Saturday, October 13, 2007
Attempted Kidnapping!
The good news is, we are still alive and reasonably well. We have gone through hell the past two days and are now seriously out of sleep. We look like directly out of the jungle, so better no photos here. What's more, very unfortunately there was a terrorist strike near Jaipur the day before, and thus police and army are very alert which means there are road blocks everywhere on the big streets. Not the best time to show up at public monuments with an R/C helicopter!
We'll give you more details once we've sorted our things; it's pretty much a mess at the moment. Right now we have another nightmare behind us. Right after collecting the spare parts that Nicolas Kaiser and Jan Henseleit sent us by FedEx Express to our Delhi connection, we had our driver drop us at the Indira Gandhi Intl. Ariport in Delhi. Just before the flight to Kolkata [Kalkutta] (East Coast, near Bangladesh) we discovered that in our flight data the wrong terminal was listed. No problem? Think again! The other terminal is 20 min. away by taxi. So we went for a pre-paid and registered taxi; this means the transport is safe and you don't have to worry about the driver taking you to the nearest bad neighbourhood and mugging you.
Well, we jumped into our taxi, the ride was listed by an official, and after those two days lying behind us we were just glad we din't have to worry about any more things. Right after the first corner, the cab stops, somebody approaches the passenger side, opens the door and wants to board. --- OK, HIGH STATE OF ALERT! THIS IS A KIDNAPPING!
The same old story that you always hear about – we were prepared to encounter this kind of thing in Latin American states, but not really in India. Now in this situation you have a maximum of a quarter second to think and react, else it is over. Saskia tried to open the sliding door on her side – locked! Mine I had closed myself, so this one was open. Put one foot out of the car and SHOUT at the driver so the sound pressure literally smashes him against the wind shield. This buys you precious time; Saskia now had unlocked her door and also had one foot out of the car. DO NOT GET OUT! If you do, your baggage is gone!
So what's next? Continue shouting violently and make clear you are willing to use force to end this nonsense. If they still decide to drive away with you, strangle the guy so the car will bump into the next street lamp; since nobody wears safety belts in these countries, this will be an effective measure. In our case, the second guy was so shocked that he ran away. The cab driver then attempted to step on the gas but gave up due to our shouting and hitting him.
The story is even longer, but we'll most likely talk about it in one of the next ROTOR issues. Anyway, we're safe, just very exhausted.
Lost my RM cap yesterday and am in bad mood; it seems as if part of the madness will stay in India …
We've just arrived in Kathmandu/Nepal; the political situation is complex here, and we'll do our best to stay out of the line of fire. The next post will feature one of the most incredible stories about our attempts to make the impossible possible: To fly at the Taj Mahal in Agra.
Thanks also to all of you for the good wishes and tips, this helps!
Labels: kidnapping, lost cap
# posted by hg/tuw @ 19:15 
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Hey Tobias & Saskia!
WOW, that really sounds like a thriller! I did not imagine at all, that something like this could happen in the first days(!) of your trip. Don't forget the small video, you wanted to show us, what flying in public is all about! Take care and... may the force be with you! ;)
----
An die Leser des deutschen Blogs:
Die Hits (ueber 2000 seit Beginn) auf meine Seite sprechen fuer sich, vielen Dank fuer's Lesen - das spornt an! :)
Liebe Gruesse, Marc
WOW, that really sounds like a thriller! I did not imagine at all, that something like this could happen in the first days(!) of your trip. Don't forget the small video, you wanted to show us, what flying in public is all about! Take care and... may the force be with you! ;)
----
An die Leser des deutschen Blogs:
Die Hits (ueber 2000 seit Beginn) auf meine Seite sprechen fuer sich, vielen Dank fuer's Lesen - das spornt an! :)
Liebe Gruesse, Marc
# posted by 
: October 13, 2007 at 10:35:00 PM GMT+2
: October 13, 2007 at 10:35:00 PM GMT+2
du hast nicht gesagt das Du schon in der ersten Runde k.o. gehen könntest, kämpft euch durch, alles nur gute... Matt
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# posted by : October 14, 2007 at 9:05:00 PM GMT+2
: October 14, 2007 at 9:05:00 PM GMT+2 Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
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