Hi, all.
I'm alive, but not so well, in Mumbai. I spent most of yesterday in bed sick. I was about ready to see a doctor. In fact, I tried calling one of my friends here who is a doctor, but couldn't get through. I felt fine when I woke up this morning, so apparently it was nothing major. The cipro seemed to get rid of it, so I assume it was another food/water bacteria. It was much worse than Fiji--I could barely get out of bed, plus I had fever, chills, and bodyaches in addition to the vomiting and diarrhea. The joys of third-world travel.
This past week I did a (very) little sight-seeing in Mumbai. I went to the hanging gardens (very unimpressive) and a temple. I walked through some of the street markets, including "Fashion Street" (a street full of clothes stalls) and a street filled with book stalls. I didn't make it to the theives market.
Thursday was one of those days were everything went wrong. I couldn't get ahold of the friend I was supposed to meet because, as mentioned previously, cell phones are useless here so I could never reach him and voice-mail doesn't exist. I went to the Victoria Terminus train station to arrange my trip to Goa. The "customer assistance" people screwed me out of 600 Rupees (about $12) and provided me with inaccurate information. After I got my ticket for the following Tuesday, I dropped my PDA, the batteries fell out, it reset itself, and I lost the phone numbers and expense entries that I had put in it over the last three days (because I didn't back it up since then.) Then, right after buying my ticket to Goa, I logged onto the internet and found out that there was a SARS case reported there. Then I chatted with Huan (who I was supposed to meet in Saigon in May) and found out that SARS has hit Saigon. As a result, Huan and his friends are no longer going to Vietnam. My whole trip had been arranged to be in Vietnam on those dates. Sigh. On the plus side, if SARS is still an issue in Saigon in May, I can easily skip that part of the trip and just go to Thailand instead without having to rearrange any flights.
Friday was spent hanging out with people, going to cafes, and generally surprising people that they can have a comfortable, pleasant conversation with an American.
On Saturday I got my 50 cent haircut (pretty good) and went out that night to the Voodoo Pub down the street from my hotel. It was nicer than I expected--and the dance music was better than the last few times I went out in San Francisco. I talked to several people there and afterwards grabbed some late-night kebabs before heading back to the hotel. Unfortunately, on the way, I encountered my most persistent beggar yet. Finally, someone I was with just turned him around, gave him a shove, and sent him on his way.
Sunday was pretty uneventful, and yesterday, Monday, I spent hanging out with one of my friends and getting sick. Because I was so sick last night I missed my train to Goa this morning which means I'm going to be stuck in Mumbai for a few more days. I'm really ready to get out of here. It's getting old. I intended to spend 4 or 5 days here, and now it's going to end up being over a week and a half. Good thing I didn't have any solid plans for India.
Later,
Sid
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