phone is no longer connected and can’t see what is happening although originally the Uber said it was only six minutes away, so should have definitely shown up by now. The man takes my phone connects to his hot spot, tells me I have ordered it to the wrong place, cancels it, incurring a fee, and then re-orders a more expensive car to arrive where we currently are.

This new car then does the old trick where they just don’t turn up in the hope you cancel. But having just unwillingly paid a cancellation fee I am feeling petty and wait it out for 25 minutes before the car itself cancels. I then re-order myself another, cheaper car. Once picked up and driving, I of course lose internet connection and we end up going to the Florence Inn, a different hotel owned by the same people that own the Hotel Florence where I am actually suppose to be staying. Luckily the receptionist gets one of the staff to accompany me on a tuk-tuk to the right place that is only half a kilometre away. Having had to wait an awkward amount of time for the bell boy to leave, normally I would tip but, having only just got money out, I only had big bills and I wasn’t going to tip 500 rupees for holding my bag in the lift for two floors. I was able to relax and pretty much fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

The following day I spent setting up my sim, which didn’t work until roughly 12 hours after I bought it, even though I’m told Airtel is still the fastest set up in India, writing blogs and enjoying a lovely breakfast. I went to go on a little walking adventure around lunchtime but the receptionist told me that due to the G20 summit everything was closed and it wasn’t worth leaving the hotel. As such I spent the afternoon kicking back watching to and having a nap. The next morning started roughly the same with one difference. I ran into Stu. Stu works for One Life, the organisers of the tour, I am joining here in India. He is here as it is their first tour in India since they shut down for Covid and wants to reacquaint himself with everything and the guides to make sure everything is going how it should.

Why all the fuss?

The Red Fort (Lal Qalʿah), in the Old Delhi neighbourhood, historically served as the main residence of the Mughal emperors

Stu and I decided to spend the afternoon walking round Delhi and exploring the city a little. I order us an Uber to a local market area. It is quiet in the streets, nothing like how I remember India from my last trip, although to be fair that was 15 years ago or so. While we walk the street towards the Old Red Fort we realise, as Stu tells me this is where the Indian President is raising the flag here later, that of course the streets are quiet because it’s the last day of the G20 and road blocks/closures are up all over the place. After we see the fort from afar we visit a mosque along the way where we encounter a public masturbator who I can’t help but being impressed by his bravery considering on this road alone I can see roughly 300 police preparing for the president and other world leaders arrival. Maybe he was making a political statement! Finally we wander into a local restaurant for a traditional Thali meal. It is delicious: we both go for the deluxe with a Lassi on the side. It costs us roughly £3. I cannot complain.

Today is a similar day, an easy morning followed by a walk with Stu before a quick lunch. As tonight is the night the tour officially starts I have to move into my allocated room, meeting my roommate for the coming fortnight. It is none other than Stu. I write this while chilling in our room listening to music and waiting to meet the rest of the group and begin our Indian adventure.

Until then…