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I haven't been able to post because I have been stuck in a weird-ass desert town with no phones (again, the floods are to blame). No phones means no internet - Indian desert towns aren't exactly hip to wifi yet. Or anything other than dial-up, for that matter.
So much has happened since my last post that I don't even know where to begin, and I don't actually think I'm going to tell thqt tale just yet. It will have to wait for when I return and am NOT sitting in someone's living room that acts as a pseudo-internet cafe.
Let's just say that after K and I got stranded in the desert during our camel safari, literally miles and miles away from civilisation, and K started vomiting non-stop for several hours, we decided we had had enough. We had to hike back to a road (that was also rather jacked due to the floods) and flag down a jeep full of young guys who then drove us to the nearest city. From there, K was able to rest for the next day with a bucket next to her, while we bemoaned our situation.
From day one, this trip has been cursed. It has nothing - or very little - to do with India itself. But we have been doing everything we can to remain as positive as possible, and yesterday's nightmare was so overwhelming that we are just DONE. Officially finished. I cannot find any enthusiasm for this trip any more and am just dying to get home at this point.
Together, we both decided we would like to get back to Delhi as soon as possible, and to leave India at the earliest flight available. Why spend four days waiting around Delhi - spending money for hotel and what not - when I can change my flight for 100 euros? This was a hard thing to accept, as neither of us are the type who give up easily. I have never come home from a vacation early. I have never had a terrible trip.
But this one? It's been bad.
Oh my God, how many things can go wrong in one vacation? Wait a minute, I take that back -- no need to tempt God with such musings. Frankly, we've had enough.
We arrived in Udaipur at 7 am after taking a night bus, and awoke to pouring ran and freezing temperatures. Both of us had sensed the onset of a cold the night before, and were dismayed to see that our illness had become a full-blown respiratory infection by the time we woke up. With no rain-proof clothing, we hitched a ride from a rickshaw into town and settled into our guesthouse on the lake, falling quickly asleep after a restless night on the bus.
Imagine our surprise when we woke up a few hours later to find our guesthouse was flooded in, with the biggest flood in Udaipur's history since 1972. Cold, sick, and overall miserable, we waded through the waters to find ourselves some food, as our guesthouse's kitchen had also flooded and we were starving. We wandered the streets a bit in the rain (this IS a beautiful town) and then headed in for an early night.
The next morning, K was violently ill and could not leave the hotel room. I had aches, pains, and a fever, and was in no mood to wander through the sewage to find food. I ate some toast and we remained miserable in our hotel room for the entire day. No television, no entertainment other than watching the flood waters rise.
Yesterday, we at least had the energy to change hotels, and we found one with a tv. Besides an occasional foray out into the city for food, we were pretty much stuck inside all day -- both of us hacking like lifelong 80-year-old smokers.
Today is the first day we have had the energy and motivation to actually go outside. Although we're not fully recovered, it feels great to be able to walk a few steps without groaning, or to not get dizzy at the end of a hill. Udaipur is a beautiful and peaceful city, and I suppose of anywhere to get sick, this is the ideal place (minus the flooding, of course). It's a shame that we can't just fall magically in love with the place -- the mules and elephants roam the streets freely, the hilly and curvy roads are incredibly scenic, and the people here are the most friendly and mellow of anywhere in India to date - but we'll squeeze the most out of our last day here while we've got the energy to do so.
We're anxious to feel back to full-speed, however, and hopefully by tomorrow that will be the case. We're heading on to Jodhpur in the morning, and will continue on to Jaiselmer from there. We're both very excited about the camel safari in Jaiselmer (camels!) and are just praying that we won't hit another disaster in our next destination. I have been entirely impressed with India and have enjoyed this country immensely... I just would really, really like it if our string of bad luck could come to an end.
Also - our pictures suck because we bought a really shitty camera at some stand. India is so colorful and so beautiful, and all the pics are washed out and bland. Damn shame.
At any rate, forward we go.
A quick update because I have no time at this random internet cafe. Delhi redeemed itself in its final hour. We were unaware we had been staying in the ghetto, but were happy to discover the city OUTSIDE our terrifying 10-block radius. I still wouldn't suggest Delhi as a tourist destination for everybody I know, but I think our rocky start - coupled with the fact that we were staying in such a messed up 'hood - made us extra hateful towards the city when it didn't necessarily deserve it.
