Namaste!
I figured the best way to keep everyone updated is to just write a note every once and a while and just tag everyone in it so everyone on the same page and I wouldn't have to write the same thing over and over. With that being said:
I made it to India. My flight arrived in Bangalore at 2:40am and then as soon as I stepped outside the airport there was guy holding a sign with my name and helped me carry my things to a van that had 4 other students in it that's in my program. We had longgg drive to Mysore and got here maybe around 6:30ish. Then at 7:30am they served us traditional indian breakfast. So far everythings been good.
The group of students I came with wanted to go into town so after napping a bit I went with them and we just walked around the village. There were small little stores everywhere, the ground was pretty dusty, and we definately got a lot of stares but not bad ones. The people were more curious than anything. They would just walk up and talk to us. As you would expect in India, cows really are everywhere, but they don't even bother with you, they're kinda in their own world. One guy actually followed us around most of the time. ( We couldn't shake him) He was trying to offer us a tour, but we told him no thanks and he still followed us around anyway. Then when we were heading back to our dorm, he tried to drop us a price for the tour, and he was laughing hysterically when we told him no, we never asked for a tour. It was actually pretty funny.
Well before I actually got to India I had a 12+ hour layover in Dubai which was nothin less than amazing. I booked a hotel which included a shuttle service to and from the airport. It was a 4 star hotel called The Lotus, located in downtown Dubai. Everyone there was soo nice and helpful. They don't let you lay finger on anything, they practically do everything for you, which was awesome. Oh btw, walking around in Dubai was almost like being baked in an oven. I don't think I've ever experienced heat like that before. What was even more weird is that I tried to take a shower as soon as I got to the hotel and the there was so cold water...it was blistering hot. Even the water in the sink. I litrally tried to blow on my rag to cool and down and stop it from burning my skin.
So I had to walk to the metro station from the hotel which was like a 3 minute walk and take that to the district where the mall of Dubai was. Then from there hop a bus to the mall. The mall was actually connected to the worlds tallest tower called the Burj Khalifa, but apparently tickets to see that has to be purchased way in advanced so I only got to look at it, which is still not bad. The mall is GINORMOUS! over 1,500 retail shops. I saw like less than half of a quater of the mall I'm sure. Definately a lot of upscale fashion designers in there like Gucci and Versace and there was some other stores i've never heard of as well but I did see a forever 21! lol didn't get to go in it though, that might have taken up the whole day. While I was there though I went to the worlds largest indoor aquarium and did the whole package so I was able to take a boat ride in the aquarium (on top the water) They gave us fish food and a little tour which was nice. Btw...there was no separation from the sharks so everything that was in there, was in there. They told us sharks never usually come to the top though...pretty scary. There was also a walk through aquatic zoo, and that was fun. I took lots of pics i'll post up later.There was a really huge candy store I spent probably an hr in because I couldn't decided what I wanted lol. The last thing I had time to do was get a pedicure and it was really classy and nice. I wanted to get a manicure but my time was coming to an end.
{The Scary Part}
So I didn't think time was going to be an issue, but it is when your trying to catch a flight. Long storey short I had to take the bus back to the metro station, hop the metro and then get back to the hotel for 7:30pm which is when the scheduled a driver to shuttle me back. No joke, I almost got lost after I got off the metro station because it was darker than I thought it was going to be and I had to ask their police to guide to the hotel...luckly I had a hotel brouchure that had a map ofwhere the hotel was....
....ready for this??
I arrived at the hotel TEN minutes before my flight started its boarding process. I thought I was gonna have a panic attack on the spot. So I ran upstairs jammed everything into my carryon and hailed a taxi to the airport.When I got there I had to go through customs and security check...and typically it wouldnt take a person long to get to their gate...but not in Dubai...everything was soooo spread out it was rediculous. I literally sprinted to the gate and just in time!
{The good part}
So at this point my lungs were about to collapse because I was breathing so hard and I ran to the first and business class line by accident. There were still people checkin in so I was fine. I handed the guy my ticket and he pulled me over to the side... Ithought they weren't going to let me board! But then he handed me a ticket and it turned out he upgraded my seat to business class! Probably the coolest thing that's ever happened to me.
{The funny part}
So I still had anxiety after I boarded the plane. I was tripping over stuff, weak, and still breathing all hard. I pulled out the dinner menu and said meal plan for Dubai to (some other place in India) I went to ask the stewardess where the flight was going and she said "Chennai" I almost lost it! I really almost had a breakdown and then she said "just joking" . The stewardess have a real sense of humor... lol She didn't know I almost missed my flight and I was in panic mode until later on int he flight when she was talking to me.
Emirates is the nicest aircraft I've ever been on. Even economy is treated like your first class. During the 12 hour flight they passed out hot towel to wipe up 3 different times. There were also 3 complete meal and snacks in between each, so your like never hungry. Each chair is equipped with an entertainment center that has a remote/phone, touch screen lcd display that has movies, shows, music, and games, a outlet and usb port. I can go on but i'll stop that.
I guess this sums up my travel experience and first day in India. I just realized how much I wrote and it's pretty long but I don't intend on writing that much everytime, there was just a lot of ground to cover.
