Not my travel, I hasten to add – I scarcely moved all day – but Val’s, flying in from Cairo to Delhi, and then on by taxi to Dhangadhi. The plane was due to land 30 minutes early – I know this, as I was tracking it on some clever website – but in fact, by the time they had landed, taxied, messed abut some more, that time had been lost. It also took Val time to get her e-visa changed to a real one, to locate her bags, and then to locate Wasim, her driver.
Aparna had certainly done her best to make this as foolproof as she could have done, clarifying terminal and gate numbers; sending them both the other’s WhatsApp numbers, (and ensuring they WhatsApped each other; asking me for a photo of Val to send to Wasim, then finding one on my blog and sending that when I didn’t respond; and having Wasim hold up Val’s name. Not so much belt and braces, as belt, braces, and a length of baler twine threaded through the loops in her belt and tied in a knot. (And even then, it took a little while for them to locate each other.)
Getting out of Delhi was also a bit of a nightmare, but at last Val was on her way, stopping for lunch en route (though this might have proved a definite error.) With my knowledge of traffic in this area, along side my always fevered imagination, I could have done with more information as to where they were along the way, though the fact that they had virtually no English made it difficult for Val to provide accurate updates as to their progress.
There were more problems, apparently getting lost at one point (though Aparna had assured me Wasim drove this route regularly). And eventually, when Aparna returned from work and was able to talk to everyone, it soon became clear that getting through the border tonight might prove problematic. The issue was getting permission to leave India, which could only happen with the Indian immigration officer having the right information about Val’s visa, and actually being there. Aarna negotiated a later time, but when it became clear that would not be met, everyone resolved themselves to the inevitable: Val spending the night in a hotel in Paliya, still an hour short of the border, with battle ready to recommence the following morning.
Aparna, Yogi and I went out for dinner, but I was in a pretty gloomy mood, not helped by, for the first time in the trip, having stomach problems. Which was all we needed when about to go up a mountain. Still, nothing to be done… apart from taking a couple of Immodium.
