Visa Problems

So my first not travel journal blog. This is a summary of my last couple days and how my plans have changed. Its a testament to how volatile traveling can be and how it pays to be able to adapt- something Im really trying to do. It starts after I have come down the East coast from Calcutta to Chennai and am leaving India, flying to Sri Lanka in order to get a new visa for India.

So long story short, i go to the airport, check in go through
immigration and get stopped. I dont have some paper that is required- but not
really but they think it is and i cant prove its not without another piece of
paper, so im missing some sheet of paper.

So then I talk to this guy who is
somewhat helpful but acts like im an idiot for not having this sheet of paper
ive never heard of (especially since no one on my trip had a problem leaving the
country). So he tells me to have someone fax it and i think maybe i can get in
touch with my director, Keith, in America.

I go to the phone and realize i dont
have his number in America. I call a bunch of people in India, no one has the
sheet or his number. So i go back and talk to them.

Now its a new girl the other guy went home. This girl is decidedly less helpful and again acts as if
im some felon trying to leave the country without proper documentation. Shes
gets on a phone with yet another superior and more people come up, take my
passport, stare at it and I again try to explain the situation to them, but
altho they all ask they cut me off after like 5 words and dont want to hear the
explanation that my man Ashish explained to me on the phone.

Finally she gets
off the phone and says I have to go back to Nainital to get registered and then
i can come back and leave the country. For clarities sake, pretend you are
driving up to Vancouver, you wait in line at the checkpoint and then get
up there. They look at your passport and eventually decide, nope, you have to go
to Miami, then you can come back. Literally to get back to Nainital would be
DAYS and DAYS on trains and buses just to get there. Its ridiculous. So after
much standing around I am returned my checked bag, call more people and get in a
cab to a hotel in the city.

The next day I finally get in contace with Keith and get faxed the letter from someone on high saying I actually DIDNT need that registration form that the people at the airport the night before said I did. But now I have 9 days to get out of India and no plans.

So i go to a travel agency and start asking about next flights to Sri Lanka. 12,000Rs- my last flight was 6,700 Rs. No dice. How about up to Kathmandu? Even more, 17,000 Rs. Ok... What if I fly to Calcutta? Then go overland to Nepal. 3,400Rs. Ok deal. So I buy this ticket for Wednesday on Monday the 29th. As I write this, its Tuesday 30th.

Then I go online and get all these emails from my friend Hala who is also in the country in the north just east of Nepal. She says call me quick. Then says theres violence and borders are closed. Call me.

When I call she informs me about violence in the Terai- the plains area in the south of Nepal. From what I understand there is violence both on the Nepal side and the India side. This doesnt really affect me since Im not trying to cross there, but it was an option.

However, she also informs me of problems in Nepal where we will be crossing. Protesters have blocked highways and people are in buses for a week without a way to move. But apparently its still possible to get to the border and cross, since I jsut have to get out of India in the next week or face more consequences.

THEN, I go back to my hotel room and flip on the news and see not only violence near the Nepalese border, but 5 day gas tanker strikes in Calcutta leaving the transportation crippled and the city at a standstill. There is 10% of taxis adn buses running.

THEN, I see that there is crazy fog at the Calcutta airport and tons of flights have been canceled. Less than two days before I fly.

The last I heard, just a few minutes ago, its possible to get into Nepal from the mountins where I was planning to go. Theres no problem with that. But then there are no buses goin to Kathmandu right now. And the strike is still on in Calcutta making it sound nearly impossible for me to get out of the city into the mountains in the first place.

But im going to try anyway. I have a week. Once I get to Calcutta its just a matter of getting a train or a bus or somehow getting out of the city enough that I can get to the mountains. From there I just have to get the hell out of India before my visa expires and i face worse things than strikes and fog. From there I plan to wait out the buses to kathmandu. i have to be in Delhi on Feb 16 for a friends wedding. I will see if thats possible.

Wish me luck, and ill update this when I get achance, hopefully from Kathmandu in a few days.