India- the early days

I step out of the airconditioned airport into the thick Indian air. HOLY HOT PLATE! I think the literal translation of India is "A-Sauna!"A few days prior I learned that the temerature reached a record tying 46C (115F). Luckily today it's a mere 43C (109F)!!

On the suggestion of a stewardess I took a prepaid taxi from the Ghandi Airport to the Main Bazaar/Bus station. Next realization: if you think that driving in Italy is crazy you've never been to India!! The rules are as follows: __none_____________.In fact, I believe the only prerequisite for obtaining a driver's license is the ability to honk the horn. Which they do incessantly! No joke. They use there horns so much you'd think that the horn is what powers the car! Want to make a million bucks. Or 43 million Rupees? Invest heavily in automobile replacement horns! They probably have to replace them more often than petrol.

Somehow I made it alive to the Main Bazaar. Walked thru it a bit and found a place stay. No A/C, but a shower,toilet,tv, and one hell of a kicking ceiling fan.Went out for walk and quickly me Ravi, a "college student";) On alert for the scam I allowed him to walk with me. He told me about Dehli and suggested that I buy some of what they call "travel clothes", a traditional Indian cotton top and bottom so I would fit in. Yeah, OK. Like with the right clothes I'll blend right in here! And I'm not paying your boss 1000 rps for something I'm sure I could get for 400. Next he showed me an underground bizarre which was nice and cool.
But soon we were once again commenting on the extreme heat to which he suggested I spend as little time in Dehli as possible. I really couldn't agree more. I've only been here an hour and I'm ready to split this armpit. He offers to take me to a "Government Tourist Office". Well I'm now sure he's on a payroll, but I have got to get out of here somehow. On thing is for sure. Without prior experience or some well prepared research, navigating India is no easy task. The system is like nothing I've come across. That is if there is a system? I'm not quite sure yet. Even though English is pretty prevalent I feel much more lost here than anywhere in Europe.So at the travel agent I wound up agreeing to pay a much too big a chunk of cash to spend an "all inclusive" week on a houseboat in Kashmir, northern India. At that point I would have sold my soul to the devil for nothing more than an expedient trip straight to the somewhat more tolerable and temperate environment of Hell!!
Later that night I passed a guy spread eagle on his face who looked to be dead. This triggered a memory flash of the hospital when I noticed that in addition to the Emergency Room it had a "Casualty Room". This was possibly why. So I spent a sweltering night waiting for the morn of my escape....
They told me to be at the office at 11am so I was there at 10:15. It turns out that the bus doesn't leave until 12:30. At 12:30 me and the 3 Koreans making the trip with me are taken to the bus stop. Which actually leaves at 1pm! But Wait! Now we are stopping at another bus station to pick up more passengers and the bus really doesn't leave till 3pm! And when we ask what time the bus arrives all we get in reply is, "in the morning".
Well 27 hours later we arrived! Definately my longest, hairiest, scariest bus ride ever! All the roads are of course barely wide enough on each side for one vehicle. People constantly are passing so there is always someone gunning straight at you. And 80% of the vehicles are busses or mackin' trucks. I thought for sure once or twice we were in for it!
On the bus I had met Darien (Ireland) and her young Indian companion, Ajaz. He turns out to be a relative of the Magestic Houseboat owners where I am to stay. This is increbibly fortunate because he was able to guide me to my driver through a incredibly ravenous horde of guys looking for business. So, Manzool drove me in his little black Hyundai to the houseboat on Nigeen Lake, made me feel welcome and made me some delicious Kashmir tea.
I was thoroughly enjoying sipping on the tea and then the sales pitch came. Well yes, a 10-11 day trek in the Himalaya's sounds wonderful, but at $1350 it's a little (Lot)out of my budget, sorry.
I had just finished a nice breakfast of omellet, bread/butter,jam and tea when Manzool started selling again. If the big trek is too much we have smaller treks also. Still not buying. In the end I wind up agreeing again to a much too expensive package of four day trips in and around the area. The first of which starts this very same day. But my time is short so I'll leave it cliff hanger for now......