Written on 8 May, while I am still trying to make things work on western schedules. My frustrations about the Nepal and India legs of this journey continue. I just checked my email and it seems like the two travel agencies I have contacted there are trying to make me go away. Okay, I hear that’s sort of normal in India, but still I have to ask: WTF? Don’t they want my money? Weird! The more I think about it, the less I care about visiting this country. The original plan was to skip it all together and go to Nepal, but the Maoists are making that an unattractive option. Their strikes and general town shutdown have ceased, pressured by nearly every business person in town. Still, though, they have made life very difficult for the tourists (among others) and have vandalized restaurants that were caught feeding tourists after the Maoist-imposed curfew. Those guys have not had their way with the government so I cannot imagine that they are finished yet. Where does that leave me? With two weeks to kill in India. I’ve got to work something out soon or I will be out a lot of money to pay for whatever expensive (and therefore hospitable) hotel will have me. I had hoped to get to Darjeeling but apparently so is every other person in India. Maybe if I can get a hold of Delta Airlines, I can skip the whole place and go somewhere else? I’ll see if I can reach them in Indonesia, but I am not sure if I can. Looking forward to orderly Norway already!
–Update: The Darjeeling agency finally is getting back to me and wants my business. It’s a miracle.
J Spencer Photography 