Just started pouring rain outside, perfect time to settle in for another lengthy post... So much more to say after only a day! I'll try to condense my journal a bit for the blog - it's already 18 single-spaced pages! So... I left off last time after my first morning walk through Paharganj. It was relatively calm that early in the day, but when I left the internet cafe, the street was had become much more lively and packed. Yet somehow the "friendly Tibetan man" bumped into me again. He continued chatting and suggested I go to the tourist bureau for maps and information since I had just arrived. I thought, "ok", and he walked me there. Sat down with on of the workers there, telling him I was hoping to head up to Rishikesh tomorrow, asking for the best travel plan to get there. He told me it was very cold in the north right now, so why not go to Rajastan for a couple weeks until the weather warms up. I figured this was a reasonable suggestion, and we began developing an itinerary. Over and hour and a few negotiations later, I settled on one that was about $200 a week for two weeks (including transportation, lodging, and a camel safari in Jaisalmer). I had decided to leave all my documents and cards in my room that morning, so when it came time to pay, I told him I had to go back to my hostel. I was a little disoriented after being led through winding roads by the Tibetan, so the bureau agent sent "his guy" to lead me back to my hostel. When I got there, the very kind hostel receptionist asked how I was doing, so I told him about my morning. He shook his head and said "No, no, no." He had tried explaining to me yesterday that the best way to organize travel was to go to the foreigner office at the train station down the road, and that anyone else would try ripping you off and get big commissions. He explained this in more detail as my "escort" watched from outside the hostel. My gut told me that the receptionist was more trustworthy than the tourist agent, and decided to change my plans. Now I had to go out and tell my escort (who had been shooed away by the receptionist) that I was bailing. Wasn't sure how it would go over. As I tried to explain the situation to him, who shows up? The friendly Tibetan! He asks how the tourist bureau went, and I tell him I'll do my planning on my own. While the escort looked annoyed, the tibetan just went on smiling and continued to try to convince me that the tourist bureau was the best and safest option and that listening to my hostel receptionist would lead to danger. I thanked him for his suggestion and walked away. He left me alone after that, but I was looking over my shoulder all afternoon, hoping the bureau agent the escort wouldn't angrily come after me for cancelling on the Rajastan deal.
Went back to my room to take a breather and de-stress from the city walk, then went down to reception to get details about the bus station foreigner office. With good info, I headed back out. Street filled with people, vendors, beggars, stray dogs and cats and... an elephant strolling down street causing a little congestion! Casually walked past it as if it was the most normal of circumstances. Then came time to cross a big boulevard to get to the train station. Large intersection, no stops, no traffic lights, no one to direct traffic. I wondered if I'd make it to the station. I just stood there for a moment, watching how people crossed. Didn't learn much besides the fact that you just had to say a small prayer then walk into oncoming traffic from all directions (criss-crossing cars, trucks, rickshaws, bicycles, cows, buses) and zig-zag your way to the other side. I figured my best bet was go stand very close behind a local and blindly follow him as he ventured across. It worked. I survived. And I'd have to do it all over again on my way back. My heart is beating fast just writing about it! Ok, so I made it across the station, but now I had to find this foreigner office on the first floor of this gigantic place. I see stairs to right and head to a gate leading to them, but I am stopped by someone asking to see my ticket. I tell him that's what I'm here to get, and that I'd like to go to the foreigner office. He says I can't buy tickets ahead of time at the station (can only buy for today) and that I have to go somewhere down the road, where the foreigner office has moved to. And I have to go there quickly because today is Saturday and they close early. I tell him again I need to go to the 1st floor of the train station, but he shows me his "official government ID card" and insists that the office had moved to the 1st floor of this other building down the road. I detect another scam (learning form this morning), and decide to walk back to my hostel to ask at reception whether they are certain the office is still at the train station. He assures me that it is, and that the man who stopped me was one of many, many, many professional scammers. He says, "You are strong girl, you can get passed them. Take staircase on left." So again, I walk down the road, pray before successfully crossing the chaotic intersection for the third time, and find the correct staircase to walk up. Hallellujah! There's the foreigner office. Took me a while to figure out where to line-up (sixty or so people seated, no arrows, no take a number). Asked someone, got in line, sat down. When I looked back up, a Swiss couple I met at the Delhi airport was lining up behind me. Glad to have familiar faces to chat with while waiting :) They said it had also been quite a process for them to get here. About half an hour later, my ticket to Rishikesh was booked for 6:50am the next day.
Back in my room for another breather, I giggled to myself at the craziness of my day.
(I'm not doing a very good job of condensing my journal. Been writing for an hour and haven't even reached yesterday... weather clearing up outside, will post part two of this entry a little later.)
Went back to my room to take a breather and de-stress from the city walk, then went down to reception to get details about the bus station foreigner office. With good info, I headed back out. Street filled with people, vendors, beggars, stray dogs and cats and... an elephant strolling down street causing a little congestion! Casually walked past it as if it was the most normal of circumstances. Then came time to cross a big boulevard to get to the train station. Large intersection, no stops, no traffic lights, no one to direct traffic. I wondered if I'd make it to the station. I just stood there for a moment, watching how people crossed. Didn't learn much besides the fact that you just had to say a small prayer then walk into oncoming traffic from all directions (criss-crossing cars, trucks, rickshaws, bicycles, cows, buses) and zig-zag your way to the other side. I figured my best bet was go stand very close behind a local and blindly follow him as he ventured across. It worked. I survived. And I'd have to do it all over again on my way back. My heart is beating fast just writing about it! Ok, so I made it across the station, but now I had to find this foreigner office on the first floor of this gigantic place. I see stairs to right and head to a gate leading to them, but I am stopped by someone asking to see my ticket. I tell him that's what I'm here to get, and that I'd like to go to the foreigner office. He says I can't buy tickets ahead of time at the station (can only buy for today) and that I have to go somewhere down the road, where the foreigner office has moved to. And I have to go there quickly because today is Saturday and they close early. I tell him again I need to go to the 1st floor of the train station, but he shows me his "official government ID card" and insists that the office had moved to the 1st floor of this other building down the road. I detect another scam (learning form this morning), and decide to walk back to my hostel to ask at reception whether they are certain the office is still at the train station. He assures me that it is, and that the man who stopped me was one of many, many, many professional scammers. He says, "You are strong girl, you can get passed them. Take staircase on left." So again, I walk down the road, pray before successfully crossing the chaotic intersection for the third time, and find the correct staircase to walk up. Hallellujah! There's the foreigner office. Took me a while to figure out where to line-up (sixty or so people seated, no arrows, no take a number). Asked someone, got in line, sat down. When I looked back up, a Swiss couple I met at the Delhi airport was lining up behind me. Glad to have familiar faces to chat with while waiting :) They said it had also been quite a process for them to get here. About half an hour later, my ticket to Rishikesh was booked for 6:50am the next day.
Back in my room for another breather, I giggled to myself at the craziness of my day.
(I'm not doing a very good job of condensing my journal. Been writing for an hour and haven't even reached yesterday... weather clearing up outside, will post part two of this entry a little later.)
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