Jesus booking trains and planes and automobiles in India is crazy even
if you have someone else to help who understands the system.
I sat up last night for about 3 hours agonizing over how long to spend in each city? Which trains to get on? Can I fall asleep long enough on that train to avoid paying for another hotel? Did that leave me enough time for the Indian cooking class I read about? Is that enough time in Amritsar to see the golden temple AND find a Bhangra class somewhere? Am I over thinking this? Oh god I'm over thinking this.
Thinkthinkthinkthinkthinkthink.
I ended up almost getting scammed at "the tourist office" yesterday. I went out and had the rickshaw take me to the tourist office which I was told was at the train station. We drove to the train station area and he pointed me into a building that matched all descriptions and titles and I hoped in. The guy ended up telling me everything was booked but he could get me in on the tourist quota but I would also have to book the hotels with him then. It immediately sounded fishy. We talked for a bit, drank some chai, he kept trying to upsell me and I got the vibe I was stuck in a con but worried I might not be able to get out of Delhi on the up and up and the price wasn't SO awful that maybe I should consider it. So I gave him my credit card which has been canceled and shock of shocks it was declined. I told him I'd have to go back to the hotel to call the bank to see what was wrong. I had to leave a deposit of about $10 to hold my spot but after some more upselling I was let out. I went back to the travel desk to check and see if the card he gave me was indeed the "tourist travel desk" and the concierge told me it was not. So thankfully I dodged that bullet but still had them on the line if I couldn't get out any other way.
Right now I'm standing in line at the ACTUAL tourist travel desk at the hotel with the travel lady who is helping a very angry Asian man cancel his flight which he is going to be late for and rebook him for a 4:30 direct flight to Goa. We made it almost ALL the way through booking my trains (she was in the last bit of her schpiel) before the guy ran up and stole her away. He was here before me apparently though so I can't be too upset. Plus it gives me time to write this. Hooray! Ill be saving quite a bit of money this way and the only downside (which is a pretty big one) is my longest train ride doesn't have AC. I'm going to try and upgrade if there are any cancellations or I may just sneak in the higher class car once tickets have been checked. Everyone will be sleeping anyway and apparently there are usually spaces because lots of places like the "tourist agency" I spoke with buy up blocks of train tickets to sell for a huge profit. If they aren't purchased they don't good Samaritan them back to the train station that's for sure so fingers crossed there will be a space for me.
Yesterday was a planning day. I sat in the business center most of the day planning things to do and where to go. It's tiring. I know that sounds so lame "oh please tell me how awful it is for you planning a trip in India from a 5-star resort" but it's draining! I think a lot of it comes from the fear of leaving this place. I will certainly not be staying anywhere this nice for the next 2 months (slash the rest of my life) and I must admit I'm a bit intimidated of really stepping out into India on my own. I'm hoping all of this planning will make a difference but Peter leads me to believe that nothing will happen as planned...we'll see what shakes out I guess. Gotta get my game face on. Do I have a game face?
I sat up last night for about 3 hours agonizing over how long to spend in each city? Which trains to get on? Can I fall asleep long enough on that train to avoid paying for another hotel? Did that leave me enough time for the Indian cooking class I read about? Is that enough time in Amritsar to see the golden temple AND find a Bhangra class somewhere? Am I over thinking this? Oh god I'm over thinking this.
Thinkthinkthinkthinkthinkthink.
I ended up almost getting scammed at "the tourist office" yesterday. I went out and had the rickshaw take me to the tourist office which I was told was at the train station. We drove to the train station area and he pointed me into a building that matched all descriptions and titles and I hoped in. The guy ended up telling me everything was booked but he could get me in on the tourist quota but I would also have to book the hotels with him then. It immediately sounded fishy. We talked for a bit, drank some chai, he kept trying to upsell me and I got the vibe I was stuck in a con but worried I might not be able to get out of Delhi on the up and up and the price wasn't SO awful that maybe I should consider it. So I gave him my credit card which has been canceled and shock of shocks it was declined. I told him I'd have to go back to the hotel to call the bank to see what was wrong. I had to leave a deposit of about $10 to hold my spot but after some more upselling I was let out. I went back to the travel desk to check and see if the card he gave me was indeed the "tourist travel desk" and the concierge told me it was not. So thankfully I dodged that bullet but still had them on the line if I couldn't get out any other way.
Right now I'm standing in line at the ACTUAL tourist travel desk at the hotel with the travel lady who is helping a very angry Asian man cancel his flight which he is going to be late for and rebook him for a 4:30 direct flight to Goa. We made it almost ALL the way through booking my trains (she was in the last bit of her schpiel) before the guy ran up and stole her away. He was here before me apparently though so I can't be too upset. Plus it gives me time to write this. Hooray! Ill be saving quite a bit of money this way and the only downside (which is a pretty big one) is my longest train ride doesn't have AC. I'm going to try and upgrade if there are any cancellations or I may just sneak in the higher class car once tickets have been checked. Everyone will be sleeping anyway and apparently there are usually spaces because lots of places like the "tourist agency" I spoke with buy up blocks of train tickets to sell for a huge profit. If they aren't purchased they don't good Samaritan them back to the train station that's for sure so fingers crossed there will be a space for me.
Yesterday was a planning day. I sat in the business center most of the day planning things to do and where to go. It's tiring. I know that sounds so lame "oh please tell me how awful it is for you planning a trip in India from a 5-star resort" but it's draining! I think a lot of it comes from the fear of leaving this place. I will certainly not be staying anywhere this nice for the next 2 months (slash the rest of my life) and I must admit I'm a bit intimidated of really stepping out into India on my own. I'm hoping all of this planning will make a difference but Peter leads me to believe that nothing will happen as planned...we'll see what shakes out I guess. Gotta get my game face on. Do I have a game face?
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