Last week I traveled to India for a work conference in preparation for peak travel. Airbnb is gearing up for a busy summer. We also took the opportunity to meet the India team in Gurgaon. I was excited that I was asked to go by my boss and former manager. I took the Asia route and flew from PDX to LAX with a 6 hour layover. During that layover, Grace came and picked me up for spicy Korean crab and Eddie joined us as well. Then I took the next 12-hour flight to Tokyo for another 6 hour layover landing in Haneda. Chrystal told me about the new onsen hotel inside Haneda but I made the mistake of going into the departure terminal too soon and could no longer exit. Then my last leg was 9 hours to Delhi.
Once I stepped out of the arrival hall to find the driver, I could feel the intensity of the dry heat. My colleagues did tell me that they were experiencing a heat wave. It was 7 pm and I could feel the simmering heat of 90F bouncing off the pavement. I was immediately overwhelmed by the constant honking. When the driver located his car, the car behind him had parked so close that it was bumper to bumper and he had to scoot up before I could place my luggage into the trunk.
It was a 20 min car ride from DEL to Trident Hotel. I was immediately greeted by the hotel staff and they helped take my large rollaway luggage. All guests had to have their smaller bags inspected by security and pass through a detector. I was enamored by the large reflective fountain pool and saw a group taking photos. The hotel was a large white grandiose structure adorned with tall white doors and curvy gold door handles. It took a lot of effort to pull open the door. Once I stepped in, I was instantly relieved with the AC on high and was greeted with a cup of refreshing calamansi lime drink. After I checked in, I had to walk through another set of heavy doors and across the courtyard before I reached the wing of where my room was. In front of me was another large pool surrounded by lush greenery. Every morning, I woke up to this pool view.
I wandered around the halls but felt my eyelids droop a little due to drowsiness. I went back to my room and passed out for a little while. I decided I was going to stay in and order room service. I ordered a fish curry, fried spinach kebabs, and garlic naan. 30 minutes later, the staffer rolled in a trolley covered in white table cloth filled with plates of food, papadams, chutneys, raw onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, Indian pickles, and a cup of masala chai. He parked it along the bedside so that I could eat and watch TV at the same time. I may have over-ordered but that’s usually me. I was so excited to try everything.
This first meal helped set the tone of my week. Morning buffets where I start with a masala chai, then I ordered the dosas, akuri egg, all the coconut chutney paired with fluffy idli, and a plate of guava, papaya, melons and especially the fragrant sweet mango. I chased it with a shot of beet juice. The lunches at the office were simpler but with an international theme. One day we had japchae and gimbap and other days biryani 3 ways and a chicken stew like dish. I tried every snack that I saw. I especially loved the curry flavored corn flakes and makhana which my co-worker explained was a puffed lotus seed snack. For dinner, I had late dinners with my co-workers at the hotel. I ordered a different curry dish every day with appam, paratha to naans. My stomach held up well this trip. I was super thrilled my stomach cooperated this time.
The very last day Cherry, Maureen, Jade, Stewart, and I booked a car and guide to see the Taj Mahal. Luckily, Bhavesh told us to buy our tickets online ahead of time to save queueing time. We set out at 3 AM and it was a 3-4 hour drive to Agra. Halfway there, we came across a traffic jam with lined up trucks. The driver took a hard U-turn and started to drive against traffic on the highway. My Indian colleagues said you drive towards the gap or you won’t get anywhere. Check back next time to see if we made it to the Taj Mahal.
Travelogue 