September 17 & 18

September 17, 2017

Arriving almost four hours early, we had lots of time to pace the terminal to complete 11,000 steps for the day.  The flight to Toronto took less than three hours, but it was 45 minutes late in leaving.  The original two hour window at Toronto airport before boarding the flight to Delhi was reduced. It was a good thing that we had attained our daily step count for Sept 18 (Delhi time) as well as having gone for an early morning work and achieved the 11,000 for Sunday. However, our luggage was checked straight through to Delhi so the group of 42 headed straight for Gate 75, which was a 20 to 30 minute walk depending on your walking speed.  Upon arrival at the gate, 5 minutes before the boarding pass stated that boarding would begin the gate announcement was calling the last boarding call for the flight.  Everyone in the group arrived in their seats and there were still a few other passengers arriving moments before the doors closed, five minutes after our scheduled departure time of 10 p.m.  The plane was a Boeing 787, “Dreamliner” which is supposed to have better air quality and cabin pressure for less jet lag from long flights. The plane was taxiing to takeoff by 10:15 p.m. Sunday which was 7:45 a.m. Monday morning in Delhi.  We didn’t sleep, but dozed several times, but were kept busy with a selection of movies, games and reading.  Delhi is a city of over 14 million people.

September 18, 2017 

It was dark when we landed just after 9 p.m. at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, having spent 13.5 hours on the plane.  The temperature was 33C.  Just before landing India Customs and Immigration forms were distributed, asking your name, passport number, birthdate and where you were staying.

   Once off the plane, on the way to Customs and Immigration, we stopped at the washroom.  On the ladies side, there a short line, but one stall was open.  The attendant said that was a “squatty potty”. Having used them in China, I “jumped the queue” and used it. The yoga “chair” position came in handy. The Immigration Hall and baggage claim area was about a 15 to 20 minute walk from the arrival gate. The lineup was long since international flights are arriving at the Indian capital’s airport at all times.  After a two hour wait in a slow moving line, we were processed by Immigration.  The average time was 4 to 5 minutes per person with an immigration officer, since your documents, including passport and visa for India, were checked, then your picture and finger prints were taken electronically, and a few questions were asked by the officer, but no questions about bringing fruit, vegetables or meat into India. The passports were stamped and it was off to claim the luggage. Our luggage had been removed from the baggage carousel and clustered together, which made it easy to find our bags.  We headed for the exit and were ushered to a place to wait for everyone else.  We were delayed due to one of the group’s suitcase having been left in Toronto by Air Canada.  It should catch up to us in Agra.

   Well after midnight, the group was divided for loading into two buses for the journey into New Delhi to our hotel – Jaypee Siddharth. During the half hour drive we saw lots of small cars and semi trucks on the freeways. There was even a view of some rats while we waited for a traffic light. There were people out and some dogs.  When we arrived, before entering the hotel, we had to line up, again, to enter one by one and have our carryon bags and purses sent through an X-ray machine and walk through a security scanner.  Once inside the cool lobby we were greeted with a request to surrender our passports for check-in and once Ellen and Dale, our group leaders, reached the reception desk and cleared the reservations, our key cards for the rooms were distributed and the group took turns riding one of the three (5 person plus luggage) elevators up to our rooms. Our room had wood floors with a marble floor in the bathroom, a ceiling fan and air conditioning. There was a queen size bed covered in white sheets, places to put the luggage, a flat screen TV, a comfortable armchair and ottoman as well as a desk and chair, where the kettle for coffee or tea was set on a tray. It was 1:45 a.m. when we fell into bed and didn’t take long to get to sleep.