Last night I flew from Mumbai to Jaipur. Domestic travel in India is definitely different than in the US. For example, there is a separate "ladies" line at security, which has all female officers, and a screened area for them to wand over you with the metal detector (something everyone has to go through, regardless of whether you made the larger metal detector beep). People don't seem to respect the concept of waiting in line here, as several people just jumped right in front of me and put their bags into the machine while I was taking out my laptop. The domestic airport in Mumbai is pretty decent - relatively new, clean, with shops, etc. In order to even get into the check-in area you have to prove that you have a flight to get to, so there are armed guards at the entry into the airport, checking that you have a printed out itinerary that matches your ID. I did not have a printed itinerary, but thankfully the airlines have kiosks there for you to print out your itinerary for a nominal fee (well, $2 US, which is way more than nominal here). I got there pretty early, since I wasn't sure what to expect, so once I was checked in and through security I had some time to kill. There was a foot massage/reflexology shop in the terminal, so I decided to go give it a try. I've never had reflexology done on my feet before, but wow does it feel good. The interesting part of the experience was that my masseur was blind - he did everything by touch and was very careful about putting his fingers in the right place on my feet. He was very good at what he did, and I can't imagine it would be easy to be in his profession with that kind of a condition, so I was impressed with his abilities. The parlor itself had a bunch of different comfortable chairs with people getting their feet rubbed - I, however, was the only female customer. The lights are low and soft music is playing - definitely a relaxing atmosphere, but I did feel a little out of place.
I'm very happy to be a frequent traveler, beacuse otherwise I might have freaked out when I looked at the flight board and saw this:
It turns out that this board rotates between Hindi script and letters that I can actually read, but it gave me a bit of a start when I first glanced at the board :)
Once on the plane, it's a very similar experience to the US. Except there are more babies. And the babies aren't necessarily wearing shoes...even if they're old enough to walk. I had an exit seat, but the weird thing about it is that they don't let you have any bags underneath your seat if you're in the exit row - even if the bag is small and fits completely under the seat in front of you. On that one particular point, Indian airlines seem to be more strict than Americans! But when it comes to taking off your shoes at security or putting your liquids in small containers and clear plastic bags, they couldn't care less.
Once I arrived in Jaipur, I started looking for a taxi. For those of you who know the story, you will understand why I was having flashbacks to my last trip to India, when my search for a taxi ended up with me parading around the airport with a cohort of armed military men with automatic weapons in tow. Thankfully, this arrival was much more tame. I found the cab stand window outside, paid the pre-paid fare and went to my hotel. This is by far the most expensive taxi I've had to take since I arrived in India (about $10 US), so I'm pretty sure I got ripped off, but in the end it doesn't really matter.
That's all for now...stay tuned for info on the pink city of Jaipur...
I'm very happy to be a frequent traveler, beacuse otherwise I might have freaked out when I looked at the flight board and saw this:
It turns out that this board rotates between Hindi script and letters that I can actually read, but it gave me a bit of a start when I first glanced at the board :)
Once on the plane, it's a very similar experience to the US. Except there are more babies. And the babies aren't necessarily wearing shoes...even if they're old enough to walk. I had an exit seat, but the weird thing about it is that they don't let you have any bags underneath your seat if you're in the exit row - even if the bag is small and fits completely under the seat in front of you. On that one particular point, Indian airlines seem to be more strict than Americans! But when it comes to taking off your shoes at security or putting your liquids in small containers and clear plastic bags, they couldn't care less.
Once I arrived in Jaipur, I started looking for a taxi. For those of you who know the story, you will understand why I was having flashbacks to my last trip to India, when my search for a taxi ended up with me parading around the airport with a cohort of armed military men with automatic weapons in tow. Thankfully, this arrival was much more tame. I found the cab stand window outside, paid the pre-paid fare and went to my hotel. This is by far the most expensive taxi I've had to take since I arrived in India (about $10 US), so I'm pretty sure I got ripped off, but in the end it doesn't really matter.
That's all for now...stay tuned for info on the pink city of Jaipur...
No comments:
Post a Comment