so the train was not bad at all. before i left i chanced to look at my ticket and it was leaving from mumbai central station, not VT station, so i panicked for a sec. and then had to grab a taxi quick to mumbai central, and track down greg and the kids and say bye and scamper off. got there with 20 min before the train started rolling off so luckily ifound it quickly on platform one and found my car. then whadya know im sitting next to a couple kids from england who are on their way north like me. they dont have a connecting train tho so once we got here they had to go find a bus up to manali while i went to the international tourist office there. tried to relax on the couch for a while but apparently no waiting in that room only the waiting rooms downstairs so we got kicked out. but fortunately i had been talking to a german girl (forgot to ask her her name but shes here with me so before i go). so i put my bag in the luggage check. nothing valuable in there i hope so hopefully it's all there when i return. my train's at 1555 so by 1500 i should get my bag. by1300 it should be posted whether or not i got a seat cuz if not i'll try to upgrade to 2 tier AC and see if there are any seats there.
my friend said they are much more aggresive her in delhi but so far they havnet been. but also i'm not really in the tourist area 9connaugt place what have you). the girl is on her way to pahir/pihar i dont remmber i'm dyslexic to study yoga for which she had to apply in advance a while ago.
believe it or not this grotty little internet cafe is faster than the one in bombay and cheaper too ;p the computers look haphazardly thrown together from various parts but apparently the young kids know what they are doing in that respect. the main bazaar here where we are walking is a lot of clothes so far, and watches bags the usual stuff but not like in the thieves' market in bombay they don't haggle you as much. or at least they havent haggled me. both the girl and the englishmen on the train had already undertaken a long world tour involving thailand, australia, new zealand (one guy went cambodia vietnam) and came toindia last. everyone thinks i'm a little crazy for starting my world travels with india havin not even gone to amsterdam, london, france, germany, etc. or even australia newzealand. but of course i cant afford these places. the english said i should be able to take it on for 1500 (which, with the hyatt included comes out to my budget of 2000). i dont know what's in my bank acct. though i might need money transferred at some point but i have rupees, travelers cheques and some us $ so we shall see.
oh yes. also on the train there was a nice local who spoke english named sanju who noticced i was looking at the lonely planet for himachal pradesh and stated he's from there. so he told me the places he recommends around there. a lot of day-trip buses from dharamsala leave for manali, simla, etc. so i can check these places outfor a night or two lots of temples and scenery what have you. hopefullyi d0ont have to stayin pathankot for the night as i dont have a bus/train ticket on to dharamsala but we shall see when i get there i think the bus leaves hourly for not too much rs.
anyhow i'm off to email briefly and then walkabout i guess. we shall see as i have some time but dont want to buy anythingreally until i'm on my wayback to theairport. i'll buystuff maybe in delhion the way to goa and then in bombay on the way to theairport and thatsit. more when i arrive. ciao.
