Spring 2015 - Day 58: India
I got up at a decent time because I thought that we were going to get off the ship as soon as we got our landing cards, but it turned out that some people in our group wanted their passports to exchange money so we met for lunch and got off the ship when we were finished.
Getting off the ship was a bit of a process because our landing cards were checked both right at the foot of the gangway and also at the gate of the port. But between the gangway and the port gate there were drummers playing us music and women putting bindis on everyones forehead.
Once we got out of the port gate we were bombarded with taxi drivers trying to get our business. There were 6 of us so we went with the one guy who had a van taxi. That was the first moment I felt really overwhelmed. It was hard to think with all of the drivers talking to us at once.
We had stopped at the hospitality desk before getting off the ship to ask for the names of some markets. We were told about a market and a mall. We asked our taxi driver to take us to the mall and Jessi, who was sitting in the front, had to tell him repeatedly that all we wanted was to go to the mall, we didn't need anything else.
We had been warned about this. That taxi drivers and tuk-tuk drivers will always try to spend the day with you and take you around everywhere. You need to be very clear about what you want and arrange a price before hand.
It was about a forty minute drive to the Lulu mall and when we arrived there he told us that it was the largest mall in Asia. Which was clearly not true.
We arranged for our cab driver to pick us up at 4pm, which was three hours away. He was very persistent, it was hard to shake him off, which is what we are used to doing with cab drivers. They take you to where you want to go, don't talk to you very much, and then leave you be. Not in India.
The mall was really interesting. At weird. It had this weird vibe that I can't explain. We went into one store where I picked something up off the shelf to look at it. A guy working in the store took it out of my hands and basically yelled at me, telling me that the hanging things were for looking. Apparently the things folded on the shelves were not meant to be touched.
There never seemed to be any people in the stores. There were people walking around but we seemed to be the only one actually going into the stores.
The stores also sold things that nobody seemed to wear. The people in India are generally very covered up. Women must cover their knees and shoulders. Most cover all the way to their ankles.
The clothes displayed in the windows of the stores were like what we would wear in more western countries. There were very short shorts and tank tops. It seemed like one one there would ever wear those things but they sold them.
The stores also seemed to be divided by gender, at least that is what the directory said. But some stores had clothes for both genders. Also, while there were a few stores I recognized, like Rolex and Marks&Spencer, there were some very location specific stores. Some stores did sell more traditional Indian clothing but others I just didn't recognize. There was a CAT store. Like the construction equipment. That was interesting.
Overall the mall didn't impress us, and we really didn't need to be there for 3 hours. We managed to get money out of an ATM, go in one or two stores that interested us, contemplate the very large statue of Shrek in the middle of the mall, and buy some water.
Eventually we decided to call our cab driver to have him come earlier. That was a challenge because no ones phone seemed to want to call the number. Eventually Phillip just took over and made it happen. It only took about 2 minutes for him to get there, he must have been waiting nearby.
We asked him to take us to the market we had gotten the name of. "Ok, no problem," was his response. Annie tried to ask him what kind of things were sold at the market and all she got back was "ok, no problem." That went on for a while until she gave up.
The market was another long drive. The good thing was that it was headed in the direction of the ship.
By that point my headache had come back. Last night I had a pretty bad headache by the time pre-port had ended. It felt like I was wearing a really tight headband over my ears and it extended down to the back of my neck. It was unusual, I rarely get headaches. I thought I had slept it off but by this point in the day it had returned. It was probably due to dehydration and hunger.
The market he took us to was not much of a market. He dropped us off in a parking lot and said that he would wait for us there. At that point we had accepted that we were stuck with him as a chauffeur and agreed.
We walked down the long, dirty street. It seemed more like a local market than a tourist market, which was cool to see, but didn't offer much for us to buy. There wasn't much of a sidewalk and whatever side walk there was was basically just tiles propped over the open sewage drain. Halfway down the street we found some stores that were selling tapestries, or wall hangings. Annie and Andi bought a bunch of them. I bought a tan and black one. They had some with Mickey Mouse and the Princesses on them. They were hand painted and looked a little possessed. I almost bought it but I decided it might give me nightmares.
My headache got worse and worse as we walked through the streets. Just like in Myanmar, they honk constantly as they drive and the noises just throbbed in my head. There was nothing I wanted to buy there, I was tired and hungry and wanted to be done. Also, it was broiling hot out. We were all dripping in sweat.
Luckily no one else was that impressed with where we were and was uncomfortable with the heat. We ran into some other SASers who told us that they were trying to find the Broadway market but every time they told a cab driver that they would bring them back to this street. But they didn't think this was the right place. But they tipped us off to a market they had gone to earlier that was just a quick ferry ride from the ship.
That sounded a lot more like what we were looking for so we headed back to our taxi with the intention to be dropped off back at the ship and then go to that market via ferry. I saw this as an opportunity to get back on the ship and treat my headache.
Our cab driver was waiting kindly for us and the drive back to the ship was not that long. When we got there we paid him and I told everyone that I was getting back on the ship. Phillip said he was too, at least to get water. Andi, Annie, Brittney, and Jessi gave me all of their bags so that they didn't have to drag them around. But then they liked the idea of getting water, and possibly food, and everyone ended up getting back on the ship with me.
We agreed to meet on deck 7 to get food so I went back to my room and stripped off my clothes. Everything was soaking wet with sweat. It was disgusting. I don't think I have ever sweat so much just walking down a street.
I put on cooler clothes and took my computer up to the 7th deck. I got water, and a smoothie, and a chicken burger. Someone was playing music and that was not helping my headache but the food definitely did. I sat up there until about 5:00pm and then went back to my room.
I took some advil an just relaxed on my bed hoping my headache would completely fade. I still prayed I wasn't getting sick, I really didn't want to be sick on our trip.
Eventually I forced myself to get up and pack. In a way it was good I was so exhausted because I had to meet for my trip at 3:45am and so wanted to go to bed really early.
Once I was packed I laid in bed, emailed, and read random wikipedia articles until 8:00. Then I went to sleep. I actually slept too. I was only woken up twice by people talking really loudly out in the hallway. By the time 3am rolled around I woke up feeling pretty rested. My headache had faded to the point that I could barely feel it but figured it might come back. Other than that I felt good and was ready to explore northern India. Bring on the Taj Mahal!
