INDIA! We will jump back in to weblog world with a SUPER post (read: long and boring) about our recent experience in India. It was only two weeks, but it was still quite an adventure, so we're probably going to spread it out among posts that are more than one. If there end up being more than one. We'll see.
We went to the India during the last week of May and the first week of June. It was Mary's second International adventure and Mike's first so, while she was raring to go, we had to baby-step it a bit for the delightfully cautious Michael.
The carefully planned and researched trip was to include five or six days in Rishikesh, India, and four or five full days in Pohkara/Kathmandu, Nepal.
Ah, hilarious.
So, we arrived at the airport, our belongings pared down to only one impressive pack and our separate small carry-on bags, and gave the woman at the counter our passports to scan. We were ready to take on the world!!
“And your visas? Do you have your visas?”
We looked at each other. Then at her. “Visas? Ummmmmmm…”
That was when Betty Eagle of Continental (that was her name. Betty Eagle. Faaaantastic.) informed us that we would NOT be going to India that day. Now, Mary, as some of you may know, is quite well known for her calm demeanor in the face of chaos. She’s FAMOUS for it, in fact. So this in no way incited tears, tantrums, panic-attacks or vicious swearing of any kind.
Yes, but on a serious note, Betty Eagle lived up to the majesty of her name and did all kinds of things that her managers would likely frown upon to make sure that this glitch was relatively painless and somewhat inexpensive. In the end, we only lost a couple of days and we only spent the money that we had been saving to go bungee jumping to buy return tickets.
…Oh yeah, Mike's Mom: We were going to go bungee jumping in Nepal. But we weren't going to tell you about it until we had successfully not died. Wasn't that sweet of us?
Anyway, we discovered that in order to get our visas, we would have to show up in person at the India consulate's office for our territory. Which was in San Francisco. California. So we hopped in a rental car and high tailed it the 12 hours up there.
...Can I just say that if we had lived in Hawaii and had the same trouble, we would have been way more screwed.
So take THAT, tropical paradise! Your morons are more inconvenienced than the morons that live on the mainland when it comes to International travel specifically involving India! Cry into your Spam, Hawaii.
In our defense: it is a common thing to receive your visa upon entering a country. It was that way for Peru and Nepal and every country Mike's globe-trotting parents have been to. So, when Mike was making travel arrangements, he reasonably was under the impression that India would be the same way. And, when we got there, dual-citizenship people were being forced to renounce their Indian citizenship in order to apply for a visa due to new Indian stipulations, so I get the feeling that India is just all sorts of wackadoodle.
Anyway, we left four days late and arrived in Delhi on a Tuesday night and were promptly whisked away to our guest house, Cottage Yes Please--popular for its proximity to the train station and probably also for its super fun name. Here's our mosquito net fort, meant to save us from all things buggy:
Which worked, as long as "all things buggy" doesn't include "bed bugs." We weren't really sure that's what they were at first and we spent our two nights there adorably calling them "Blood Suckery Guys." I think that's a little something called Self Preservation. We refused to acknowledge them for what they were until we were home. Of course, it’s been about a month and Mary’s still talking in her sleep about Bed Bugs.
Good times.
Next up: Delhi. And Tales of Michael: Nervous & Uncomfortable.
