Loyet Family Odyssey

We are getting ready to leave our hotel in Delhi and head to the airport to begin our journey home. We are all very weary of hotels and all that comes with that. Tarini has been asking to go to America constantly over the last two days. And is very excited to get on the plane and head there. She loves airplane rides so we are very thankful for that considering we have a very long 15 1/2 hour flight to Newark and then two more flights from there to get us home.

We had quite the adventure at the airport last night when we arrived in Delhi. Benjamin's stroller was not there when we deplaned in Delhi and they said to go get it at baggage claim. So we went and waited and waited. Finally we asked at the help desk and they said we were to get it at the plane and we explained that it wasn't there, yadda yadda. What proceeded was a fine example of zero customer service. We were told to sit in an area and wait while they went to the plane to check. After an hour we started asking what was going on and ended up explaining things many times to many different people. For some reason they kept checking our baggage claim tickets and our checked bags, which had absolutely nothing to do with a gate checked item, but whatever. :) Then I guess they decided that maybe it didn't get on the plane in Bangalore and called the airport there. No one could figure anything out though so they said to go to our hotel and they would call when they found it. We proceeded to the exit and to look for our pre arranged and prepaid driver. He was not there. The difficult thing about the Delhi airport is that arrivals and departures are in separate areas and you can only get into departures if you have a ticket for a flight and you cannot get back in arrivals after you walk out the door. No exceptions. So, here we are with a million pieces of luggage, two very tired kids, and adults I might add, and no car. We finally get the attention of one of the "customer service reps" and he comes outside and Eric explains that the wait must have caused our driver to leave without us. They called our travel agency and found that the driver did indeed leave and it would take him an hour to get back to us. After a lot of hassling and explaining, the airline agreed to provide us with a taxi since the lost stroller caused the delay. Except when we get to the taxis, they are not exactly taxis, they are auto rickshaws and have no A/C. We've ridden in them before, but it is not fun with the kids and it is so stiffling and hot and the exhaust from the cars is awful. But we have no choice and go anyway. It was quite comical to arrive at our lovely international five star hotel in two rickshaws. But at least the two drivers we had knew where our hotel was and got us there in one piece, albeit filthy and stinky from the exhaust and heat.

So after a good night's rest, we are going to drive around Delhi and then head to the airport.

I will leave you with a few pictures from the last few days in Bangalore. Do you think the kids like the water?