I landed in New Delhi, India at about 3:40AM. But because it is about a 12 hour time difference from Utah, I didn't feel tired.
Ben gave the following instructions:
1. Exit the airport
2. Go to the pre-paid taxi (called a tuk-tuk) booth
3. Tell them I need to go to "Lalita Park"
4. Pay the man in the booth
5. Get a slip (from the man in the booth)
6. Walk to the street
7. A tuk-tuk driver will come up to you
8. Take a look at your prepaid slip
9. They well take me to your destination!
The first driver that approached me didn’t recognize where Lalita Park, and asked 4 four other (non-English speaking) drivers, who didn’t recognize it either. The only "address" I had was a screenshot of the Airbnb page, which just said "near Lalita Park".
The driver was still confused, but grabbed my bag and started walking to his tuk-tuk, so I followed.
The driving here is nuts: this was one of the first times that I actually felt a little bit unsafe in a vehicle? Everyone honks when they doing anything, it's amazing how they all 'understand' it...
My driver called a bunch of his friends to ask them if they knew where Lalita Park was: no luck.
There were a little “huts” along the road that the traffic police would hang out in. They all had guns at their sides and I kind of casually waved to a group of them on the side of the road and they signaled for the driver to stop or something, so they could come check out what was up.
Of course they didn’t speak English, but I understood that they thought that me waving to them was a cry for help or something. I kept trying to tell them that I was safe, but realized English means nothing to them; so I just smiled, gave them two thumbs up, and just said, “I am okay! Good!” a few times. My driver asked them where Lalita Park was and I showed them the screenshot of the Airbnb page on my phone, but they didn’t know where it was either and let us continue.
Suddenly, I remembered the guy I met on my flight gave me his phone number! I showed my driver the contact information and pointed to his phone. He understood and let me call the guy.
When he answered, I explained, “Hi! This is Zac from America, the one you met on the flight to New Delhi? I am trying to get to Lalita Park, but don't have any other kind of address. Can you please talk to my tuk-tuk driver and explain that's the only information that I have? If he can take me somewhere where I can get Wi-Fi, I will be able to message my friend and get more information.”
He told the driver the information and he drove me to a bus station to get Wi-Fi!
We pulled into a restricted area at the bus station, so a man came up to our cab and my driver explained what was going on.
Another man opened my door and introduced himself (I can't remember his name): he showed me his official badge and told me he was undercover police officer, and told me to follow him. I started to gather my bags, but he told me I could leave my bags in the car and they'd be safe.
Unfortunately I couldn’t connect to the Wi-Fi at the station because although it is free, it needs your phone number to send me a confirmation code. We went back to the tuk-tuk and he explained that that driver had to go back to the airport because he had been trying to help me for too long and could get in trouble by his boss (because he's been out too long, and would start losing money).
At this point, it's about 5:00 AM and as I grab my bags from the first cab, the officer explained the situation to a second driver and told me he would take me to his friends hotel for free Wi-Fi. I told him that I wasn't going to pay for a new tuk-tuk driver, just because the previous one failed to take me to my destination. The officer said I would only have to pay a small amount, but they both understood.
10 minutes later, we get to his friends hotel and they explain that the Wi-Fi is free if you purchased a room. I told them I don't need a room, just he Wi-Fi, and walked back to the tuk-tuk. The driver takes me to his friend's place; who has access to a computer and can speak some English. I explain what's going on and he tries to Google Lalita Park, but says nothing pulls up. Confused why no one knows where this place is, I get back in the tuk-tuk and the driver starts driving and says, "I think I know!" He brings me to some average intersection and stops. He says we're at Lalita Park, but it doesn't look anything like what my hostel looks like? I get out and walk around, but don't see Ben or the hostel.
Confused and frustrated, I ask him to take me back to the airport because it's the safest place I can think of. He says, "Okay, but you give me rupees?" and I say sure. He drives me to the airport, which was like 45 minutes away. When we arrive, I pay the driver Rs.200 ($3.08) and he said that he needed more because he drove me to the airport. I didn't have any more rupees, and he didn't want to wait while I got some exchanged inside, so I gave him $2 and said I wasn't sure what it converts to, but it's American money, so it's got to be big... (actually $1.29) and he gladly took it!
I asked several people at the airport if they had a hotspot I could use or if I could use their phone number to get Wi-Fi: none!
Finally, at about 8:30 AM, someone was kind enough to let me get on their hotspot and I FaceTimed Ben and explained that I was having a lousy morning, I was at the airport, and I didn’t know where to go. He said he would ride the metro to the airport to pick me up!
Now that I was more hopeful, I FaceTimed my mom and explained my experience so far.
She said it sounded dangerous, and I immediately made a mental note to watch what I tell her, hahaha
I’ve never been happier to see Ben then when he walked through the doors and yelled, “Big Spook!”
As we walked to the train station, he told me about what he has been up to the last few days. I kept nervously laughing because I couldn't believe what had even happened this morning. Everyone was asleep, but so much was going on? I also couldn’t believe that we were in India!
We kind of got lost on the train, because Ben couldn’t remember which stop to get off at. We didn’t have Wi-Fi/service so we had to narrow it down to which stops he knew weren’t our stop, and we went to every stop in between until we found it.
We stayed at a place called Joey’s Hostel: there's a “living room“ with some couches, TV, and computer. There's a male and female bathroom with Western toilets and some showers. And there's 3 rooms with 3 to 4 bunkbeds in each of them.
