Newark International and Continental are said to be one of the best coordinated terminals for international travel in the United States. From my experience, I would have to agree. Arriving at a gate that was only fifty feet from my outgoing flight, with a large food court and comfortable seating, made the four hour layover pass effortlessly. Delhi, however, was a different story.

The flight from Newark to Delhi was about eleven hours. I had stayed up the night before finalizing packing and had slept only part of the the flight from Portland. That allowed me to sleep most of the way to Delhi. The flight was uneventful, as we landed with a soft touch down and taxied to our gate. The rules of India do not require passengers to hold an Indian Visa if their final destination is another country with a connecting flight at the same airport. That seemed simple enough. We exited, descending the stairs to the customs area as I queued up in line for my customs check.

The one thing I learned early on is that customer service and India do not go hand in hand. I guess I should have taken a lesson from my my dealings with Indian outsourced support centers. I arrived at the customs desk, only to be told to wait at the back, as the agent pointed to an area behind me. I asked him, "Where in the back." He replied, "As far as you can see." That didn't make much sense, since the area he pointed to lead to hallways and dead ends. So I took my bags taking a seat on the few dusty lounges near the rear of the line.

I was told someone would come for me, yet after twenty minutes it was pretty clear that either you fend for yourself or you get lost. I relocated to the stairs, and waited. When an Indian military officer passed I approached him. He didn't speak much English but was gracious enough to take me to someone who did. After a bit of conversation and pressing my part, I was finally escorted the desk for transferring passengers. As I sat down I realized I was only three customs agents away from where I had begun.

A Continental representative finally arrived and began asking about my bags. I described them but she was unable to understand my descriptions. She left and returned with a visual chart of luggage types. Nothing matched my bags, so I referenced what was close and added more verbal description. Since my bags had to be placed in holding while I waited for my connecting flight, locating them was essential. However, I was not allowed to enter into the baggage area so finding them was left to the agent. With my descriptions seeming to fall short of what she was expecting, she resigned to relying on my baggage claim numbers and assigning another agent to finding them.

I was then escorted back up the stairs where I had entered, taken through security and shown to a room with a number of lounge chairs, two snack bars, bathrooms and international phone. My flight was in eleven hours, and it was here that I had to stay until that time.

I used the phone. I bought a chocolate bar from the snack vendor. But eleven hours is a long time to wait in a room some 15' by 50'. As the hours passed, and flights were called, I found myself unable to sleep and more and more ready to leave. As for getting information on the process or how long before we were called, all inquiries were given the same response, "You will be called soon, Sir. Pleas wait." There were two other Americans waiting as well. They too were traveling to Kabul, with a final destination in the Nimruz Provence in the south. We talked a bit, as they confirmed what I was experiencing... that Delhi was talked about as one of the less traveler friendly airports in the Middle East.

About an hour and half before our flight, an agent from the connecting airlines called our names. We were given a boarding pass, escorted into the main terminal adjacent to our holding cell, and asked to identify our checked bags. Once identified, we were directed towards security. With my TSA experience fresh in memory, I figured I was in for yet another fun filled moment of screening.

As with TSA back home, my knee brace and my bags fell under suspicion. I was patted down, my pant leg pulled up to expose the brace and my bags scanned, unpacked and scanned again. I was lectured about bringing too many electronics until I showed my credentials and explained who I was. As I began to repack, the security guard noticed a large roll of black tape and next to my small roll of black electrical tape. He took the large roll from me telling me it was not allowed. I just shrugged, smiled, thanked him and finished re-packing my gear.

I headed to my gate, took my seat on the plane as the door closed and the stewardess announced in her colonial British accented English, "Welcome aboard India Air. Please take your seats as we prepare to take off. We will be arriving in Kabul shortly. "

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