HOWEVER, we managed to find my bag (yay) after MUCHO difficulty with the Indian airline personnel. Things just don't happen quickly here. Once we miraculously recovered it, we headed straight for the bus depot and went to Jaipur - the capital of Rajasthan.
Since our arrival, we have had *almost* nothing but positive experiences. I love India in a way I hadn't expected, and getting to know it more and more makes me like it even better. I can't recap in a quick post just everything that makes it so incredible, but maybe I'll wait to do so until I have photographic proof.
Too bad Air India broke my camera.
Anyway, I just wanted to update to say that things are going 420% better and that I am thrilled to be here. It just goes to show how much things can turn around in 24-48 hours...
Kdogg and I reunited after quite a struggle. Thank God. Our reunion was a happy one, but she quickly saw what chaos I have been living in while she was sleeping on the floor at Heathrow.
We are both miserable here in Delhi. Perhaps the city is a nice place to be when everything is all fine and pre-packaged, but getting around here freestyle has been a nightmare. The tuk-tuk drivers quote a price, then midway through they say that was the price per person, not for the ride itself. Thanks buddy, but I'll be getting out of your tuk tuk now. We have been proposed numerous 'official' tours from people who 'aren't looking to sell us something' and we are quite frankly sick of the people following us, leering at us, and proposing us 'deals'.
Everyone I spoke to before the trip said we should get out of Delhi as soon as possible, and I couldn't agree more. Yet, my baggage is being held hostage at the Delhi airport, where nobody seems to answer the phone. When I talked the situation over with the VERY nice man who runs our guesthouse, he said, 'Sometimes it can take the airlines two weeks to get you your luggage...' Then he gave me the same damn line I've heard throughout this trip, 'Try in 15 minutes.' I've called the Air India lost baggage desk more times than I can count.
We're leaving the city tomorrow, luggage or no luggage. This poses a tremondous strain on my resources, as I packed my travellers' checks in my bag and therefore only have half the cash I planned on taking. My glasses, my camera, not to mention all of my clothes - these are things I wouldn't mind having with me for the next three weeks of our travels. We can work it out, but this is by no means ideal.
To say that I'm a little bitter and stressed is an understatement. Kdogg is still sleeping off her jetlag/Healthrow-induced sleep deprivation, and I am trying to just lay low and plan our next step. NOT the best beginning to our trip, my friends. It's hot here and I have been wearing the same sweaty clothes since I left my house on Thursday morning. It's Sunday, now.
I made it to Delhi in one piece, but Kdogg did not. I expect this is because of the almost-bombings in London (she had a layover there) but I have yet to know what exactly went down. I did manage to wait for her flight for 7 hours before calling the airline, though.
I haven't slept in 30+ hours and just now managed to find myself a hotel. Getting here was quite the adventure, I made many 'friends' along the way. Newsflash: travelling as a single woman alone in India is very difficult. Lord have mercy. The general insanity of the streets combined with the not having sleepness mixed with the address search that required me to stop in 4 different places to ask directions (each with conflicting answers, of course) and I am ready to just pass out for the night. I can't believe I'm even coherent. Hell, maybe I'm not...
First, though, I'm going to grab some food and make some phone calls, and otherwise do anything that will keep me upright until at least 7 pm. Then I think I should be ready for bed.
The bonus part of all of this? I have no luggage. For some reason I am THE ONLY PERSON on my flight whose luggage got lost; they sent it to Madras for some unknown reason. They say it should take two days. TWO!!
What an adventure this is turning out to be. I'm in high spirits but in terrible need of the basics: sleep, food, a shower, and maybe some indication of what the hell is going on with my travel buddy.
This city? By the way? Absolute fucking chaos.
Landing in Delhi at 5.00 am in 1.5 days. Next update will be from India...
So yeah. I'm going to India. In 4 days. Holy shit.
The past five days have been absolutely insane. I hardly slept for four nights, and was finally able recuperate last night -- damn, sleep is a good thing. I haven't been updating here because stringing two sentences together was proving to be more than I could handle.
