After months and months of planning and counting down the weeks to go before I left, my day of departure still managed to creep up on me. It was a bit of a shock when I was left at the security gate of the airport and it hit me that after all those months of planning I was actually going to have to get on a plane and fly for eight hours to a country I've been to only once before as a sheparded school girl and to a city I've never been to before. I will admit I felt a bit sick. It is very confusing feeling anxious about something and excited at the same time. The flight was uneventful, I had three seats to myself so I managed to get some sleep.
I had a clear plan of what I had to do when I arrived in Mumbai; get some cash, find the pre-pay taxi rank and get to my hostel. Unfortunately none of this went very smoothly. My passport was looked at by security for a very long time and with much discussion from the people at security, then I was called back to have it looked at a second time - not hugely reassuring. Then there wasn't any cash in any of the ATMs in the airport, so I changed some dollars instead. This which was not a problem but another bump in my cunning and well researched plan specifically designed to make arriving stress free (something I suppose im going to have to get used to). So I got to the taxi rank and gave them the address of my hostel and they gave me a little pink chit and directed me outside, upon which the little pink chit was immediately taken from me and myself and my bag were bundled into a taxi. A few minutes into the journey it occured to me that this could be any random man with a van and not the one I had paid for at the airport, but it did have the same number on the side of it as on the chit, so if it was a scam it was a very organised one.
After driving for about 90 minutes we pulled up in what was pretty much the middle of the road and the driver announced "here". I looked around but I couldn't see the hostel or, as the second line of it's address claims, the cafe which it is 'behind'*. So I told the driver my address again and stayed where I was. When he realised I wasn't getting out he asked a passer-by for directions, then drove for another minute or so before stopping in the middle of the road again and announcing "here". This entire process was repeated several times until we actually found the hostel and my lugged by bag up the stairs to reception. Thankfully they knew who I was and my room was ready. It was 3 hours since I had gotten of the plane and 16 hours since I had left home and I was exhausted. I really hoped this whole travelling thing was going to get easier.
*The address of my hostel is 'The Traveller's Inn, 26 Adi Marzban Path, behind Cafe Universal, Fort, Mumbai', unfortunately no one seems to have heard of Cafe Universal, making it rather useless as an address.
I had a clear plan of what I had to do when I arrived in Mumbai; get some cash, find the pre-pay taxi rank and get to my hostel. Unfortunately none of this went very smoothly. My passport was looked at by security for a very long time and with much discussion from the people at security, then I was called back to have it looked at a second time - not hugely reassuring. Then there wasn't any cash in any of the ATMs in the airport, so I changed some dollars instead. This which was not a problem but another bump in my cunning and well researched plan specifically designed to make arriving stress free (something I suppose im going to have to get used to). So I got to the taxi rank and gave them the address of my hostel and they gave me a little pink chit and directed me outside, upon which the little pink chit was immediately taken from me and myself and my bag were bundled into a taxi. A few minutes into the journey it occured to me that this could be any random man with a van and not the one I had paid for at the airport, but it did have the same number on the side of it as on the chit, so if it was a scam it was a very organised one.
After driving for about 90 minutes we pulled up in what was pretty much the middle of the road and the driver announced "here". I looked around but I couldn't see the hostel or, as the second line of it's address claims, the cafe which it is 'behind'*. So I told the driver my address again and stayed where I was. When he realised I wasn't getting out he asked a passer-by for directions, then drove for another minute or so before stopping in the middle of the road again and announcing "here". This entire process was repeated several times until we actually found the hostel and my lugged by bag up the stairs to reception. Thankfully they knew who I was and my room was ready. It was 3 hours since I had gotten of the plane and 16 hours since I had left home and I was exhausted. I really hoped this whole travelling thing was going to get easier.
*The address of my hostel is 'The Traveller's Inn, 26 Adi Marzban Path, behind Cafe Universal, Fort, Mumbai', unfortunately no one seems to have heard of Cafe Universal, making it rather useless as an address.
Hi Imogen, just read your blog to date and very impressed. What an adventure and what a vivid and colourful reflection of it by you. Can't wait to hear more. Safe travelling. Love and best wishes from the Larcombe's (Ivybridge, Devon) xxxxx
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