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Another comfy A/C bus delivered us back to Ahmedabad from Bhuj where we spent the majority of the next day in a stuffy little cubicle in an Internet café waiting for our next bus departure to Mumbai. Evening finally came and we prepared to board yet another (hopefully comfy) Volvo A/C sleeper bus, only, it didn’t arrive. Instead, about an hour and a half late, a crap-mobile of twisted metal (with no A/C) arrived to grudgingly drag us down to Mumbai. We had paid for an A/C sleeper bus and were given a non A/C bus, so naturally, it was time for the guns to come out (aka: Rozy attitude). Huffing and puffing, my sweet little wife flexed her vocal cords tossing complaints of service and demands of refund around in a storm of anger unbefitting of her size. The gentleman who sold us the tickets apologized but hurried us to board the already late bus and promised we would receive a refund of the difference in the next town. This only seemed to fan the fire that was Rozy’s temper and she launched into another tirade of complaints ultimately netting an immediate refund of the difference much to the amazement
of our new Indian bus friend, Suranjit. We boarded the bus in a frustrated state and sweated for 13 hours back to Mumbai in what would be the conclusion to our transport adventures in India.
Mumbai slapped us in the face at 6 am the next morning as a rickshaw driver verbally assaulted us for not enlisting him to drive us to our hotel…it was a pleasant way to greet Mumbai for a third time. At this point, we had less than 48 hours left in India, so, we decided to stay in Ville Parle (close to the airport) to make things easy for our 6am international flight. After checking into the way overpriced Rama Krishna hotel, we spent the majority of the day laying around, overdosing on A/C and catching up on our sleep. We woke in the evening only to grab a bite to eat then return to the relative comfort of the Rama (Relative because even at 2,750 Rupees/night, we had to battle an invasion of ants and crap service).
For our final day in India, we kicked around in the Churchgate areas of Mumbai killing time before our flight. We checked into Eros Cinema
planning to watch what appeared to be some decent looking Hindi film about a family’s life in Pakistan post 9-11 tragedy, but ended up buying a ticket for the wrong day and were stuck watching some crap film called “You, Me and Hum. Boredom set-in rather quickly so I decided to stroll around Churchgate taking pictures of the Courthouse and Mumbai Uni while Rozy probably wept uncontrollably. Lucky me, whilst strolling about, I was approached by some dude who seemed innocent at first, but soon enough launched into some story how he was trying to get money out of India and needed me to buy him some travelers checks (assumedly with his counterfeit Rupees)…I must have had moron written on my head or something….anyhow, I just brushed him off and continued on my way in search of whatever. Our day was relatively uneventful and we eventually made it back to the hotel to gather our belongings and avoid another nights’ hotel charge by hanging out in the airport from 10pm till our flight departure at 6am.
Our time at the airport, apart from being very long, was somewhat productive as 70% of it was spent in the computer lab
(honestly, no freaking Wifi at Mumbai’s international airport…really? This is the IT outsourcing capital of the world and I can’t even get online with my laptop in the capital city’s international airport?...sad). Anyhow, other notable moments include:
• Paying 100 Rupees for a can of Sprite (screw that, $2.50 USD for 12 oz. of sugar water in India?!)
• Watching an Indian military officer sit down next to me, place his rifle on his lap with the barrel of the gun pointed at my stomach, then proceed to tap the butt of his rifle with both hands as if it were a bongo (yes, I moved)
• Struggling through the heat as there was no A/C in the section we were waiting!
After our long evening, we finally had our chance to get through security and on to the gate. In a city of 20 million people, we happened to run into the same gentleman on our last day out as our first day in. A fascinating character who spent his career with the World Bank traveling the world who, in retirement, has directed his knowledge towards developing, promoting and garnering investment for green fuel projects in Africa
among other places. His passion was apparent, his worldliness was intriguing and it was a blast discussing anything from travel to finance, the environment and beyond with him (Namaste Emmanuel!).
Bleary-eyed and lacking sleep we went through the motions of another security check where a kindly security guard forgot to “wand” me as he was too busy asking me about airport security procedures in the US (that’s irony, right?). I told him the guards can be very strict and that Indian security guards are much nicer. He shrugged with a sort of “I know”, handed me my passport and I walked away confused and tired. I should have asked to be wanded, at least for my own protection. Oh well, I thought, perhaps I’ll get a good, solid frisking in Bahrain.
As we launched down the runway, a black cloud of sadness hung in the air as we said our final goodbyes to India. Our 43 day glimpse at the subcontinent was full of adventure, friendly people, transport struggles, amazing sites, unforgettable times, learning, and, of course, non-stop delicious food. India unapologetically hangs on to its strong sense of culture and tradition while simultaneously blazing a technologically-laced path
MY DEBUT NOVEL AVAILABLE NOW!
Visit me at www.danielshortell.com for purchase information. towards the future. The contradictions run rampant and are as colourful as the sarees adorning the female populace. The poverty is overwhelming yet a concoction of optimism, faith and survival instinct defiantly oust the loss of hope and the poor struggle on; meanwhile, an ever-increasing, highly educated class turns the wheels of an economic giant in the making. Regardless of individual economic stature, the people of India are what make the country so tangible, so real and so flat-out enjoyable. India is frustrating, India is magical, India is surprisingly diverse, and India is altogether unique and incredibly satisfying as a traveler destination, making it a pleasant refuge from the monotony of an overly-“sterilized” Western lifestyle. Chakde India!
STATISTICS
- Flights taken = 12
- Intercity trains rides taken = 17
- Intercity bus rides taken = 39
- Times lost = 24
- Total instances of diarrhea = 8
- Total number of requests for pictures with Daniel = 36
- Total megabytes of pictures taken = 34,650
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shivani
non-member comment
omg that was so perfectly written...yes im still reading this...i just have to finish...like a novel...what happened next....danny and rozita your journals better not end....