Day 418
I got to Delhi early and went right to a place where I could book a ticket for a night bus to McLeod Ganj. I only had 10 hours before my bus so I decided to no get a hotel for the night.
I went to a restaurant for some food and sat there for a while writing in my journal. When the bookstore across the street opened I went and bought both Chinese and Mongolian guidebooks. I really needed to do some planning for the next few countries.
I then went to a tea shop and worked on a my itinerary for some time before grabbing some more food and heading to the office for the bus.
They told me to wait for quite some time and by the time that they put me into a cyclo I really thought that I would be late. They had also made a point that I should not pay the cyclo driver as they had already. On the way the driver stopped and chatted with his friends for a bit. I was about to lose it. When we got to the place that the bus would come to he asked for a tip. I about flipped out on him.
When the bus came they charged us all extra to put our luggage in the trunk. This really shouldn't happen when you take a private bus and it really irritated a lot of the westerners including me. I didn't like the way the things were being handled and I decided to stand outside and wait until they had shut the door. This irritated one the guy who was meant to get everyone in their seats. He was actually yelling at me and telling me that this was just the Indian way. I I tried to explain that it had nothing to do with India but that I always watched until things were locked. He told me that he would leave it unlocked and opened for the entire trip.
I wasn't the only person who was uncomfortable and watching, I was just the one he picked on. I had been chatting with an American couple before the bus had arrived and the male counter part was watching as well. I went ahead and got on the bus.
The nasty man then told me to sit in the seat that was next to his girlfriend, it took some convincing for me to get another seat. He wasn't actually letting any of us sit in the seats we were assigned. I complained that I had reserved a window seat and he made another person move, telling him that he was in the wrong seat. He didn't want to move but did in the end.
Then an Israili couple sitting in the back got upset that their seats didn't recline and that they were not the seats that they had booked. This prompted the guy next to me to get angry. He didn't speak English well though and they told him that if he was angry that he could get off of the bus. Eventually he just sat down.
Then two of the bus company employees took two of the reclining seats. This really irritated the Israli couple who stood next to them until they got up. When I looked around I could see that they had given the westerners the bad and broken seats (mine was broken) and the locals had the nice seats. Luckily I was tired and put my ipod on and just fell asleep.
Showing posts with label Delhi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Delhi. Show all posts
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Chuga Chuga
Day 413
After packing my things I headed out for breakfast. I also spent some time writing. I didn't have a whole lot of time though, I had a 1:30 pm train to catch. On the way back to my hotel I picked up a nifty bag for 50 cents to help me hold my souvenirs and gifts for others.
An hour before my train was due to depart I headed to the station. I hadn't been able to get my sleeper of choice and was chucking it in with the $3 a night people. I did have a top birth though. There just wasn't a later to get up there and it took some acrobatics and laughing from the people watching me to get up there.
There were five men in my compartment and one of them offered to switch beds with me. I said no thanks. The upper berth is to keep me out of groping range, plus, I can easily lock all of my bags to the bed. I spent a few hours with my new Mongolian and Chinese guide books before I fell asleep for almost the entire ride.
After packing my things I headed out for breakfast. I also spent some time writing. I didn't have a whole lot of time though, I had a 1:30 pm train to catch. On the way back to my hotel I picked up a nifty bag for 50 cents to help me hold my souvenirs and gifts for others.
An hour before my train was due to depart I headed to the station. I hadn't been able to get my sleeper of choice and was chucking it in with the $3 a night people. I did have a top birth though. There just wasn't a later to get up there and it took some acrobatics and laughing from the people watching me to get up there.
There were five men in my compartment and one of them offered to switch beds with me. I said no thanks. The upper berth is to keep me out of groping range, plus, I can easily lock all of my bags to the bed. I spent a few hours with my new Mongolian and Chinese guide books before I fell asleep for almost the entire ride.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Denied
Day 412
I got up early and walked for ages before I found a place opened for breakfast. When I was done I checked the time and realized that I really had to hull it to get in line at the Chinese Embassy and grabbed a tuk tuk. Once there I waited in line with several other tourists. When the doors opened they told us that we were all in the wrong spot and that we needed to go elsewhere.
