The Adventure Begins

Mumbai, India

August 20-25, 2002

Finally, on Tuesday, August 20, 2002, the day arrived to depart to India. My flight with Air France left at 7:25 a.m. so I had to take the very first train in order to get there in time. The first flight went to Paris where I had 1,5 hours time to change planes. The Charles de Gaulle terminal is terrible... the directions are very misleading and the huge building has a very poor acoustic. The plane then had an hour delay taking off. Since it was fairly empty, I was able to have the window row all to myself, making it possible to stretch my feet during the long, 9 hour flight! The view out the window was fantastic and especially flying over the middle east was very fascinating!

I arrived around 1:00 in the morning of Aug. 21. I left the plane still unsure whether there'd be someone there to pick me up or not. All around there were men hanging around, looking like they were bored and looking for something to do. I picked up my suitcase, went through customs and left the terminal. Right away the passengers get bombarded with offers for taxi's and hotels! Thanks, but no thanks! I left the terminal, stared at all the people waiting to pick up someone (in the middle of the night!) and hoping to recognise Karen. Suddenly there she was! Together with her mom, her sister, Prithi, and her nephew, Melvin, I was presented with a bouquet of flowers and big hugs!

We had another 1.5 to 2 hours wait until Carsten's flight was to arrive, so we found ourselves a place to sit and started waiting. He was arriving on a non-stop flight with Lufthansa. We used the time to chat and get to know each other. Since they all speak English, we had no problems communicating. I also observed all the people and especially how they were dressed. I had been so worried about what to wear! Most of the women wear the traditional Sahri's, in different variations, but also western dress, i.e. Jeans or short skirts are also ok. After Carsten arrived we got a taxi and drove directly to our hotel. During the drive I got my first impressions of Indian traffic and driving style! HELP! The taxi's and riksha's drive crazy! They weave in and out of traffic and are constantly beeping their horns.

Our hotel was fine enough, a "Best Western", 2 stars. Carsten and I shared a room for the first 2 nights. It was clean enough and had it's own bath, mini-bar, and television. The next morning we enjoyed a breakfast buffet. We had at least 6 waiters serving us in the small dining room. They seemed to almost step on each others feet. It was interesting to observe that when you ordered something with one waiter, he passed it on to the next, and it was brought by another.

We had an appointment at the Germany Consulate at 10. Karen and her best friend, Smitha, picked us up and we grabbed 2 rikscha's for the drive into downtown Mumbai. The riksha's are like 3-wheeled motorbikes. There's a bench on the back for up to 3 people and it is completely covered but with the sides open. Our first days were dry, with some rains at night, but on the last day we had the typical monsoon rains and got splashed by all the riksha's passing us by. But no one seems to care so we didn't either!

The lady at the consulate was very nice and gave Karen the necessary forms she needed to fill out after the wedding. Since she couldn't turn them in until after the legal ceremonies, it meant Carsten had to leave his new bride in India for about 6 weeks while he returned to Germany alone! Poor kids..

We stopped by the bank to get some Rupees. For € 50 I got about 2,200 rupees. Then we visited a bazaar to pick up the special wedding-necklace. The prices are, compared to Germany, very cheap, but you don't buy anything without bargaining! Carsten and Karen picked up a very pretty necklace, plus a few other things. Then we returned to the hotel to rest.

Smitha, me, Karen