With stomachs full from a gluttonous Christmas the day before, and with heads sore from a little too much wine and good cheer, on 26th Dec we boarded a plane to Delhi.
I'm pleased to report that we have finally arrived in Delhi, safe and sound. There was a moment or two on the plane, where I thought pilot may make an emergency landing in order to eject the two very drunk gentlemen seated next to me, but happily we continued on and safely landed.
I would tell you my first impressions of Delhi, but I'm still trying to recover from the spectacle of the two men next to me, who each managed in the space of about two hours to down 10 mini bottles of whiskey and secrete another 10 in the pockets of their jackets. I'm not sure what Delhi Customs made of them when they arrived.
The two men spoke limited English, but nonetheless made quite a go of chatting up the airline hostesses. In fact, I think the language barrier helped - the one hostess who spoke Hindi and so understood what the men were saying gave them very short shrift. The others were much more polite. The more the men drank, the more determined they became about securing every freebie available. They started collecting airplane headsets, blankets and pillows and stuffing them into their bags. Best of all, they got into a heated discussion with the airline staff about the children's backpacks and colouring books. I gather they were insisting that, notwithstanding they fact they were grown men who had no children with them, they too ought to be given the children's play activities. Eventually the staff gave in to the latter request, perhaps in the hope that some activities would shut the men up.
But undoubtedly bizarre thing about these men was that one of them had the largest thumb I have ever seen. You know those over sized foam hands people sometimes wear to sporting games? Well, imagine a thumb that size on an ordinary hand. It was, perhaps, 5 times the size of a normal thumb. I couldn't stop staring at it. Every other digit on both hands was perfectly well proportioned and normal. This was a monster of a thumb. It was almost as large as the rest of his entire hand.
So that was our first taste of India. Over sized fingers. No doubt the trip will only get better from here...
The two men spoke limited English, but nonetheless made quite a go of chatting up the airline hostesses. In fact, I think the language barrier helped - the one hostess who spoke Hindi and so understood what the men were saying gave them very short shrift. The others were much more polite. The more the men drank, the more determined they became about securing every freebie available. They started collecting airplane headsets, blankets and pillows and stuffing them into their bags. Best of all, they got into a heated discussion with the airline staff about the children's backpacks and colouring books. I gather they were insisting that, notwithstanding they fact they were grown men who had no children with them, they too ought to be given the children's play activities. Eventually the staff gave in to the latter request, perhaps in the hope that some activities would shut the men up.
But undoubtedly bizarre thing about these men was that one of them had the largest thumb I have ever seen. You know those over sized foam hands people sometimes wear to sporting games? Well, imagine a thumb that size on an ordinary hand. It was, perhaps, 5 times the size of a normal thumb. I couldn't stop staring at it. Every other digit on both hands was perfectly well proportioned and normal. This was a monster of a thumb. It was almost as large as the rest of his entire hand.
So that was our first taste of India. Over sized fingers. No doubt the trip will only get better from here...
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