I arrived at Delhi Airport from Madurai, but still had a few hours to go before boarding.

Arriving at the airport

So this is how they do the cleaning..

Shuttle bus

There are some conditions to ride this for free, so you need to bring your itinerary.

I’d made it to the international terminal, but with so much time left I went into the building in front of it.

A cafe like this..

Pizza Hut

They even have one of these.. well, anyway.. it is what it is.. Eating at Pizza Hut felt a bit off, so I just went into the airport.

Wi-Fi

To use Wi-Fi inside the airport, you have to get a password from this thing.

Inside the airport

There are elephants..

The menu at a coffee shop called Costa

Hmm.. but once I got into the airport, Korean Air hadn’t opened its counter yet, and apart from the duty-free shops there was nothing to eat. So I tried to go back out, only to find that once you’re inside the airport there’s no way back out.. First airport like this I’ve ever seen.. So, nothing special, but I bought a few things at Costa and snacked on them while I waited. I think I waited an hour or two, and I felt so stupid.. Why on earth didn’t I know this.. If I was going to end up at Costa, Pizza Hut would have been the better choice..

Duty-free

Unlike the shabby airport, the duty-free shops are all glitz and glamour.

Drugstore

When I searched about the duty-free at Delhi Airport, everyone said you absolutely have to visit the drugstore. You can buy things for less than half the price you’d pay in Korea. Himalaya is famous, and Biotique seems to be well known too. Apparently there are lots of mountains in North India where plenty of herbs grow, which is why herbal products are cheap.

Himalaya lip balm

There are fakes of this too, so you have to look carefully. Everyone who has used it says it’s great.

Airport decorations

Beautiful.

Souvenir shop

I just took a quick look around and left.. There was so much to buy that I couldn’t stretch to this as well.

They even have Yamazaki..

They had the Kogei Collection? No way.. And the price wasn’t that steep.. it was about reasonable. But there are plenty of bigger shops besides this one, so the selection of liquor is even wider.

Whiskies like these

Indian whiskies

I don’t have high expectations for Indian whisky.. but it was good to see roughly what they sell.

Restaurant

I went in because they said they serve South Indian food. I’d had a poor breakfast, and with a long way to go from here I needed to eat well in advance..

Lassi

It was good.

Biryani

It wasn’t that intense flavor I had in South India, of course, but it wasn’t bad to eat.

Chicken curry

Mild and perfectly edible..

Chai

I didn’t drink it myself, but I was told it was good.

Sure enough, coming to Delhi seems to take the intense flavor out of South Indian food. Still, it was easy to eat..

Duty-free

They have Balblair too..

And Kavalan..

Laphroaig 33 Year Old as well..

Bowmore 22 Year Old too..

This is no joke..

Yamazaki, Hakushu and so on..

There’s a wide variety.

Macallan

I saw lots of liquor I’d never seen in Korea; Delhi seems to be a very international airport. I never really realized that from Korea.

Gin

Wide shot

Restaurants

There are small eateries further inside as well. If you’re getting takeout, places like these would be fine too.

Drugstore

Instead of the drugstore at the very front of the duty-free area, I came to one further inside, and the range of products is different. It was a bit far, but I’m glad I came.

This kind of vibe..

I bought a whole pile of recommended items.

Biotique specialty store

It’s not a shop but a stand in the middle of the walkway, yet the variety is enormous.

This kind of vibe

This is what it looks like.

Back home, I took photos of what I’d bought.

Himalaya lip balm

I probably won’t have a reason to use it until winter.

Various products

Various products

According to people who’ve used them, they smell nice and wash off cleanly. The value for money really is outstanding.

The neck pillow I tried this time

I bought this at MUJI; it was cheap and didn’t take up much space. But when I actually used it, it was hot.. It seems hard to use in summer, so I thought it would be nice to have an inflatable neck pillow. But that’s only needed for flights of four hours or more, and with no idea when I’ll next take a long trip like this in summer, I don’t think I can buy one in advance. Now that winter has come, I’m using the neck pillow all the time, including as cold-weather gear, and it really is comfortable. Wearing it while coding prevents tech neck, keeps my posture right, and I get less tired.. As for the eye mask.. it doesn’t seem all that useful.. For one thing, the cabin lights get turned off at night anyway.. I meant to try it in everyday life too, but USB heated eye masks are all the rage these days.. so I have no idea when I’d ever use this kind of eye mask..

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