Our flight didn’t leave until 2pm but we wanted to take advantage of the lounge for breakfast/lunch so we had a relaxing morning packing up (well, as relaxing as trying to squeeze all your belongings into a carry-on can be) and headed to the airport around 11am. It was a good lounge with some very tasty food, couches to lay down on and good free wifi. Everything we are looking for! When we got to the gate, our names were called which is usually a bad sign but it turned out fine. They just needed to check that we had our Indian visas since we had checked in online and gone straight through security with our digital boarding passes. It was a relief to know that the visas we had were the correct ones!

We then got on our 4+ hour flight to Sharjah International Airport (in United Arab Emirates). It was a smooth flight and upon arrival, we had our first glimpse of being in a new part of the world from the prayer rooms in the bathrooms to the chicken tikka masala and dhal available in the lounge. We had a few hours to relax in the lounge, and then made our way to the gate. We didn’t realize we would need to go through security again, but luckily it was very fast. Once we arrived at the gate, a line quickly formed and we joined. We ended up just standing there for quite awhile but eventually the line started moving. When we got to the front of the line, the guy took one look at us and brought out his hand scale to weigh our luggage (suitcases and backpacks). Our total weight we are carrying is 120kg (!!) and we were allowed 60kg (10 kg each). He did some calculating and told us it would be over €1000 in overweight chargers. We were all shocked, including him! So he said he could give us a discount and only charge us €150 total. We said we’d take it! With a lot of relief and a little bit of worry about what might come for future flights….

The 3+ hour flight was smooth, and we were all exhausted. We arrived in New Delhi around 4:00am local time and were all so tired. Going through customs was very smooth and we got our official visa stamp in our passport so we can stay in India for 30 days which is just 2 days longer than we are planning on staying. Steffen’s friend very generously offered to pick us up (in two cars!) and drive us to our accommodation which was so super nice. We were especially grateful once we were actually in country, standing outside the airport exit at 5:00am after an overnight flight, completely exhausted and overwhelmed as taxi drivers yelled at us and the hot humid air suffocated us and sweat dripped down our backs. To not have to worry about how to get to our accommodation and know that we were with completely trustworthy people made all the difference.

We enjoyed the 35 minute drive from the airport to our apartment, marveling at the cows in the road, the complete disregard for traffic lanes, the constant honking of horns and all the other unusual sights for us, in the comfort of the two SUVs. When we arrived at our apartment, we got a bit of a shock that we are still wrestling with. The neighborhood looks quite run down (though we have been assured by Steffen’s friend and another acquaintance that it is safe and after a bit exploring the past few days, it does seem safe) and the apartment itself it dingy and grimy. It needs a deep clean, for sure. New paint on the walls, new curtains, new living room furniture would all go a long way in making it more comfortable. But alas, it is what it is. There was also some confusion when we arrived. I thought I had booked the entire 3-bedroom apartment but was told that I had actually booked just one of the rooms (for €2400/month which I feel is quite a lot of money for what we got). The landlord wanted an additional €300 for us to be able to use the whole place, which we paid because we honestly could not deal with it after the long travel day and the fact that we had already paid so much. The place got great reviews and looks a lot better online which I know is a common problem but not one we had encountered so far in our many travels. So our first impressions of India were mixed–grateful for the generous kindness from Steffen’s friend and very disappointed in our living situation for the next month. An especially difficult contrast after 3 weeks in beautiful Greece!