Cultural shock number #1k

Apparently we were living quite a sheltered life in Dubai. After a 3 hour flight to Delhi from Dubai we were in India.

After getting through customs and reclaiming our bags we walked out of the airport terminal to be greeted with what I can only describe as “chaos”. People everywhere, horns beeping, cars everywhere, people shouting things to eachother, an endless sea of taxi drivers wanting to give us a lift to the hotel. People fighting over who helps carry our bags.

We were not prepared for this. We booked a taxi through what looked like a reputable taxi company and they were pretty helpful but still people were trying to barge their way in and steal our business from the taxi driver trying his best to guide us through a sea of people. It all got a bit chaotic so I can only assume we ended up in the right taxi.

So, picture this. A white taxi with plenty of dents, a driver that starts driving and the fuel light is on and it looks like the tank is empty, motorbikes everywhere with no headlights on, and cars driving with absolutely no lane discipline. Imagine Mario Kart, but dangerous, and that’s what it was like. All you needed was a few turtle shells to throw at other cars and it was actually the real life version of the game.

Delhi was very dark, intimidating and full of smog. At this point, I started to question why I chose to visit here and not go for the amazing scenery of Thailand or Vietnam. We got to the hotel and felt a bit isolated by it all. I guess going to a new place at night is always going to be intimidating. On the plus side, our hotel was decent and it was a good place to crash for the night.

Hopefully it improves because it would be a shame for us to not enjoy India.