Touchdown Delhi

After a 15 hour flight (yay Cathay!) we landed in Hong Kong. Caught a tram up to the peak tram. I had no idea they renovated the building in 2006, and now have a super high observation deck. Hong Kong is as beautiful as I remembered, even in the morning haze. Not too many people go to the peak at 8 am, so we basically had the observation deck to ourselves, save for a couple of staff - "pollution consultants" - perpetuallly wiping fingerprints from the glass and a trio of fat germans.

We descended, from the bottom tram station, on foot through Lang Kwai fong and met Gladys and Jack for dim sum lunch.

Then it was back to IFC to catch the airport express to get to our gate (of course the very farthest one) at the latest suggested arrival time. But they still hadn't started boarding.

Then it's off to Delhi with a brief stop over in Bangkok. I wouldn't quite call it a layover, since we didn't get off the plane. I am not sure if tif even woke up. But the plane emptied of east Asians and filled with south Asians, who are a bit louder and demanding than their eastern counterparts. The man behind me demanded I not put my seat back and shook it violently every time I moved because he was "writing something". He also yelled at the stewardesses to hurry up dispersing the food. Quite a few people we upset when they quickly ran out of the vegetarian options. But us omnivores were quite content as the layover meant we got too meals, so we were thoroughly stuff. Ironically, we were forced to eat the vegetarian meal on the first leg because the cantos snapped up all the fish options before they were halfway through the cabin. Cultural differences are interesting, eh?

We landed early in Delhi, which turned out to be for naught, as after we sailed through customs, my name was conspiculously absent from the row of drivers waiting beyond the gates. Cue an hour of fruitlessly searching for our contact and racking up what I am sure will be exorbinent data roaming charges trying to contact Sid. I found a sim card stall and actvated my HK cell and called the hotel. Turn out the guy didn't want to pay for parking so he was just outside circling. My name "Mr. Erick" was printed on a small piece paper on his dash, completely invisible in the crowded darkness. The driver's style was "creative" as he clearly sees streets and signs as suggestions rather than hard and fast rules. But he cut off the one BMW I've seen so far, so he's all good with me So an hour and a half later we are on our way to gurgoan, a suburb of Delhi. The hotel was nice, as was the much needed shower. We meet up with sid and co and they help us settle in. Wedding should be fun.

So that brings us to this morning. 5:30, we wake up and are taking the same honk-happy driver. So we are blazing down the chaotic streets of India, dodging cows, people and head on collisions as we speed to Agra to see the crown jewel of the trip, the Taj Mahal.