After waiting for the bus that never came for about an hour.
** update. We are now on hour five of the saga of buying the train ticket. We decided to get the ticket today just to make sure there were no problems when we leave tomorrow night. We've long ago given up hope to make it to the museum today, but still hope to see James Bond. The cab we took here went in a suspiciously circuitous route and then tried to charge us double the fare on the meter. At the first railway station we were directed to 4 different locations in two buildings no matter how emphatically we explained what we were trying to accomplish. There was also a 30 minute lunch break in one of the lines we waited on. After a couple hours and at our 4th window, we were told to go to the tourist office on the other side of the river. After much confusion we figured out that the only way to get there was via ferry. On the other side, we wandered and asked at least 3 strangers who all told us different locations for the office. Finally finding it, we were told to grab a number and wait. It's impossible to confirm we are in the right place. But the people and guards we've asked here claim we're finally in the right location. We are number 91 and as far as I can tell, they're on number 43. Trying to decide if I can leave to find a bathroom and food or not. Each person takes at least 5-10 minutes to get through. I am still amazed by the inefficiency present everywhere here.
*its now a day later (we're back in the ticket office for reasons to be explained,) but I'll finish the story.
We were tired of waiting and hungry so we were going to take turns going to find something for lunch. I went first and wandered around before settling on a streetside stall. I had been eating at these places al through my travels in Thailand malasia and Nepal so I've grown lax in my vigilance. I chose a stall that had a big crowd (higher food turnover) and got a big plate of rice and veggies with a chicken leg. They refilled my plate three times and I'm was really full. When I got back to the office, they had moved two numbers. At the rate they were going, we wouldn't be helped before the office closed at 5. I wanted for the next break in numbers and then convinced the clerk to help us out of turn. I bought the two tickets and then returned triumphantly to Connor.
It was too late to go to the museum so we went to center city 2 to see James Bond. The first can we got in shouted to another driver on the other side of the street and had us get in that guys cab. The theatre was in a modern mall and a refreshing break from the grunge of the train stations and city. They said the only seats left were in the back 3 rows and on the sides but the theatre was empty. When we entered, we were shown to our seats, which two of the 6 patrons were sitting in. Ignoring our protests, the staff member made them move for us. It was comical with the entire rest of the huge theatre empty. As soon as the lights dimmed, we moved to the middle center seats, excited for a western experience. Unfortunately, this is India. They cut out all the sex scenes and most of the torture. It just wasn't the same. There was also a 15 minute intermission cut right into the middle of the most intense part of the movie.
The movie let out into a dingy service walkway and we decided to try the bowling in the mall. Connor paid and is almost sure he got scammed. They swirled the 1000 note he gave them for a 500 and gave him too little change. By the time he realized, it was too late and he wasn't sure enough it happened to create a fight. The experience left a bad taste in our mouth that we tried to wash clean with the most American option we could find for dinner, dominos pizza. It was delicious. We said for a while and tried to figure out if we could use the OLA app here to get a ride (it's like Indian uber) before giving up and hailing a cab.
We got back a little after 9 and, ignoring our lingering exhaustion, decided to go out with Andreas and some of his friends around 11. The 5 of us squished into the cab for the hour long ride to downtown. We were going to The Park, which we were told was the nicest hotel in the city. Famous people go to the night club so drinks were well outside of our price range. We went to a bar with live music for a while and when that ended we went to the busier club and danced for a couple hours before catching a cab back around 3. It was a good night. I almost let them go without me, and would've loved the extra sleep. I prefer to not say no to things, especially while traveling and I'm usually glad to have had the experiences, whatever they are. It's impossible to predict where a decision will lead and the only way to find out is to take advantage of whatever opportunities present themselves.
-AB
Intermission
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