November 2019 – our travels TO India

This trip to India has been different than most of my others.

Because we had a very short layover on our way to India, we stayed overnight in the city of Istanbul, Turkey. Rob and I used our own funds to pay for a day of exploration of history and culture. We stayed in a little hotel in the Sultanahmet district, a couple of blocks from the Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) and the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Mosque). We could see the Bosporus and most of the Ayasofya from the rooftop breakfast.

We took a tour of the Hagia Sophia and checked out the Blue Mosque (the line was too big at the mosque so we took a walking tour of Istanbul–through the Grand Bazaar, through the Spice Bazaar, across the Galata Bridge and up the hill to the Galata Tower. The line was too long (and not moving) at the tower so we walked back down to the Golden Horns and ate lunch on the water front.

We hiked back through the old part of Istanbul (according to my pedometer app, I walked 27,183 steps – 12.4 miles – 22 flights of stairs that day) to our hotel and hitched a ride to the airport. The driver said the “traffic is very big” – the first 3-4 miles took about half an hour, but the rest of the ride to the airport was smooth sailing, and check-in was a breeze.

We left Istanbul about an hour late but arrived at Delhi only a few minutes late. Our connecting flight to Bagdogra was 2.5 hours later. I thought we’d have plenty of time, but this was the most vexing time through security I’ve experienced in my 9 trips to India. To start with, the pollution in Delhi is horrendous – so bad that it is inside the airport. The immigration guy was taking literally 5-6 minutes for each person he was checking–I felt really bad for those who had connections to make and doubtless, some people missed their next flights (as you had to go get your luggage and check it in after this line (though I’m sure not many had to wait at the carousel to get theirs after their long wait in the immigration line.

We were able to carry our luggage on the flight from Istanbul so we hurried off the customs and to our gate, about half an hour before our flight. My eyes and through and lungs were burning from the smog and we hadn’t even been outdoors yet.

Shortly after we lifted off, we got into the sky above the crud in the air and had a smooth flight to Bagdogra. The air was clear and the temperature was in the mid 80s. Bandana picked us up from the airport and took us to the Hotel Appolo.

We checked in and promptly asked for another room as there were rat droppings in the bathroom. They had no other room with 2 beds so they put us in two separate rooms. My new room had mouse droppings, a couple of cockroaches and a stain on the bedspread.

Needless to say, we said a not so fond farewell to the Appolo. We booked a different hotel (on Hill Cart Road) and went to a meeting with Bharat. At the meeting were about 15 or so members of the Word for the World Fellowship. We caught up with old friends, made a few new ones, had some dinner together and talked about what has been happening and what they dreamed of happening in the future.

We had dinner together, said good night and checked in to our new hotel–no sign of vermin and clean bedding and linens! Good internet connection as well. We promptly fell asleep after a busy and profitable day.