Delhi

Went out to Delhi for a friend's wedding. Flew on Continental Airlines to get to Delhi through Newark. I haven't flown Continental for many years and the recent merger with United Airlines gave me an opportunity to see what the service is like. My first leg was pleasant, the economy chairs are equipped with power ports and I had an individual TV screen to watch programming at my leisure. Something you don't find on domestic flights with United.

After landing in Newark, checked out the Continental Club. I think the one I walked into was very large. Probably on par with the United Club at SFO. The one thing I noticed was the free well drinks available which is not always offered at the United counterpart. The food options were light - mostly snacks rather than light hor d'oeuvres. At the gate, Continental required everyone to come up to the counter to check visa docs before allowing you to board the plane. I guess it makes the process smoother but seemed unorganized to me.

Once on the plane, I discovered that the seats were cramped, bye bye economy plus seats. Being used to economy plus on United flights I had forgotten what those extra six inches does for you. After 13 hours, I was feeling rather cramped especially since I didn't see much of the stewards after the initial meal service. I will say that the lack of free booze also put a damper on things. Another thing I missed on United. I will say that the meal service catered to the destination as the meals were Indian themed. A good thing since I think 90% of the plane was Indian.


Landed into Delhi late at night and was picked up by the friend to head over to their house. The wedding festivities takes about two weeks but I couldn't stay that long and opted to come in for only one week with the group.

The next day, went by train to Ludhiana to hang out at another friend's house. Not knowing what to expect in the train, I was greeted with a massive scene of people and mass amounts of luggage per group with beggars and stray dogs hanging out on the platforms. People and dogs also had no problems crossing between platforms by cutting across the train tracks. It was a madhouse. Another thing you will find is that there will be a person who will sweep the car when you are in your trip. This person will sweep up the rows and won't move forward unless you bribe him with some rupees to continue forward. Talk about effective extortion. :p

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