24 January 2006

What I've been doing/will be doing...

So I'm sitting in the Mumbai domestic airport. The domestic and international airports are a few kilometers away from each other. However, they share the same name.

I was washing my hands after using a "EWC" - All I can figure is English WC, instead of the IWC - Indian WC. I noticed a hand drier, which didn't work when I placed my hands under it. I then turned on the switch for the outlet (common feature in India). To my great surprise, the drier started to play Jingle Bells. All I can think of is that they want the machine to be so loud and annoying that it's not on unless someone is actually using it...

I've also been trying to purchase a sleeping bag. Not so easy in India. There are a couple of nights on a boat in Egypt, and since it can get down in the 40's, I figured a bag is a good idea.

India Ebay to the rescue. There are several on offer in Mumbai, where I will end my trip. My cousin lives here, so in theory, it's easy to get it couriered to his house. In practice, this has been a great headache.

I have a US based Ebay account, so PayPal (called PiasaPal here in India, as Paisa is equivalent to cents in the US) has a security issue with the charge. There doesn't seem to be a way to contact the people who are concerned. They sent me an email, which doesn't accept a reply, to tell me that my payment is being processed, and please make sure my contact info is correct. There's no way to put in the phone number for my Indian mobile, unless I change the country where my ebay account is registered.

It's admirable that they're concerned, but they need a better system in place when they are concerned...

I may brave the Mumbai traffic - a crazy idea - and hand deliver payment and get the bag...

Anyway. I'm off to Aurangabad. It's a base camp of sorts for the Ellora and Ajanta Caves. Man made caves (200 BC-600 AD or so) with paintings. Should be quite impressive...

Hope all is well...

3 comments:

Marcia said...

So PaisaPay has accepted my charge. All that remains is actually getting the bag... We'll see how that goes. If this all works out, I will SO be the poster child for using the internet while wandering the earth.

I also think the bag will be useful on the boat ride from Turkey to Greece...

Oh- I met a Korean woman who was in Egypt about four years ago. She said it was a lot safer than she thought it would be, and she found it easier than India... For what that's worth...

MH

Marcia said...

And I forgot to mention my other find of the Mumbai Airport - a guidebook to Egypt. I was looking for something to give the misc background needed. All the stops are planned, but I needed something to tell me if the "optional excursions" would really be worth it...

MH

Anonymous said...

you go girlie. stay away from bats in 'em caves and don't slip on the guano! paddywagons, macbackpackers, and haggis all have 3-7 day trips around scotland and ireland. they depart on different days and all that so we'll have time to work it out.