Travels: Thailand/India 1997

Travel Letter #4

Khajuraho - Agra

Did you think our flight to Calcutta sounded a bit like the first virgin days of aeroplane adventures? Well, later it became worse.

First a short introduction: Khajuraho is a place which consists of some 25 marvelous sandstone and granite temples, all about 1000 years old, and most famous for its erotic figures. Today it's located right in the middle of nowhere, and it's always been like that. Why the temples were build right there, and the purpose of the erotic figures, is still an open mystery. To get there from Varanasi, we would have to spend a whole day by all imaginable modes of transport (rickshaw, bus, train, jeep), and the same to get from Khajuraho to Agra. But flying time is only one hour and half an hour for each stretch respectively, and would cost us only $90 per person. So we decided to spend some more and do it the easy way, for once.

But again, we thought. After check-in, security check and this weird Indian custom of having to identify your luggage outside the gate (otherwise they won't load it into the plane, even though you got a luggage receipt 10 minutes earlier), confusion started. The plane was of course late, and after some time they announced technical problems from the speakers which were hardly audible. After yet some more time we were ushered out of the gate-area back into the departure hall. Still some more waiting, and then an agitated and nervous Dutch man (with only 3 weeks to see "all" of India) told us the flight was canceled. We had the choice of waiting for the next flight two days later, or take another flight the same day to Delhi - and thereby miss Khajuraho and Agra altogether. And yes, after still some more questions to the Indian Airlines (IA) personnel who gradually grew more irritated of us not being happy with the longer flight to Delhi, a third alternative came up. They could provide us with a taxi to Khajuraho, 8 hours on not too good roads. So, 3 hours after scheduled departure of our flight, we took off in a classical Ambassador Nova Deluxe together with an elderly businessman and his wife. The Ambassador is naturally not made for long trips in the country of great distances, and it was absolutely impossible to find a resting place for our heads anywhere. The interior design is carefully made to make sure you have to sit in one position only - as a potatosack. 12 hours and some terrible bad roads later, we arrived 4:30 _am_ in Khajuraho. I lost my voice for a few days afterwards.

We thought about lodging a complaint with Indian Airlines afterwards, but figured out it would be better for our mental health to get the trip out of our system as soon as possible. Still, Khajuraho was worth it all, something I hope our pictures will show at least some of you when we get back.

The plane to Agra (and Taj Mahal) actually took off - with us onboard. The aircondition didn't work, and we where served plain water in plastic glasses. So far we have compared the sizes of airports in India with Vigra, Aalesund, but Agra Aerodrome (yes, this is what they call it) compares better with Hovdebygda, Oersta. There was a big sign saying DEPARTURE and a tiny one at the right side of the building with the letters ARRIVAL HALL. How is looking for the departure hall when approaching the terminal from a plane? The arrival hall was not actually a hall, only a corridor with half-roof, outside, about 30 square meters small. The luggage was just dumped at the entrance. To get out of there, there was _one_ taxi for all of us. After some the Japanese had taken the taxi for a Japanese price, we two and two Indian businessmen were left behind with no transport at all. Luckily, the businessmen got quite angry, and demanded an airport bus. And since our flight was the last that day, and the workingday was over for the IA officers, the bus finally strolled slowly into the city, and we got a free ride. Hurray for Indian Airlines!

By the way, did I tell you my camera was stolen on the train from Agra to Delhi?