25/03/2011

Guy at hotel was trying to charge me for two nights as I stayed from 5am until 11am the next day, threatening to call the police because I wouldn't pay so I gave him another 100 and told him he shouldn't even have that. He moaned and told me that it wasn't good business but he had definitely squeezed some out of me!

But after going to the train station and finding that I couldn't get a train until the evening, I had to go back and give him a further 100 (effectively paying for two days) to chill in the room until my departure!

I decided to see a bit more of Ahmedabad so went walkabouts having a full curry lunch for a pound, visiting some bustling bazaars and markets, mosques, temples (with the religious washing their feet and staring at me), tombs (that I couldn't enter the vacinity properly for not having decent clothing covering my lower legs) and a fort overlooking most of this. An eventful afternoon, but not so super.The riverfront wasn't nice either, lots of slums and filth everywhere and the smell pretty herendous. Even the alleged Botanical Gardens weren't great. Very dry, not unclean but far from a spectacle.

However, the day cost nothing but a couple of drink stops. Oh and some humiliation. Some kids trying to prank me with a phone audio that acts as if you are speaking to someone live. I knew what was going on and then almost fell for the voice as it was convincing! Little b*****s! They found it hilarious but I half knew what was going on - honest!

So back I went to my room to watch the Kiwis beat South Africa (proving to all the Afrikaans I told would not win the Cup!). Before my train I tried to get a shower but they tried to charge a nights accommodation for me for one wash! They explained that there was a cheap one at the station but as I found when I got there, it was just one of these bloody taps and a bucket for you to throw water over yourself. And I wasn't paying for that!

I bumped into a white lad along the street called Chris, he was at the cricket the previous day as an Aussie fan, although clearly having a Northern English accent! Turned out he had been living in Aus for a few years, schooled near York and then back to Aus for the last five years. And he was to be my travel buddy for the next month around India.

He was getting on the same train as me heading to Goa so I told him I'd see him at the station. I was sweating like a pig desperate for a shower, but had to hold out for another 10 hours until we could reach Andheri (back near Mumbai). I was on a bottom bunk again (which I was beginning to actually like) with Chris, another tourist (from Ireland who had equally been at the cricket)and some locals. They seem to put all the tourists in one section which is good and they always have a 'foreign tourist quota' so you're pretty much never stuck.

The Irish guy, quiet and nice, all of a sudden kicked off at a local below him trying to open the window because the fans were on and it was getting a bit cold! "It's not up for discussion! Der's no debate! It's staying shut!" Classic.