India - the story begins

From the instant I stepped off the plane I knew India would be a different experience. Let me tell you how I found this "Deluxe" hotel. I headed to my hotel in taxi. I get out of taxi instantly surounded by "helpers" screaming and tugging at me to pull me to their own hotel. I go into lobby and they follow me. Man tells them to leave. I ask for room they are full. I go back out into street and the horde hits me again. I look left/right and decide to walk straight ahead just whistling dixie and not looking or saying anything. I walk down skinny dirty alley towards a "Deluxe" hotel sign. The horde dissemates into one last screamer tugging at me. I totally ignore him.

I enter and screamer follows. I get to front desk and ask how much. He says 275rupee ($7), I'm thinking GREAT for deluxe, sign me up. He writes up receipt 300 rupee. I ask what about 275, he says its now 300. OK fine its late lets do it. I carry my own bags past the screamer to my room. They screamer yells "Bossman...what about my tip???". I started laughing hysterically "For what?". "For my service bossman!!!!, My Tip!!!". I'm just besides myself "You want me to pay you for following me down and alley screaming at me???? Are you crazy???" and left the scene of the crime. Some kid leads me to my room and opens door, we exchange small talk and I enter and take key "My tip sir!!!!". I ask for what???? "For my service". I close the door.

I sense India is going to be different and so far nothing to the contrary has changed my mind. Here is my Deluxe room....1 light bulb, no towels, filthy, no sheets, nothing. At 7am they knock on your door and say "turn on hot water now for shower 1 hour". I've slept in dumps before, but this is the first deluxe dump I ever slept in.




The pollution is incredible. Its like always being in a smoky bar. My lungs are seared and constantly hacking up. From the sky the pollution goes forever. This is worse than dhaka. On the positive side all the tuktuk/taxis/busses are natural gas so they say pollution is not as bad. But the # of people, cars factories is booming and its just overload. I'm joining a tree hugging political party when I get home, I'm so glad at least we consider the environment before we trash it, not here. I can't believe all these poor countries are at least converting their vehicles to natural gas and we are still dicking around with 6mpg Hummers. Its gotta end soon my friends or the kids are going to inherit a moonscape. OK OK, I'm part of the problem I admit it --- planes are the worst offenders.




The only big tourist thing I'm doing on this trip is the Taj. Aside from getting scammed $350 and having an autistic private driver that weaves the wrong way down streets screaming at people and then randomly clapping his wrists together singing Hindu songs, the Taj rocks. My only advice is to go see it, but ask me first how not to get scammed.

FYI: India closed 500 factories to cut pollution and setup a tax free zone around the taj for businesses that don't pollute. They also washed this beast by hand a couple years ago. I commend them, but it ain't enough. It is still so polluted from the cars and diesels. there is a huge refinery about 10 miles away also. You can see the sandstone building just falling apart from the acidic rain.




They are constantly doing renovation, and its all by hand. these guys are forming sandstone blocks the hard way by chisel and hammer. Every Friday an army of artists and crafts people descend on the Taj to do renovation. India is doing a great job trying to keep it up.






OK, I'm boring you to death again. Hey, there is a parade outside as I write this, wonder what that is about. I'm in Bandalore now. Heading out on 10 hour bus ride to see Sunny and go climbing! I'm crawling out of my skin for some death defying adventure like most my trips. Not sure when I will have Internet again. Just fYI, it takes me about 1 hour for each post, the pictures take time to format and upload and comptuers are kinda slow.