I ended up splitting a tuk tuk ride with an American and a local. After waiting for ages at the right embassy it was my turn. I gave her my paperwork and she asked if that was all I had. Apparently I either needed a letter from my employer or an exit ticket, I had neither. I explained that I didn't want to get the exit ticket yet as I didn't know how many days I would get on the visa and hadn't done my China research yet. She told me that if I didn't have an exit ticket that I would stay in China. I pointed out that I am American and that there is no way that I would want to stay in China when I could live in the US. This didn't really help. I decided to not even submit what I did have and try again in Hong Kong. Apparently it is much easier there.
The American named Kevin was also denied and we decided to drown our sorrows at the American Embassy, McDonald's. After lunch we split up. He headed to do I don't know what and I went to the train station to find a way out of Delhi. No one at the station was helpful so I went to an internet cafe and simply booked a ticket online. I also worked on my blog for a bit.
When I was done it was close to dinner time so I went to a nearby bar that some people from the line at the embassy had told me about. I ended up running into them and spending some time chatting with them until the bar closed at midnight.
I got up early and walked for ages before I found a place opened for breakfast. When I was done I checked the time and realized that I really had to hull it to get in line at the Chinese Embassy and grabbed a tuk tuk. Once there I waited in line with several other tourists. When the doors opened they told us that we were all in the wrong spot and that we needed to go elsewhere.
I ended up splitting a tuk tuk ride with an American and a local. After waiting for ages at the right embassy it was my turn. I gave her my paperwork and she asked if that was all I had. Apparently I either needed a letter from my employer or an exit ticket, I had neither. I explained that I didn't want to get the exit ticket yet as I didn't know how many days I would get on the visa and hadn't done my China research yet. She told me that if I didn't have an exit ticket that I would stay in China. I pointed out that I am American and that there is no way that I would want to stay in China when I could live in the US. This didn't really help. I decided to not even submit what I did have and try again in Hong Kong. Apparently it is much easier there.
The American named Kevin was also denied and we decided to drown our sorrows at the American Embassy, McDonald's. After lunch we split up. He headed to do I don't know what and I went to the train station to find a way out of Delhi. No one at the station was helpful so I went to an internet cafe and simply booked a ticket online. I also worked on my blog for a bit.
When I was done it was close to dinner time so I went to a nearby bar that some people from the line at the embassy had told me about. I ended up running into them and spending some time chatting with them until the bar closed at midnight.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Yech
Day 411
Due to the over abundance of people traveling in India I was not able to get the train that I wanted and ended up in Delhi instead. Delhi is such a bad place that even Indians say not to come here. I was here mostly for visas. As it was a Sunday though I would have to kill the rest of the day on my own. The train ride was only three hours which was good, because I consumed a whole lot of chai along the way.
Getting a tuk tuk was a nightmare. I went to the prepaid stand and no one would take me. Eventually I just had to find a cop and he made one of them take me. When I got to my hotel he asked ofr a tip, but I declined. I has decided to treat myself to a slightly nicer hotel with a tv if I had to be in such a terrible place. After resting for a bit I went to do some shoping, but wasn't really in the mood so I just ended up back at my hotel. I was so lazy that I even ordered room service and didn't leave for the rest of the night.
Due to the over abundance of people traveling in India I was not able to get the train that I wanted and ended up in Delhi instead. Delhi is such a bad place that even Indians say not to come here. I was here mostly for visas. As it was a Sunday though I would have to kill the rest of the day on my own. The train ride was only three hours which was good, because I consumed a whole lot of chai along the way.
Getting a tuk tuk was a nightmare. I went to the prepaid stand and no one would take me. Eventually I just had to find a cop and he made one of them take me. When I got to my hotel he asked ofr a tip, but I declined. I has decided to treat myself to a slightly nicer hotel with a tv if I had to be in such a terrible place. After resting for a bit I went to do some shoping, but wasn't really in the mood so I just ended up back at my hotel. I was so lazy that I even ordered room service and didn't leave for the rest of the night.
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