Travel Blog: Arrival in Delhi

After spending close to 24 hours in airports and planes, I landed in new Delhi at 12:30 am local time this morning.

This is my first time in Asia, so I can cross that continent off of my list. (Now, to get to two more new continents before 2014 - my 30th birthday). Naturally, I was scared and nervous. India is a brand new culture and completely foreign to a Westerner such as myself. Luckily, my colleagues made accommodations for me and a driver was waiting for me at the airport. My luggage arrived without issue, no one harassed me to handle my luggage, and all was well.

The trip from the Delhi airport to Gurgaon was an experience within itself. I don't really understand the rules of driving here -- there seems to be a lot of honking and flashing of headlights. Also, no one uses the lanes; rather, they ride down the middle figuring out how to get ahead of the car in front. All of the trucks have "PLEASE HONK" painted on the back. There were dogs everywhere, just roaming the streets. My driver was not talkative, and I did not try to engage in conversation (I had been traveling for close to 24 hours at that point - I was tired!). We were greeted by armed guards at the hotel entrance who searched the car and scanned my bags before returning them to my room.

Today (and I am going to be honest) I had minimal energy to leave my room. I decided to explore the hotel a bit, but realized my time was going to better utilized preparing for work tomorrow and starting this blog. The staff is very nice, but I am not used to other people doing things for me (example: staff wiping down the workout machines for me after a workout). The pool looks great, but I am unsure if I will actually go in (as the Travel Medicine clinic made me terrified of the water and mosquitoes, lol).

I am going to check out one of the hotel restaurants for dinner and make it an early night. Tomorrow will be full of meeting new people and adjusting to the culture. I also have to train a group while I'm here, which should be interesting. I'm sure that will have its own challenges and I am glad I am spending a day to prepare.

Namaste,
Kim