Mumbai Transportation Tips by jessicadf

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: We had planned on taking a flight from Jaipur to Udaipur. However, there is one plane that starts in New Delhi, goes to Jaipur, then Udaipur, then Bombay. Then it turns around and does the same trip backwards. And then it does the whole round-trip one more time that day. Fun, yes?

Well, as it turns out, Udaipur gets a bit foggy some mornings, and there is not an instrument approach. So the morning flight from Jaipur to Udaipur sat on the ground for a few extra hours before finally allowing the passengers to board. Then, after waiting for another hour, the crew had all those bound for Udaipur deplane, and the flight took off for Bombay, skipping the morning Udaipur landing.

Once back inside the terminal, we were told that we could be on the waiting list for the afternoon flight. Well... we knew that, since it would be the same plane in the morning, that it was already several hours behind schedule. Who knew what would happen throughout the course of the day??

Instead, we worked out a deal with the counterperson... we got a car (an Ambassador) and driver. The car would take my boyfriend and I, along with a British couple, to Udaipur. An Ambassador is really not made for 5 people... Plus, the other couple were traveling around before settling down in India, so they had an enormous amount of luggage.

The trip took us over 8 hours... and our bums were numb by the time we got to Udaipur. To top it off, when we arrived at the other couple's hotel, the cab in front of us was unloading people that had stayed behind and taken the afternoon flight! The joke was on us!

I'm glad, numb bum and all, that we drove. Through empty countryside that was beautiful and rural... sights that we wouldn't have seen any other way.

The only stop we made between Jaipur and Udaipur was at a tea stop. Glasses were dipped in dirty water and filled with steaming tea. I looked at the tea suspiciously, but, 'What the heck' and drank it down. I didn't get sick!

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: I kid you not! This was a protest march supporting safer driving that went by our hotel in New Delhi. One of the banners says, "Lane Driving is Sane Driving."

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