Day 2: Cultureshock in Delhi

Passengers on an Air India flight from New York pass through immigration counters at terminal T-3 of Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi on July 14, 2010. An Air India plane carrying more than 200 passengers from New York became the first commercial flight to land at New Delhi’s new, 2.7-billion-dollar airport terminal.The plane touched down at around 4:40 pm (1110 GMT), the first of eight flights expected over the next two days to test operations at the state-of-the-art facility that was inaugurated on July 3 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. AFP PHOTO/Prakash SINGH

The plane was an old 747 jumbo jet from KLM, so I was happy – even if I would have preferred sitting upstairs in business class, but without my travelbuddy Wim, an upgrade is out of the question 😭. I was happy with my window seat. The more so, when it turned out that I sat next to the only belgians in our group of 20. Aaaantwerpenoaren of course 😉. Aaron lives near Brasschaat and has travelled all over the world and his girlfriend Corina was both Kenian and Norwegian, so – me …happy with the international company.
In front of us sat a very tall (1m88) and entertaining dutch lady, Rose. She told us that she was a ‘hotshot’ lawyer in Holland, taking a break because of a burn-out. 8 months ago she met this Shaman in Antwerp, who recognized her aura. (She had a yellow aura!) She fell head over heels in love and they now travel back and forth between Amsterdam and Delhi. She was so funny, loud and so very ‘all over the plane’, that the steward came and asked her to calm down 😱. I then watched the movie: Bjorn Borg versus John McEnroe about the rivalry between the 2 tennis Gods and the price for being at the top – not a very good movie by the way. Anyway- at 1am we landed at Delhi airport, met our group and headed to the hotel. The hotel was a bit of a disappointment after all the posh hotels that I have been to lately, but it was ok for Delhi. I drifted off to sleep to rejuvenate and be ready for next day’s adventure.

2018 – Day 1: My trip to India

Here I am, in Schiphol, ready for my first adventure of 2018. The plan was to travel together with a friend, but she could not make it at the last minute. So, I decided to do this one on my own – My first journey on my own since my Sabena days… Before 2000. Could this be my ‘midlife crisis’? Possibly…Am I crazy to go to India on my own? I feel a bit like Julia Roberts in the movie: ‘Eat, Pray, Love’. Ready to step out of my comfort zone and go on this quest to find my inner self. It feels a bit like the moment before a ‘blind date’. The excitement of a possibly new adventure that can be fantastic, crazy or disappointing, but hopefully never boring. Ready to travel with me to India? Namaste!