Ask questions if you would like :)
originally written: 8/11/2010
I figured the best way to keep everyone updated is to just write a note every once and a while and just tag everyone in it so everyone on the same page and I wouldn't have to write the same thing over and over. With that being said:
I made it to India. My flight arrived in Bangalore at 2:40am and then as soon as I stepped outside the airport there was guy holding a sign with my name and helped me carry my things to a van that had 4 other students in it that's in my program. We had longgg drive to Mysore and got here maybe around 6:30ish. Then at 7:30am they served us traditional indian breakfast. So far everythings been good.
The group of students I came with wanted to go into town so after napping a bit I went with them and we just walked around the village. There were small little stores everywhere, the ground was pretty dusty, and we definately got a lot of stares but not bad ones. The people were more curious than anything. They would just walk up and talk to us. As you would expect in India, cows really are everywhere, but they don't even bother with you, they're kinda in their own world. One guy actually followed us around most of the time. ( We couldn't shake him) He was trying to offer us a tour, but we told him no thanks and he still followed us around anyway. Then when we were heading back to our dorm, he tried to drop us a price for the tour, and he was laughing hysterically when we told him no, we never asked for a tour. It was actually pretty funny.
Well before I actually got to India I had a 12+ hour layover in Dubai which was nothin less than amazing. I booked a hotel which included a shuttle service to and from the airport. It was a 4 star hotel called The Lotus, located in downtown Dubai. Everyone there was soo nice and helpful. They don't let you lay finger on anything, they practically do everything for you, which was awesome. Oh btw, walking around in Dubai was almost like being baked in an oven. I don't think I've ever experienced heat like that before. What was even more weird is that I tried to take a shower as soon as I got to the hotel and the there was so cold water...it was blistering hot. Even the water in the sink. I litrally tried to blow on my rag to cool and down and stop it from burning my skin.
So I had to walk to the metro station from the hotel which was like a 3 minute walk and take that to the district where the mall of Dubai was. Then from there hop a bus to the mall. The mall was actually connected to the worlds tallest tower called the Burj Khalifa, but apparently tickets to see that has to be purchased way in advanced so I only got to look at it, which is still not bad. The mall is GINORMOUS! over 1,500 retail shops. I saw like less than half of a quater of the mall I'm sure. Definately a lot of upscale fashion designers in there like Gucci and Versace and there was some other stores i've never heard of as well but I did see a forever 21! lol didn't get to go in it though, that might have taken up the whole day. While I was there though I went to the worlds largest indoor aquarium and did the whole package so I was able to take a boat ride in the aquarium (on top the water) They gave us fish food and a little tour which was nice. Btw...there was no separation from the sharks so everything that was in there, was in there. They told us sharks never usually come to the top though...pretty scary. There was also a walk through aquatic zoo, and that was fun. I took lots of pics i'll post up later.There was a really huge candy store I spent probably an hr in because I couldn't decided what I wanted lol. The last thing I had time to do was get a pedicure and it was really classy and nice. I wanted to get a manicure but my time was coming to an end.
{The Scary Part}
So I didn't think time was going to be an issue, but it is when your trying to catch a flight. Long storey short I had to take the bus back to the metro station, hop the metro and then get back to the hotel for 7:30pm which is when the scheduled a driver to shuttle me back. No joke, I almost got lost after I got off the metro station because it was darker than I thought it was going to be and I had to ask their police to guide to the hotel...luckly I had a hotel brouchure that had a map ofwhere the hotel was....
....ready for this??
I arrived at the hotel TEN minutes before my flight started its boarding process. I thought I was gonna have a panic attack on the spot. So I ran upstairs jammed everything into my carryon and hailed a taxi to the airport.When I got there I had to go through customs and security check...and typically it wouldnt take a person long to get to their gate...but not in Dubai...everything was soooo spread out it was rediculous. I literally sprinted to the gate and just in time!
{The good part}
So at this point my lungs were about to collapse because I was breathing so hard and I ran to the first and business class line by accident. There were still people checkin in so I was fine. I handed the guy my ticket and he pulled me over to the side... Ithought they weren't going to let me board! But then he handed me a ticket and it turned out he upgraded my seat to business class! Probably the coolest thing that's ever happened to me.
{The funny part}
So I still had anxiety after I boarded the plane. I was tripping over stuff, weak, and still breathing all hard. I pulled out the dinner menu and said meal plan for Dubai to (some other place in India) I went to ask the stewardess where the flight was going and she said "Chennai" I almost lost it! I really almost had a breakdown and then she said "just joking" . The stewardess have a real sense of humor... lol She didn't know I almost missed my flight and I was in panic mode until later on int he flight when she was talking to me.
Emirates is the nicest aircraft I've ever been on. Even economy is treated like your first class. During the 12 hour flight they passed out hot towel to wipe up 3 different times. There were also 3 complete meal and snacks in between each, so your like never hungry. Each chair is equipped with an entertainment center that has a remote/phone, touch screen lcd display that has movies, shows, music, and games, a outlet and usb port. I can go on but i'll stop that.
I guess this sums up my travel experience and first day in India. I just realized how much I wrote and it's pretty long but I don't intend on writing that much everytime, there was just a lot of ground to cover.
Ask questions if you would like :)
originally written: 8/11/2010
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