Highlights from the past week include:
1) A seven-hour wait at the Indian embassy, followed by a mini-revolution executed by 68 pissed off Frenchmen, one angry Brit, and a confused and frustrated American. The Indian solution? Everybody can just put their money and passports in an envelope and hand it over to the embassy personnel, in hopes of getting our visa requests processed. I'm very comfortable with giving them that sort of thing with no proof of said transaction whatsoever.
2) A calm-evening-turned-insane with the fomer bookstore quartet in which I thought we would eat dinner and go home around 11, but instead we stayed up until 4 am putting make-up on one another and having a photo shoot. Frighteningly enough, the boys looked better in the make-up than the girls did, and they were also the last to wash it off. I HAVE EVIDENCE.
3) A 7 am wake-up following the 4 am photo extravaganza
4) A 9 am meeting with the French authorities to request my working papers. After handing in my file, I realized I had given the nice lady at the desk my CV from 2005, which, naturally, did not include the job that I am requesting paperwork for. I zoomed back to my house, added my new job to my CV (since March 2006) and booked it back to her office. I said, "Hi, I just realized while organizing my paperwork that I hadn't given you the right CV..." because that sounds a lot more professional than, "Hi, I stayed out last night until 4 am playing dress-up and forgot to update my CV while I was reviewing it at 5 am. I know the spelling looks great, because of course I checked for that, but I'm sorta missing the most important piece of information..."
5) Renting "Finding Neverland" at 11 am and eating taco salad with Kathypath while getting teary-eyed.
6) Having dinner with my very pregnant friend, and spending a good 60-90 minutes looking at all the baby gear she's gotten in the last few weeks. ELEANOR, GET BACK IN YOUR TRUNK.
7) Thinking I would go to work for 2-3 hours but quickly discovering that it would be more like 6-7. Also, I apparently enjoy going to the post office and back several times in one day, preferably carrying heavy books. Bonus points for doing the whole thing on 2.5 hours of sleep.
8) Returning to the Indian embassy to pick up my visa, and being pleasantly surprised that the envelope method worked! Plus, I got hit on my some rich Indian dude, who wanted to pay a portion of my visa fee for me. He pulled out his wallet and everything...
9) Coming back to the casa and falling sleep after three days of exhaustion. Waking up and going out to dinner with The Boy and The Little Guy, feeling finally that all was right in the world after a good nap.
10) Playing endless rounds of "Flying Hamster" online with The Little Guy, and celebrating when we achieved a new high score. Also? Knowing The Boy was doing the dishes while we were playing. Tag-team parenting is for rock stars.
So between now and Wednesday I have to: fill out my prescriptions, get a shot, pick up my tickets, pick up a book or two, copy my Arabic stuff for the plane, finish EVERYTHING at work, hang out with The Little Guy and get some snuggle time in with The Boy.
I should try to pack sometime, too.
Actual conversation in the metro today as I refilled my Pass Navigo (transportation card):
A man walked up behind me and I turned my head casually to acknowledge his presence. To my right, a young girl zoomed up and stood against the wall, watching me refill my card without any discretion whatsoever. She was maybe 5, and absolutely adorable. She was mixed, and had that awesome hair that some mixed kids get - incredibly curly and wild, with tinges of blond thrown into the brown chaos on her head. She wore oversized glasses and was eating an ice cream cone that was, I swear, as big as her face.
She looked at me and smiled, happily eating her ice cream cone, and then we had the following conversation:
Girl: Why did you look at my dad that way? (I should point out here that she used the informal "tu" - which, alongside her enormous smile and obvious pride in her ice cream, made me immediately want to put her in my pocket and take her home with me)
Me: Oh, you know, I was just turning my head to see was behind me. I didn't know he was your papa.
Girl: What's the matter, though? Isn't my papa handsome?
Dad giggles in the background
Me: Oh, he's very handsome.
Girl: (nods approvingly towards her dad and smiles at me) So you could look at him longer than that if you want.
Me: (turning to talk to the dad) She's funny.
Dad: She's a little talkative...
I finished my business and wished them a good day, but I swear I wanted to hang around with them for another couple minutes. I smiled the whole way to work.
