Hard Way Out
Grounded flights, delays.. and again mass confusion as the officials don't care to notify passengers and relatives that their flights are canceled or delayed – sometimes upwards to 6 or 7 hours. The reason? A lot of planes don't have adequate radar equipment to find the runway through the fog.
It's never really simple, leaving.
Hired an overpriced driver to take me to the Trivandrum airport at four am to catch a eight am flight. It only takes about an hour from the beach to the airpot. Why? Of all days, Dec 14 is the time where Leftist groups in India held a nationwide strikes calling on the government to reduce pressure of gasoline prices and increase wages, among other things. Which means: no taxis, no buses, no trains, no gas stations, no shops.. nothing. I had to get to the airport by 5:30 am or else the roads would have been blockaded and well, stones and other things would have flown.
And so the airport was a little bit mad – so many people had already camped out before I arrived.. and add to that the gross inefficiencies of infrastructure and service at most Indian transport hubs and you get irate people, pushing and shoving crowds with no regard for lines and mass confusion.
Got to Delhi ok (I feel bad for the people in the Bengal districts, where planes were grounded all day – what if they had to catch an international flight home?)... and luckily the fog lifted after several days so the planes were able to land. It's been big news here in India for the past three days or so as airport officials, airlines and pilots have not been able to cope with the heavy fog that surrounds the Delhi airport in the winter. Grounded flights, delays.. and again mass confusion as the officials don't care to notify passengers and relatives that their flights are canceled or delayed – sometimes upwards to 6 or 7 hours. The reason? A lot of planes don't have adequate radar equipment to find the runway through the fog.
But I got to Delhi ok. And was promptly shaken by the scuffle between the police and journalists (who were covering the inefficiency) outside the arrival hall. Crazy. I saw a couple of batons flash and bundled myself in a 'non-strike' taxi to get myself into the city.
Never thought I would be happy to arrive in Delhi again. Urine, dung, beggars, cows, dirt, traffic – ah yes: the wonders of a one-day layover. Hopefully I can make it out to Istanbul tomorrow and then, it's home!