Grand Adventure 2017 Day 23: Gobble Gobble
This morning when we woke up Jenn wished me a happy gobble gobble, and it took me at least a minute to realize what she was talking about. Being on this trip for over three weeks I'm completely lost in where we are and what day it is. But its true, today is Thanksgiving, and it looked completely different than any other Thanksgiving either of us has ever experienced.
We woke up this morning bright and early with a 5 AM wake up call. We went down and checked out at 5:45 AM and hopped in the back of the hotel's car to take us to the Bangkok Airport. Luckily it was so early that we missed all the traffic and the hour drive that it took to get us to the hotel only took 30-minutes this morning. When we arrived at the airport we dropped off our bags and went straight to the Oman First & Business Class Lounge where we plopped down for an hour. Jenn helped herself to some Bailey's (no ice) and I had some naan and hummus which was delightful.
We walked to our gate a little after 8 AM and boarded the Air India plane to take us from Bangkok to New Delhi. The flight was exactly four-hours and went by far quicker then I thought it would. Jenn went through photos and listened to music and I played Super Mario Odyssey on the Nintendo Switch for most of the flight in.
At about 11:30 AM local time in India we departed the plane and boarded a bus to take us to customs. I had heard rumors that the lines for India's customs could be slow and long. Luckily for us, the line wasn't long but boy did it take forever. Luckily we got through the customs without incident and our bags were waiting for us on the other side. After grabbing our bags we met the driver from our hotel who drove us the 20 KM from the airport to our hotel, The Lodhi.
Before coming to New Delhi we had heard over the last couple of weeks that New Delhi was suffering from some of its worst smog in history. We even at one point questioned whether we still wanted to come given the reports. We obviously decided to, but we did ask The Lodhi to provide two masks which were waiting for us as we entered the car. After we put our masks on we were on our way. Our driver was up front that it would probably take 45 minutes to an hour to get to our hotel depending on traffic. Unfortunately, traffic was worse then even he expected mid-day and an hour and fifteen minutes later we made it to the stunning Lodhi hotel.
When we arrived, a handful of staff members greeted us and took us straight to our room. This is now the third hotel to do that and I'm starting to love it. The hotel itself is breathtaking. It doesn't appear to be in the best area of Delhi but the hotel itself is incredible. There is a ton of security whether it be checking your car, going through metal detectors to get into the hotel, to security throughout the hotel, it feels incredibly safe.
We were fortunate enough to get yet another amazing room. Not only is the room huge with a giant bed, walk-in closet and gigantic bathroom. The room also has a huge wrap around balcony with a huge plunge pool that's nestled in the corner. It's stunning.
We went downstairs to eat lunch at the main hotel restaurant which serves both Indian and international dishes. Because today was our first day in India we wanted to make sure we went Indian. Jenn ordered a rice and lamb dish that was out of this world and I had a chicken curry dish that too was fantastic. We ordered some extra rice and two orders of naan and pigged out like only we can with Indian food. Everything was exceptional. Amazing flavor, good portions, fresh ingredients. We left lunch happy and full.
After lunch, we came back to our room, settled in a bit before going out for a quick walk to get some cash at a nearby ATM. That was an experience. The first ATM which was in a gas station right around the corner didn't work. We met a British man from our hotel and two Indian men who walked with us to an Indian bank a couple blocks down to help us with the ATM. I'm not sure how this happens in travel, but the kindness of strangers can be amazing.
We came back to our hotel and decided to tour the hotel grounds. We checked out the gym and pool, and then came back to our room to call it a night. We finished the night watched Spider-Man: Homecoming (which Jenn did not like) and falling asleep in our beautiful room here in New Delhi. Because today is Thanksgiving it's a good reminder for me to remember everything that I'm thankful for. As I'm writing this I'm overwhelmed with how grateful I am to be able to go on this adventure with Jenn. I can't imagine a better friend, lover, and companion to travel the world with. We've made a great team on all of our trips but especially this one which has tested our travel abilities at every corner. We've already experienced so much in our lifetime, and yet I know we're just getting started.