I showered, got my things situated, and then I fell asleep for like 11.5 hours, hahaha.
Ben gave the following instructions:
1. Exit the airport
2. Go to the pre-paid taxi (called a tuk-tuk) booth
3. Tell them I need to go to "Lalita Park"
4. Pay the man in the booth
5. Get a slip (from the man in the booth)
6. Walk to the street
7. A tuk-tuk driver will come up to you
8. Take a look at your prepaid slip
9. They well take me to your destination!
 |
| Pre-paid tuk-tuk/taxi slip |
The driver was still confused, but grabbed my bag and started walking to his tuk-tuk, so I followed.
The driving here is nuts: this was one of the first times that I actually felt a little bit unsafe in a vehicle? Everyone honks when they doing anything, it's amazing how they all 'understand' it...
My driver called a bunch of his friends to ask them if they knew where Lalita Park was: no luck.
 |
| driving at 4:00 AM |
There were a little “huts” along the road that the traffic police would hang out in. They all had guns at their sides and I kind of casually waved to a group of them on the side of the road and they signaled for the driver to stop or something, so they could come check out what was up.
Of course they didn’t speak English, but I understood that they thought that me waving to them was a cry for help or something. I kept trying to tell them that I was safe, but realized English means nothing to them; so I just smiled, gave them two thumbs up, and just said, “I am okay! Good!” a few times. My driver asked them where Lalita Park was and I showed them the screenshot of the Airbnb page on my phone, but they didn’t know where it was either and let us continue.
Suddenly, I remembered the guy I met on my flight gave me his phone number! I showed my driver the contact information and pointed to his phone. He understood and let me call the guy.
When he answered, I explained, “Hi! This is Zac from America, the one you met on the flight to New Delhi? I am trying to get to Lalita Park, but don't have any other kind of address. Can you please talk to my tuk-tuk driver and explain that's the only information that I have? If he can take me somewhere where I can get Wi-Fi, I will be able to message my friend and get more information.”
He told the driver the information and he drove me to a bus station to get Wi-Fi!
We pulled into a restricted area at the bus station, so a man came up to our cab and my driver explained what was going on.
Another man opened my door and introduced himself (I can't remember his name): he showed me his official badge and told me he was undercover police officer, and told me to follow him. I started to gather my bags, but he told me I could leave my bags in the car and they'd be safe.
Unfortunately I couldn’t connect to the Wi-Fi at the station because although it is free, it needs your phone number to send me a confirmation code. We went back to the tuk-tuk and he explained that that driver had to go back to the airport because he had been trying to help me for too long and could get in trouble by his boss (because he's been out too long, and would start losing money).
At this point, it's about 5:00 AM and as I grab my bags from the first cab, the officer explained the situation to a second driver and told me he would take me to his friends hotel for free Wi-Fi. I told him that I wasn't going to pay for a new tuk-tuk driver, just because the previous one failed to take me to my destination. The officer said I would only have to pay a small amount, but they both understood.
10 minutes later, we get to his friends hotel and they explain that the Wi-Fi is free if you purchased a room. I told them I don't need a room, just he Wi-Fi, and walked back to the tuk-tuk. The driver takes me to his friend's place; who has access to a computer and can speak some English. I explain what's going on and he tries to Google Lalita Park, but says nothing pulls up. Confused why no one knows where this place is, I get back in the tuk-tuk and the driver starts driving and says, "I think I know!" He brings me to some average intersection and stops. He says we're at Lalita Park, but it doesn't look anything like what my hostel looks like? I get out and walk around, but don't see Ben or the hostel.
Confused and frustrated, I ask him to take me back to the airport because it's the safest place I can think of. He says, "Okay, but you give me rupees?" and I say sure. He drives me to the airport, which was like 45 minutes away. When we arrive, I pay the driver Rs.200 ($3.08) and he said that he needed more because he drove me to the airport. I didn't have any more rupees, and he didn't want to wait while I got some exchanged inside, so I gave him $2 and said I wasn't sure what it converts to, but it's American money, so it's got to be big... (actually $1.29) and he gladly took it!
I asked several people at the airport if they had a hotspot I could use or if I could use their phone number to get Wi-Fi: none!
Finally, at about 8:30 AM, someone was kind enough to let me get on their hotspot and I FaceTimed Ben and explained that I was having a lousy morning, I was at the airport, and I didn’t know where to go. He said he would ride the metro to the airport to pick me up!
Now that I was more hopeful, I FaceTimed my mom and explained my experience so far.
She said it sounded dangerous, and I immediately made a mental note to watch what I tell her, hahaha
 |
| Rs.2000 = $30.84 Front (all Indian notes have Gandhi on them) |
 |
| Rs.2000 = $30.84 Back |
I’ve never been happier to see Ben then when he walked through the doors and yelled, “Big Spook!”
As we walked to the train station, he told me about what he has been up to the last few days. I kept nervously laughing because I couldn't believe what had even happened this morning. Everyone was asleep, but so much was going on? I also couldn’t believe that we were in India!
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| Alive! on the metro. |
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| New Delhi Gate |
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| walking |
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| posing |
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| some New Delhi |
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| ben |
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| buildings |
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| confused |
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| maybe |
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| This our stop, baby! |
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| Busy City |
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| City from above |
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| ben in the city |
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| sleeping in the city |
I showered, got my things situated, and then I fell asleep for like 11.5 hours, hahaha.
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| the infamous, Joey's Hostel |
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| welcome home, chump |
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| above |
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| light (risky) |
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| dark (risky) |
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