Dishabille in Delhi

Beds on planes aside, my night's sleep was a scant two hours after which I lolled about on my chaise like a chubby Roman matron awaiting food and drink from my maidservant. Pretty good! Why meals are so important on planes is a phenomenon that must be related to the incredible ennui that sets in during long hours of flying. Upon landing, my disposition was considerably less than sunny and my tolerance for crowds and queues not abundant. But emerge we did into the Delhi sunlight with the hope of seeing CLAUSEN/OUDERKIRK displayed on a sign being held by one of the numerous young men lined up to transport their travelers. Our hopes were dashed as we went unclaimed. Finally, I said, "TCI?" (our tour company) to no one in particular and a kind soul united us with someone, albeit not our guide, from the company. We were soon properly connected and on our way in the incredible Delhi traffic. London was but a warm up, my friends. Sharing the roadways (not particularly wide nor well-maintained) were the following: cars, buses, taxis, tuk tuks, motorcycles, bicycles, stray animals, a man on horseback and pedestrians. Drivers seemed to find it most expedient to straddle lanes in order to increase their chances to advance. The timid would be doomed. From my vantage point, I was often closer to those in the neighboring vehicles than to Joan who sat next to me. Oh, and I noticed that the horse and driver arrived at our destination the same time we did. I despaired of getting to our hotel at all when I saw that it would require a left turn but, after a brief wait, mission accomplished. So happy to get to our room. I shouldered poor Joan out of the way to dive into the shower and emerged nicely revived. Loved seeing that hair dryer in the bathroom since mine had died an awful and fiery death in London. Something about the converter, methinks. This in spite of Ron demonstrating the workings to me before I left home. Heavy sigh. No dryer in that room, so I was styleless until we left London. After a brief rest, our driver picked us up for our afternoon outing. More traffic and we arrived just as the nearby school was letting out. I conjured up an unfortunate visual of uniformed children being mown down like matchsticks but not to worry - the kids managed, teeming conveyences nothwithstanding.