Mumbai to Bagdogra

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  Siliguri, India
Saturday, March 11, 2006

Our flight from Mumbai to New Delhi touched down on time, though we had to concede the taxi runway to Dubya while Air Force One took off. No worries...our connecting flight to Bagdogra was not scheduled to leave for another 2 hours. We took a chance with one of India's low cost carriers (Air Deccan), and were pleased with our first leg of the journey. However, as we were making our way to the check in counter, we were approached by a man who said our flight had been cancelled. We were a bit suspicious of this information, especially since we had been contacted at our hotel by the airline to confirm both of our flights that morning. Was this just another "sorry sir, your flight has been cancelled, but please allow me to take you to my hotel, the Rats-n-Roaches, where I am sure you will enjoy your stay at 5 times the going rate" scam or not? In fact, the flight was cancelled and New Delhi would become our unexpected home for the evening.

The following morning, we checked the Air Deccan web site to find out about current flight status. There was nothing posted about the current day's flights, but it did show that the previous day had over 1/2 the flights cancelled. Armed with this information, Chris called the airline to find out the current flight status.The call went something like this:
[Chris]: Hello, I'm calling to confirm our flight from New Delhi to Bagdogra.
[Air Deccan}: I'm sorry sir, but that flight has been cancelled for today.
[Chris]: Do you know why that flight was cancelled?
[Air Deccan}: A technical problem sir.
[Chris]: The same flight was cancelled yesterday, was that also a technical problem?
[Air Deccan}: Yes sir...a technical problem.
[Chris]: Do you know what the problem is and when it will be corrected?
[Air Deccan}: No sir, I only know that it has been cancelled for technical reasons.
[Chris]: I looked at your web site today and saw that over 1/2 your flights were cancelled yesterday. Were all of those flights cancelled due to technical reasons also?
[Air Deccan}: Yes sir. There were many technical problems yesterday.
[Chris]: I'm getting an uncomfortable feeling about your airline. Do you really expect me to believe 1/2 of your flights had technical problems yesterday?
[Air Deccan}: I'm sorry sir. We had many technical problems.
[Chris]: You didn't really have technical problems did you? In fact, isn't true that your planes will only fly if they are nearly full?
[Air Deccan}: (long silence...)
[Chris]: I would like a refund.
[Air Deccan}: Yes sir.

Okay... time for plan B. The other airlines were too expensive so it looked like we needed to give the Indian railway a try. Our budget hotel was only 10 minutes from the train station so we walked through the crowded streets of Delhi dodging cow poop, cyclos, taxis and thousands of people. Only once did Chris yell at Sandy to jump to the side as a car came barreling down on her since her eyes were fixated on the many shops.

Upon arriving at the station, the smell was overwhelming. It was obvious that the entrance was also used as a bathroom. We made it to the tourist section without too much trouble and purchased the last two tickets for the next day. The following morning, we gave ourselves plenty of time to make our way to the train, only to find ourselves among thousands of people all trying to get on. Imagine that the Beatles announce a one-time reunion (complete with resurrection of John and George) at a venue that held 2000 people. Now imagine that 10000 tickets were sold and that another 50000 people showed up trying to get tickets. This was what the Delhi train station looked like at 6:30 in the morning. People with and without tickets were all trying to push on with huge boxes and suitcases. We found our sleeper car with only 4 minutes to spare before the train took off.

After a deep breath, we now faced 26 hours with 4 other Indian men in our compartment. At least that was what we thought but that is not the Indian way. What really happens is that people without sleeper tickets mysteriously find their way to your car. These uninvited guests first sit on the edge of the bunk and by nights end manage to turn a one person bunk into a 2 person bunk (we were not so gracious). Those who didn't find a bunk were on the floor. None-the-less, we both made it safe and sound although we did have to sleep with all our belongings in our bed, since at every stop locals come through looking for anything that is not locked down.

We were pleased to see our friend from Nepal (Chimey Sherpa) waiting for us with a taxi at the end of our train ride. He took us straight to his parents home in Siliguri where we were greeted with warm smiles and wonderful Nepalese food.

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