Snags Along the Way...
Second Trip...
- I went to the synagogue that is not to be missed on the island of Djerba in Tunisia and it was closed. How was I
supposed to know that it was the day of Yom Kippur???
- Big snag when our flight from Delhi to Varanasi got cancelled. After being so excited to never see Delhi again,
we were stuck staying here for the night. Had to sort out the hotel that was already paid for in Varanasi and had
to fork out MAJOR cash to stay in a western hotel to be out of the Delhi chaos. At least we were able to score a
free upgrade to the club level floor and lounge, right?
- Not realizing I didn't have a 'multiple-entry' Vietnam visa until I went to check-in for my flight at the Luang
Prabang airport. The people at the airport could not have been more sweet and helpful and they managed to
have my visa processed and have my passport taken to and from the consulate in less than 1 1/2 hours. Of
course, it did cost me $85 US. Oh well - it was worth it to have everything resolved so seamlessly.
First Trip...
- This qualifies more as an 'idiot move'. I had gone to McDonald's to get my ice cream cone. I went to pay. My
wallet was gone. I then had to run through the streets of Aqaba and retrace my steps (my only ATM card was in
this wallet). I remembered that I checked the Internet to find out about Egypt hotels and that was the last time
I had it. I went back and didn't see it on the desk. I then looked down and there it was on the floor. Huge wave
of relief. I then leisurely strolled back to McDonald's (this is when I saw my Aussie friends from Petra). And
this is also why I didn't mind paying the hotel the entire amount - in my mind, I knew I wasn't going to recover
my wallet. When I did, all of my Jordanian dinars felt like a gift.
- I realized that my passport has the wrong birth date in it. I guess I now have an 'official' 30th birthday and an
'unofficial' 30th birthday. Kind of fun...I will spend the first one in the Maldives and the second one in Kerala
in Southern India. Wait...this isn't really a snag. I think I'm going to like this!!!
- I dropped my camera and broke the UV lens filter on it. Life will go on...not too big of a deal. I'll just try to find
a replacement at a camera shop. My own stupidity.
- Our bus from Cairo to Taba broke down in the middle of the night and we had to hang out on the side of the
highway until about 2 a.m.
- I got on a tram to get to the Krakow train station. I was with two other girls who were going to be on the same
train. Since it was kind of late, there weren't any stands selling bus tickets. We got on the tram and tried to ask
where to buy the tickets (since the only thing we saw was a machine to validate the tickets). Nobody could
understand us. We only had to travel two stops. As luck would have it, the tram police were on-board. We were
escorted off at the first stop. We tried to explain but they didn't care. We each got fined roughly $30. Grrr....
- The wrong bus tickets were bought for us to go from Oudtshoorn to Cape Town. This would not have been
such a big deal except for the fact that the bus was sold out for the night that we needed it. We were forced to
stay in Oudtshoorn and find another way to Cape Town in the morning. Because of this, we lost the money that
we paid for our bus ride.
- I got my Russian visa only there was one glitch. They would not issue it for the day that I was actually arriving
in Russia...only the day my tour started on the train. Sooo...I took the visa that they would give me and then
ended up going to the Aeroflot offices and changing my plane ticket.
- I had to get to Mumbai from Rajasthan (considering that was where I was leaving to the Maldives from) but my
first train was cancelled because the floods that I was experiencing also affected the train tracks. Luckily we
found a night bus that would get me to Ahmedabad so that I could get on my connecting train.
- I got to the Chinese border of Shenzen (from Hong Kong). I got denied entry because my China visa had
expired. I thought it might be valid since it was valid for 30 days for thirty days of when I first entered
(October 1st). But since I was now in Hong Kong, that counted as 'leaving' China (despite Hong Kong
technically being in China) and I would be 're-entering' China. Since my visa expired on October 14th, it wasn't
possible to cross over. There went my shopping trip!
- I meant to be in Melbourne for Christmas. I made the mistake of thinking I could book my trip out there when
I arrived in Adelaide. I was wrong as there were no tours heading out along the Great Ocean Road that would
get me into Melbourne before Christmas. This meant I was going to be on a tour staying in a small town for
Christmas.
- On our way into Melbourne our minibus broke down. We were stuck on the side of the freeway for three hours
(as it was Boxing Day and not many people were working). This would cut down my already short stay in
Melbourne.
- The bad weather caused my heli-hike to be cancelled when I was at the Fox Glacier in New Zealand.