So I was on the bus, safe and sound breathing a sigh of relief at the thought of finally being on my way to the great unknown!!...Initially I thought I was going to sleep sound as a pound on this bus, the seats reclined and I was bloody nackered from my partying antics the night before. Butttt, could I be more wrong??!!.....the seats reclined so much that the two people in front of me were practically sat on my chest. I had no room for my legs and felt short of breath. Who the hell designed this thing??!! ... Anyway after trying various rather awkward sleeping positions, I decided to move seats as there were a few spares where the people in front had been a bit less selfish in their sleeping needs.
Nonetheless I had a very uncomfy night and awoke feeling stiff and grumpy at 5am, with some-one shaking me asking me where I wanted to go in Mumbai. My reply was "Colaba Causeway"...this is where most of the cheap hotels and touristy bits were, so I assumed they'd be going there anyway. But the man just shook his head and told me he was not going this side of the city!! He said that they would drop me off in a second and I would have to get a taxi from there. Reluctantly I agreed, and gathered my eyesight along with my belongings to get ready for a serious ear ache of a journey...
It was worse than I imagined!! They dropped me off in the middle of a motorway...threw me my bag and drove off. Fighting back the tears, I hailed down a taxi to which all of them quoted me ridiculous prices to get to Colaba and claimed to speak very little english. In the end I had no choice but to accept one of the heavily over priced taxis!! I just wanted to get into a hotel and sleeeeeep! So after a short drive, we arrived at completely the wrong place...at which point I mustered all my strength to get angry and demand that he take me to where i wanted to be. I got out the map and he eventually drove on!!! Once in Colaba, I took a walk to find a cheap hotel (I knew this would be a mission as all the hotels in mumbai are expensive!!)....but like some-one sent from above, a raggedy old woman approached me with a number of hotel cards wishing to take me somewhere of my choice. I picked the cheapest and off we trotted!!
She was a fairly sweet older lady, and I felt sorry for her. She obviousley had very little money, and was a widow...she seemed insistent on selling me "brown sugar" aka herion though, which I politely refrained from. I must have looked in need of a good fix...catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror I did look pretty disgusting!!! Anyway we finally arrived at the hotel, but found I had to wait a couple of hours before a room would become available so I went for breakfast at the famous "Leopolds"......After my eggy brekky, I went back to the hotel and the room was STILL not ready!! However, a friendly indian guy called Waris managed to speed the process up a bit and it wasnt long before I had a room.
I spent the rest of the day moping around the city, missing Vicky and missing the beach. I missed the beach so much in fact I went to Mumbais very own "Chowpatty Beach"...I knew I wouldnt be able to sprawl out in a bikini there but I didnt think I would be stared at soooo much!! Literally every single person on that beach was staring at me and I began to feel very self-conscious. I picked up my book, and started walking back towards the taxi rank to head back to colaba, before being stopped by literally 100, 000 INDIAN BOYS who all wanted photos with me. Once one person had one, they allll wanted one. I wonder how many indian family photo albums I'm in now???
When I finally got back to colaba I was exhausted. I tried to stock up for my 28 hour train journey...but I felt exasperated as I kept getting ripped off for everything I tried to buy. I was angry and tired, so went on the internet to catch up on my facebook world......and like something else sent from above, it turned out a girl Kate who we'd met in Palolem was in Mumbai as well...so we arranged to meet in Leopolds for a drink!! It was so nice to see a friendly face and good to catch up on what had been happening to us since we'd last met.....she even supplied me with sleeping pills for my 28 hour journey, which all the pharmacies had refused to supply me with!!..Thank the Lord!!
My next drama would be waking myself up in time for my 6am train in the morning. I had to be up at 4, to get a taxi at 4.30 to get me there for 5.30!! Having lost my phone, I bought myself a cheap "winnie the pooh" watch so I had some idea of the time and asked the hotel staff to give me a knock. I had another restless night sleep worrying about it, until I heard a knock at the door at 4am. It was that guy Waris, who had helped me earlier on in the day. He had been out partying and knew I needed to get up......ANOTHER GOD SEND!! What I have found is that even in the most horrendus situations, there is always a glimmer of hope and usually its just in the form of a really nice person helping you out...
Anyway, he came with me to the taxi and when I told him how much I was paying he told me I was paying wayyyyy too much. He tried to negotiate down for me but the driver wouldnt budge...so Waris decided to come with me to the station. We chatted about life in general, and it was nice to have a bit of company. When we got there, he very kindly split the taxi fare with me and helped me with my bags to the platform. I was already blown away with his generosity, but this continued as he got me on the train and negotiated with my hindi train buddies that I have the top bunk rather than the bottom!! Sooo much better for me as it would mean having my own space for 28 hours and not sharing a seat with god knows how many indians who id be unable to communicate with...
He then stayed on the train with me until it departed...and I really had a sense of if there is a God out there, he had actually been pretty kind to me since leaving Goa. I had had some ups and downs (and these ups and downs are so much harder when you're on your own!!)...but I had been blessed by meeting some really genuine ole' folk...
So the journey to varanasi had begun...would I survive on a train for 28 hours, or would I simply commit train track suicide in a bid to escape the confides of my own erratic boredom??!!
to be continued
