One of the many ways India gets it right
Remember when I got bitten by a stray dog in India? Yeah, that was apparently the fun part. At the time, managing to keep to my vaccine schedule was a small price to pay for, you know…surviving. I was able to get three of the five recommended shots while I was in India, which despite a less-than-enjoyable allergic reaction at one point, was not all that difficult to make happen. Show my prescription to a chemist, take the vial and sterile syringe to the hospital across the street for injection, pay about Rs 20 for the whole thing. It was when I got back to the states that things got…
Wheels up
Time is a weird thing. Especially when you’re traversing the globe. On my way to India, I spent 24 hours on plane and zipped ahead in time a full 36 hours. On my way home, it will take just as long, but since I’m going the opposite direction, we’ll tick time off the clock each hour of the journey. I leave at 1a Mumbai time, arrive about 2p in the states, before my last connection. As if India weren’t done proving its spirit to me, I had one last adventure in store as the porter at my hotel helped hail a cab to the airport for me. At first, no…
I will resort to bribery.
Hello, Internet? It’s me, Lisa. I’ve honestly been having a blast with this return to blogging. This trip proved the perfect excuse to get back in the habit of writing a little bit every day. And as I hope you’ve been able to tell, I’ve been having fun with the recounting of my days, flexing the literary muscles that’ve been dormant far too long. But I’m starting to get concerned. The comments you’ve left have been lovely to read, and I thank you for them! But surely there must be more of you reading, right? Or have my travel tales gotten so woefully redundant that you checked out long ago?…
Friday Night in Mumbai
I’m sitting at Mocha, a hip little coffee-joint-slash-restaurant-slash-bar at 8:30p on a Friday night. I’m a block from the Arabian Sea and the amazingly beautiful bay in south Mumbai that forms a crescent with a view on the other side of high rises and the sprawling city. The club music that’s on (I think they just played some classic BSB) is nearly drowned out by the cacophony of horns, street chatter and some far off loud speaker on the street rushing by just in front of me. I’m two days from heading home and I’m honestly still not sure how I even got here. Mumbai, for Pete’s sake. Incred. Anyways.…
Things they don’t tell you about India when you plan a trip to India
1. Everywhere you stay will ask to hold on to your Passport for 10 minutes. This is hugely unsettling if you’re not sure what’s going on. Turns out there’s a law that all hotels have to keep meticulous records of their foreign visitors – where you’re from, how long you’re in the country, where you just arrived from, where you’re going next, your mother’s middle name (Annette), that your visa is valid. They also need a scanned copy of your passport and visa, so they typically just say, “We return your passport in ten minutes, ok?” And they do. (Ok, they don’t really need to know your mom’s middle name,…
India-lite
Last night, I snuck away from the guest house after sunset to take in an outdoor movie. A café at the next beach south was screening The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel on their patio. Where better to enjoy a feel-good flick set in Jaipur than when I was myself just a week removed from having seen the Pink City in person? Arriving back at the house around 10p, I wasn’t surprise to see all my fellow guests and our hosts gathered on the balcony upstairs, drinks in hand and classic rock on the stereo. Seeing how I was easily the youngest by 25 years, it felt a bit like my…
