Catching Up With An Old Co-Worker

Bringing Lunch In, Churchgate Station, Mumbai, India
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Nik and I tried to find a place for breakfast near the hotel without much success.  The place that we had been to for lunch the other day supposedly served breakfast, but I guess not before 10am or so!  We finally settled on a dismal place with lots of flies, but since we were only have toast (squished again!) it seemed safe enough and really was our only option.

Done with breakfast, we headed back to the hotel to check out and then we tried to get a taxi.  However, the ones right outside the door wanted 100 Rs (approx $2.56) which was absurd for the short distance we needed to go.  We finally went across the street and after about 15 minutes and the help of one of the guys at the hotel, we got someone who would take us, using the meter.  As a side note, we were told that you can tell if a driver is the owner of the car or not by the colored shirt he is wearing.  If he is wearing white, then he owns the car, if he is wearing brown, then he just drives the car.

Bringing Lunch In, Churchgate Station, Mumbai, India
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There was a lot of traffic getting to Churchgate station and I was getting anxious because I had made plans for Nik and I to meet up with Amit, who my old boss had reported to back when I worked in Arlington, and I was afraid we might be late.

As we headed into the busy station, we saw a couple of men with long trays, that carried lunches.  Apparently, it is quite a common site to see many men coming in from the suburbs bringing lunch to workers downtown.  We headed over to the ticket booth and I stated where we wanted to go.  I wasn't sure the guy heard me correctly and so with a long line behind us, a guy helped me out.  I still thought maybe there was a mistake, because our tickets together were only 8 Rs (approx $0.21)!

Nik, First Class, Train from Churchgate Station, Mumbai to Andheri, India
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We got no information from the ticket guy as to where to catch our train, so we wandered around the platforms looking lost, trying to figure out what train to go on.  We hopped on one that we were told would head to Andheri (which was were Amit now worked for an investment branch of the company, heading back to India on a three year contract).  However, we were ushered off by a worker, who pointed to another train, two tracks over.  So we hopped off the train and through another one to get there.  Then we asked someone and they told us to go to the first platform.  So confusing!  By now, it is getting later and later and I had heard that it took some time to get up to Andheri.

Amit in His Office, Andheri, India
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We made our way over to the first platform and a train was pulling out, slowly so that people could still board.  However, with our packs on, it was hard to run.  Nik contemplated getting on the women's only carriage at the very end, but that probably wouldn't have been a good idea.  The train left and a man told us that the next train would be coming in just a few minutes and that it was a fast train.  Good, I had heard that the slow train could take up to an hour and a half.  Didn't want to get on that one!

Amit and I, in His Office, Andheri, India
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The train pulled up and we got into a first class carriage, which was anything other than first class!  But happy to be on a train, it took off.  We asked someone if it was the fast train and we were told it was the slow one.  Ugh.  What to do.  Should we get off at the next stop where the fast train would also stop and switch trains?  But we weren't sure what stop that was.  We decided just to stay on the train and hoped that it wouldn't take too long.

As the train went along, Nik stood by the open door to take some pictures.  As he stood there, a woman warned him to be step back a bit, because someone might swipe his camera as the train passed by - it wasn't going that fast!  Being that it was the slow train, it stopped at every station, but with very snappy stops, maybe resting for only a minute before taking off at a slow pace, with people still jumping on.

View from Amit's Office of the Fist Market, Andheri, India
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Finally we made it to Andheri and luckily the trip only took about 35 minutes and once out of the train station it was exactly 12:30pm which is when we had agreed to meet up.  Amit had given explicit instructions as to which side we should go and we thought we were being helpful by heading away from the main entrance and down the street to a place that had a good landmark.  Amit did finally find us and with some direction, he was able to get his driver to pick us up.

We headed for about 10 minutes or so back to Amit's office and then we went across the street to have lunch.  It was good to see Amit as it had been a couple of years.  It was funny though talking about India and what Amit thought having come back after spending quite a few years in the U.S.  I had to laugh when he was shocked that Nik and I were taking local transport to meet him, saying that was something he would never do.  When he told me this over email, I teased him saying that obviously he hadn't been reading my blog - this was nothing!!!

After a good lunch (thanks Amit, much appreciated!) we made a quick stop to check out Amit's office before his driver took Nik and I to the airport.  Once checked in, not a big surprise, but our plane was delayed by an hour or so.

After a decent flight, we landed in Goa, ready for some beach time.  Our original plan had been to head to Panaji, a Portuguese influenced town.  However, neither Nik nor I were really inspired to do more sightseeing.  So, once off the plane and our packs collected, we decided to rent a taxi to head south to Polelum, straight to the beach.  It was a pricey ride at 1,200 Rs (approx $30.77) but it was too late to think about public transport and we really didn't want to spend the time it would have taken on public transportation.

Our driver told us it would take about 2 hours to get to Polelum, but he made it in an hour and 20 and let me tell you, it was a harrowing drive.  I guess at night it is easier to overtake because you can see headlights coming, but there were some blind curves that the driver overtook on that I really wasn't sure if we were going to make it!

Nik and I had tried calling several guesthouses with not much luck, so we decided to take the driver up on his offer to show us a place.  When we got into Polelum, almost taking out a hippie or two on the road as we came in, the place that the driver had told us about, suddenly didn't have any room.  So, we were taken to a relative's house that was a good 5 or so minute walk from the road, but was right on the beach.  The room was pretty basic, but it was now after 8pm and since it had a good location to the beach, we decided to take it, getting the price down to 400 Rs (approx $10.26).

With the room sorted out, Nik and I headed back to the main road and checked out Polelum which really only consisted of the main road and then the one road that led to the beach.  We decided to eat at Magic Italy and had and excellent pizza, with pepperoni on it (yum!) for dinner.