Delhi
2018-10-17
Arrived in Delhi at six am, and transferred to the hotel very easily and smoothly. Apart from those of our party who had come in today, but were staying at the airport, I was the first to arrive in Delhi. As I had allowed myself plenty of time to settle in and sort myself out, the next job on the to-do list was to get some money. Erika (our pilgrimage organiser) had arranged for us to be given a sum in rupees, as part of the transfer from the airport, to make sure we could manage tips and small expenses. This is necessary as you are not now allowed to bring rupees into the country, and what rupees I had (and many others) are no longer legal tender, due to the withdrawal of most notes earlier this year. Obtaining currency from ATMs is not a problem - I carry pre-loaded currency cards, and I have done so many times in many different countries. 12 ATMs later, with none of them accepting my card, I was changing my mind as to how easy it was. In most of them my main card was just not recognised. In the one machine that did recognise my card, the transaction was rejected just after I had entered the amount required.
This was starting to be worrying. I checked my wallet and pockets and found I had about £50 and €100 on me. Changed these at the hotel (at ruinous rates) to ensure that I had a basic minimum of money available to me.
I got myself settled in , waited for the next batch of people to turn up, which they did about 16:00. Really nice to hook up with Erika again, and to recognise one of the party, Val Robertson, from Samye Ling, in Scotland. We all removed to the cafe/bar in the hotel for a light snacks, and to start to introduce ourselves. Pleasant, and so to bed.
2018-10-18
Rose to resume my quest to find a workable ATM, after the second bout of money changing in the hotel (they would only do one change per customer, per day). This time I had dug out my backup currency card from its location deep in my luggage. Thus armed I set off to retry my main card, and my backup card. Main card still not working, but I did find an ATM (adjacent to the hotel) that accepted my backup card. This did limit my transactions to ₹10,000 (about £100). I did not think this a problem, as most of the costs had been paid for the trip, and I only anticipated small personal spending. Money also goes a long way in India. (Incidentally, this transaction has still not appeared on my account). This was to bite me later on in the trip, when there was a misunderstanding about what had been paid, and what not. I had to pay out (in rupees) for seven nights at the Palpung Institute. This involved me using my British debit card, using a wireless terminal, on a 2G network, being held aloft outside to get a signal, and the process only taking about 30 minutes. I was later reimbursed for this, in dollars, but it had involved a charge on my account that I had not anticipated. Anyway, by morning end I was happy that my money was sorted out.
During the day, additional members of the party kept arriving, and sorting themselves out. The four of us who had been there overnight went off to see the Red Fort in Delhi. Interesting, even though Indian bureaucracy reared its head - the tickets had been bought by somebody Indian, from the Indian customer counter. I don't look very much like an Indian, so was challenged at the ticket barrier to the inner part of the site. After a lot of to-and-froing I was allowed in. I had been a resigned, and passive onlooker to all the kerfuffle being raised.
On return to the hotel, people were still arriving. After an early, rushed, but very good meal at the hotel, off we went to the railway station. Like previous trips, the scene at the railway station appeared to be one of utter chaos, with people, luggage, porters, crowds, and residents of the station, going every which way, and occupying most of the space. Also as previously, suddenly everything was sorted, and we were all together, waiting for the train, with all our luggage together and next to us. Onto the train, and the enjoyment of my third Indian sleeper train. And suddenly we were on our way.
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