My dad left for hyderabad by train early in the morning... this was the start of our weird trip in India (so far, he has been exactly one step ahead of me - when I finally reached hyderabad, he left for vizag 30 min later, which is where I am headed after hyderabad).
Swati Didi (respectful term used in Hindi for an elder sister) and I went to some malls in Pune, giving me my first auto ride of the trip! I also got to see some bartering (bargaining?) at work, as she talked to the auto drivers to bring down their rates.
In India, it is common for rickshaw drivers to name a higher price when initially asked, as it is assumed that some type of price negotiation will take place. This happens in lots of shops too (mostly smaller, street shops run by individuals).
This was a great day - gave me time to catch up with Swati didi, and see a bit of Pune for the first time.
We also decided to leave for Mumbai tonight, instead of the next morning, so we could rest properly before going out to explore the city. This was one of the craziest nights I have ever experienced in India. Ever. Basically, we had plans to stay with an acquaintance for our two nights. After reaching Mumbai at 11:30 PM, after a 2.5 hour taxi drive, our accomodations fell through. So at these point, the three of us (Swati Didi, Vinod Bawa, and I) were a bit panicked.
With som quick thinking, Vinod Bawa found an auto, and we made our way back to the arrivals area at Mumbai's international airport. He had remembered seeing a hotel reservation booth when he had picked my dad and I up two nights before. After the long auto ride, we went straight to the booth, placed an advance for a hotel room, rented another taxi, and went on the hour-long drive to the hotel. Once we finally reached the hotel, the room we were shown was small, not clean, and had some bugs. Pretty gross. One thing I really cannot stand is seeing bugs in a room where I am expected to sleep. I realize this may sound a little high-class, but everyone has their phobias, and this is one of mine.
Anyway, once we threatened to leave the hotel and find another, the manager "miraculously" was able to find another empty room - a two-room "suite". We went to check out the room before giving anymore money, and found staff rushing the clear the room out. Although this "two room suite" was actually just a room with a partition, it was pretty decent. At least, for a room we would only be spending sleeping hours in. Sadly, we were not able to sleep immediately. The manager requested to see all or our id's, not just that of one person (which I found a bit strange for a hotel that only accepted cash... but whatever).
As a single traveller, I am very cautious about who is allowed to see my personal documents. So their requests to see everything made me a bit nervous. My cousin and her husband later explained to me that this was some new regulation put into place, after the terrorist attacks. So I guess it made sense.
With all of this happening, we ended up sleeping pretty late... which led to a later start in the morning than was originally planned. Although this part of the Mumbai visit was unexpected, and definitely not enjoyable, the rest of the visit more than made up for the one bad night :)
Swati Didi (respectful term used in Hindi for an elder sister) and I went to some malls in Pune, giving me my first auto ride of the trip! I also got to see some bartering (bargaining?) at work, as she talked to the auto drivers to bring down their rates.
In India, it is common for rickshaw drivers to name a higher price when initially asked, as it is assumed that some type of price negotiation will take place. This happens in lots of shops too (mostly smaller, street shops run by individuals).
This was a great day - gave me time to catch up with Swati didi, and see a bit of Pune for the first time.
We also decided to leave for Mumbai tonight, instead of the next morning, so we could rest properly before going out to explore the city. This was one of the craziest nights I have ever experienced in India. Ever. Basically, we had plans to stay with an acquaintance for our two nights. After reaching Mumbai at 11:30 PM, after a 2.5 hour taxi drive, our accomodations fell through. So at these point, the three of us (Swati Didi, Vinod Bawa, and I) were a bit panicked.
With som quick thinking, Vinod Bawa found an auto, and we made our way back to the arrivals area at Mumbai's international airport. He had remembered seeing a hotel reservation booth when he had picked my dad and I up two nights before. After the long auto ride, we went straight to the booth, placed an advance for a hotel room, rented another taxi, and went on the hour-long drive to the hotel. Once we finally reached the hotel, the room we were shown was small, not clean, and had some bugs. Pretty gross. One thing I really cannot stand is seeing bugs in a room where I am expected to sleep. I realize this may sound a little high-class, but everyone has their phobias, and this is one of mine.
Anyway, once we threatened to leave the hotel and find another, the manager "miraculously" was able to find another empty room - a two-room "suite". We went to check out the room before giving anymore money, and found staff rushing the clear the room out. Although this "two room suite" was actually just a room with a partition, it was pretty decent. At least, for a room we would only be spending sleeping hours in. Sadly, we were not able to sleep immediately. The manager requested to see all or our id's, not just that of one person (which I found a bit strange for a hotel that only accepted cash... but whatever).
As a single traveller, I am very cautious about who is allowed to see my personal documents. So their requests to see everything made me a bit nervous. My cousin and her husband later explained to me that this was some new regulation put into place, after the terrorist attacks. So I guess it made sense.
With all of this happening, we ended up sleeping pretty late... which led to a later start in the morning than was originally planned. Although this part of the Mumbai visit was unexpected, and definitely not enjoyable, the rest of the visit more than made up for the one bad night :)
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