Today I finally made it to Goa--almost two weeks after I originally intended. It seems nice so far, but I haven't seen much. It is certainly less hectic than Mumbai and Pune.
In my previous note, it was Tuesday, April 22, and I was getting over the illness that made me miss my train to Goa. The next day, I did some more trip planning. (I'm going to fly a lot).
On Thursday, I met Sheldon's mom, dad, and brother for lunch. For those who don't work at Sun, Sheldon is a friend from work who grew up in Mumbai. (And Sheldon, your christening dress was just adorable. And shame on you for trying to get that cricket ball from a stray dog and having to get rabies shots.)
After lunch, I got my train ticket to Pune, a city of about 2 million which is a 4-hour car/train ride from Mumbai. I couldn't get a ticket to Goa for several days, so I decided to meet a friend in Pune for the weekend and fly from there to Goa.
On Friday, I took the train from Mumbai to Pune. There wasn't much in terms of scenery, which was just as well because I couldn't see much through the grimy windows. It was an OK ride, but the seats were uncomfortable after a while. I walked from the train station to my hotel, ignoring the taxi drivers.
When I got to Pune, I could not reach my friend Amar at the number he gave me. Turns out that they had had phone problems a couple of days before, and I'm still not sure that my hotels phone system worked properly. Other calls also had trouble. It turns out that he didn't even know that I was coming, because the day I sent him my trip details, his grandfather had a heart attack. He didn't read his e-mail until late Saturday night, after the weekend was half over.
I spent Saturday walking around Pune, and chatting with friends on the internet. Since I couldn't reach Amar, Sandy decided to come to Pune from Mumbai (which he does often--his aunt lives there). I was a bit surprised on Sunday when he showed up at 5am instead of 8am. We hung out on Sunday. In the end, I did get ahold of Amar and we hung out a bit.
I was way too tired on Monday to check out of the hotel and fly to Goa, so I lazed around all day instead. I spent most of the day in the hotel, ordering room service (which I can actually afford in India.) The frequent power outages were a bit annoying. There was at least one every day I was in Pune.
Today, I checked out, went to the Pune airport, bought my airline ticket, and flew to Goa. Funny, outside of the US, you don't have to mortgage your house to buy an airline ticket the same day as your flight.
My ride to the airport was my first ride in an autorickshaw. For those not from India, they look like a cross between a motorcycle and a golf cart. They are ubiquitous as taxis. They don't look nearly as cool as the tuk-tuks in Thailand, which seem more like a cross between a golf cart and a muscle car. (I haven't gotten to ride in a tuk-tuk yet.)
Once in Goa, I checked in, grabbed some samosas as a snack, walked to the river boat pier, took the sunset river cruise (so-so) and then had some really good chicken tikka kebabs.
And now I'm typing my travelogue. :)
Until next time.
Sid
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