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"Your flight is full. We have bumped you to a later flight. It leaves at 1:30am but you will go direct to Delhi rather than to Sri Lanka, layover 8 hours, and then arrive at 6pm." is what we were told on arrival at the airport. Looks like hours of sitting in the airport. 20 min later a man says, "Sorry, that flight is full. We will put you on the original flight." So it goes in Doha. So after many pre-flight cocktails, we boarded the plane for the 5 hour journey to Colombo. Arriving in Sri Lanka, we had 8 hours to kill, so we found a hotel in the airport allowing us to sleep, shower, and hangout instead of spending a day in the airport. It made the flight to Delhi manageable. We arrived in New Delhi to a twinge of humidity we had long since forgotten coming from our mild, Middle Eastern winter. Making our way to our private driver, we sped in and out of traffic while people flashed headlights at each other in both directions. While lines painted on the road only seemed to serve as a general guideline for the direction of traffic, we did not experience the chaos and gridlock that we had come to expect from Indian traffic. That is, until the side streets. Much like the later-mentioned Taj, one can only comprehend traffic when in it. Bumper to bumper is an understatement but when 3 lanes become 7 and people creep forward inches apart on either side, it is a whole new definition of packed.
Our trip to Delhi was short, keyed in on just a few events. First, we saw our friend, Faze and toured her school. She took us to Old Delhi and we boarded bicycle rickshaws for a tour. Poverty met productivity at every turn. The city was not completely awake though many people hustled up and down the often one-lane road. Cows ruled street corners, bicycles, scooters, and tuk-tuks were everywhere, dogs and goats roamed without restraint, and people sat in mud and on the street. One of our most memorable stops was the chili market. We sensed it 100m before we got there. Climbing the narrow stone staircases, we began to exert short, rough guttural coughs. Our eyes began to itch and our noses ran like faucets. Our climb ended with a view of the central courtyard of the market. All around people (all males) went about their daily business, cleaning their garments and washing themselves with water from jugs. Some were naked and took no notice of us white folk touring through their homes. Stall after stall held not more than a tone slab with a blanket on it and various amounts of chillies packed in burlap sacks. It was a taste of local living I have not seen rivaled in any other country. We ended our tour with a trip to a dress shop where the girls each picked out their own special Indian outfits.
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| Sarah and Faze having margaritas in India |
Delhi briefly visited, we woke early the next morning for a long car ride to Agra. After inching through the local traffic we opened up into the outskirts of the city and saw green countryside which expanded our perception of India. Hours later we inched again into Agra and leapt out to buy our tickets. I negotiated with a guide and we had a wonderful tour of the Taj Mahal. Each place we stopped our guide pointed out the amazing symmetry of the building and surrounding structures. Quite impressive was the attention to detail in symmetry, the inlaid stone colors, and sheer size of the building built so long ago. One of those buildings you see photographed so many times, the Taj is one that you would think would just be so-so when you step up to it. However, it is anything but. The Taj exceeded our expectations in every way.
Our girls opted to wear their Indian dresses to the venue. Our guide asked us early on if we minded if people took pictures of the girls. We asked them and they shook their heads. The guide said something and about 5 guys walked away. We hadn't realized they were all standing around us to take their picture. Throughout the tour, we were asked many times to let the girls have their picture taken. We would take a shot of the girls in front of the Taj, and then the next 5 minutes would be other people shooting the girls in the same pose. They were mobbed but enjoyed the attention.
Fast forward to our flight from Chennai to Sri Lanka. We had just spent the day visiting a school in Chennai and headed to the island. Sarah sat on the isle while I say one seat over on the other isle, the two girls inside on my row. I heard a women coughing being Sarah. Annoyed by the sound and potential germs being spread, I glanced back to watch her violently convulse and vomit all over herself. As she spewed forth I lunged to push Sarah forward as she had her headphones on and couldn't hear the build up. Puke sprayed her armrest and coated the isle. Then, for some unknown reason, she started wiping it off. Flecks were flung on my cheek and shirt. I yelled for her to stop but not before the man next to her was coated. I scrapped it off my shoe and counted the seconds until I could get to the washroom to clean. Rather than apologize or ask for help, the moment the plane touched down she stood in the isle. Not wanting to get coated, we squeezed in further until she de-boarded. To add insult to injury, we had to buy a second visa for Sarah once arriving. It was not a pleasant couple of hours. Add that to a 3-hour drive to the resort.
Our beach resort in Sri Lanka was very nice. Palagama Beach Resort on the west coast of the island proved to be a rustic beach cabana with a flare of niceties. Each room had an outdoor shower and palm leaves for walls. There was no AC and occasionally the power would go out for a few hours making it fairly warm at times. There was an infinity pool and a beautiful beach, full of shells, sand, and crabs. Our daily breakfasts were buffets of eggs, waffles, and a mixture of local fare that was both plentiful and tasty. Lunch and dinner were joined with local beers and cocktails while the children swam and played with the dogs and cats on the property. Joined by another family we worked with, this was a great few days of beach time.
One evening Sarah and I joined our friends for Salsa dancing lessons. A movie was on every afternoon for the children. The kids got down on the ground with some locals and learned how to weave palm leaves (which pretty much made up every wall and ceiling to the place). But the highlight had to be the dolphin watching tour. We saw hundreds of dolphins. They would come up along the boat, come at us, and go away from us. There were flips and dives. It was an amazing encounter.
While we didn't to Sri Lanka justice on this trip, we know we will be back.
