00:45... no wait, 01:45...

"They're trying to make it sound like it's only a 1 hour delay, but it's really a 11 hour delay!!!"
Oh Air India, how you suck. After we landed, 12 hours after originally scheduled, our hotel proprietor mentioned that 'you should never fly them again.'

A couple items to note about our flight:
The aircraft appeared to be an 'old' plane, and functioned as such. I swear I was in a time warp back to 1985.... Next, after getting on the plane at 2:30AM, with a full flight of groggy and pissed off people, rather than let everyone sleep, they proceeded to conduct the plane as if it were still flying at it's original 16:15 hour... the lights stayed on, there was food service at 3:30AM, and the best part was--the pilot's rambling.. Now, I don't mind when pilots decide to get on the speakerphone and tell you about so and so city below us, but when it's pitch black outside, what can I really see? and so it went for 6 hours....

As we arrived in Delhi, this is what came over the loudspeaker "Ladies and Gentlemen, flight attendants will now spray the entire cabin with a ministry of health approved spray. It is not hazardous to your health.", Really, not hazardous to my health? What is it? DEET? Air Freshner? What is being sprayed in a tin can that has closed circulation?

Delhi is a sharp contrast to Hong Kong. I'm not sure if routing ourselves through Hong Kong to Delhi was the best option as it's an overwhelming culture shock. Upon arrival, being picked up by our hotel (at a rate far more expensive than a taxi, but peace of mind is well worth the extra money), we dragged our suitcases through throngs of people in the cold fog, sleeping on the street, the tunnel to the parking lot, which turned out to be a gravel area. As all the signs around the airport indicated that 'we are building a world class airport, inconvenience is regretted', I was still shocked by the huge lack of organization. Granted, Delhi is no Hong Kong, but as one of the major entry points to a country that is rapidly promoting tourism, I (wrongly)expected an airport at least comparable to Guatemala City's.....

Driving through the city to our hotel I saw the following on the highway: 3 lanes, which in fact are 6 lanes of cars, a horse drawn carriage, tuk tuk's, people walking across traffic, our driver heading straight for this person and at the last possible second swerving. I think (as A, definitely was), had I not experience Beijing taxi drivers, this type of driving would have shocked me. Although, I'm almost certain that Delhi drivers put Beijing to shame.

After struggling through a hindi language barrier with our host (night host), we contemplated leaving the city. No joke. Feeling very lost, and unable to figure out how one actually gets from place to place (yes, there are 2 metro lines, but they're not near where we're staying), there was a (albiet fleeting) thought, that yes, perhaps, we're just not cut out for India....

Fortunately, after a siesta, we managed to pull ourselves together to visit Khan Market for some essentials (SIM card, travel adapter). I think Khan Market really embodied (what I've seen thus far) and explained Delhi to me. It's Western oriented, filled with modern shops, such as Benneton, Nike, Adidas, yet, there' s still a dirt alley, the building facades look old and worn, yet inside, each place was shiny, bright and modern. My hilarity, was the efficiency of technology used at each of the shops, which was completely absent from the airport....

Today, we'll be touring around all the major sites, and hopefully hammering out the details for the remainder of our trip in India....