Day… 5? End of day 4 / beginning of day 5.

I’m in India! And I’m totally overwhelmed. I think the realization that I’m 10,000kms from home all by myself has sunk in. Unlike Amsterdam, where English is everyone’s second language and half the people you meet are from North America anyway, this is so foreign. And I knew that coming into it. And I knew I wouldn’t be prepared. And I knew I would probably break down. So I guess I’m doing ok in that sense.

I think getting in at midnight is contributing greatly to the loneliness I feel right now. Loneliness isn’t really the right word. I guess it’s independence that I maybe wasn’t ready for. No better way to change that than to throw myself right into it though, which is why I’m doing this in the first place. No internet doesn’t help either; it’s hard to feel alone when Facebook and email provide a sort of realtime view into the goings-on of everyone at home. I’ll hunt tomorrow in the hopes of finding an internet café so I can check in with everyone.

I’m sitting on the cold tile floor of my ghetto hotel room because the only plug that I didn’t think would toast my laptop is behind the fridge and TV. The outlet in the bathroom started snapping and popping when I plugged my converter in, so I decided against that one.

When I say ghetto hotel room, I mean it. There were stray dogs outside, there is garbage literally everywhere in the street, and the windows face the blank walls of the building next door. So much for “Grand Hotel,” not that I was expecting anything five-star anyway.

I thought the cab ride here might be terrifying, or even possibly the death of me, but after two minutes you realize that everyone drives fast and close, but they also all drive cautiously. Probably 80% of the vehicles on the road were dumptruck-sized commercial trucks and they all had “HORN PLEASE” written on the back of them. Rather than using pesky mirrors or having to strain yourself shoulder-checking, you just rely on everyone else to communicate that they’re beside you by honking or flashing their headlights or both. And it works. I’m surprised we didn’t graze any bumpers, as we were literally inches away from other cars a few times.

The smell inside the cab was reminiscent of the odour that my Bug emitted on one of its bad days, save for ten times worse. But rolling down the window didn’t really help, as it’s a little funky outside too, and surprisingly cold. I knew it’d be cooler as it’s winter, but it’s super foggy and pretty chilly.

I made the mistake of sleeping pretty much the entire flight here (I passed out before takeoff I was so beat), so now I’m wide awake. My sleep schedule basically doesn’t exist right now, and I’ve been surviving off three hour naps whenever I feel tired. I’m here tonight and tomorrow night, and then the tour check-in is at 5pm on Saturday, with the tour commencing the following day. So that gives me a solid two days to try to get a handle on the new time zone. Really wishing I had brought melatonin with me; I’ll try to find some tomorrow. Not holding my breath on that one.

I should recap on the rest of Amsterdam, although I don’t remember exactly where I left off. I planned on taking advantage of a free walking tour that kicked off at 10:30am and went through all the major to-sees in Amsterdam (Anne Frank museum, Van Gogh museum, Red Light District, etc), but that didn’t exactly happen. I had gone to bed at 2am, woke up wide awake at 5am, and then I guess I passed out again around 8am. When I awoke again, it was 1pm and I’d missed the boat on the free tour. So instead, Tamera and Dave (the San Franciscans) and I headed out to wander the city for a bit. Then later that night we went for waffles (most amazing waffles EVER!) and strolled through the Red Light District.

It’s by no means as seedy as everyone implies it to be. I guess if you thought that the whole thing is immoral then it might not sit well with you, but if that’s the case, why are you in Amsterdam? It’s actually really pretty, seeing all these 100-year-old+ buildings, aglow with red lights. It’s probably not a place I’d let a young kid wander through, but the scantily-clad prostitutes pale in comparison to some of the super-graphic images that hang in the porn shop windows.

The main section of the RDL lines a canal, and despite the water being almost completely frozen, it was full of ducks and swans. How they didn’t freeze to death is beyond me.

Speaking of freezing to death, I had to buy a toque and mittens as it was so bloody cold in Amsterdam. They might come in handy though, as apparently Egypt gets cold at night, as can Nepal. And I might be forced to don them in this ice palace hotel room. There’s no heater, so I’m considering cranking the fridge in the hopes that its output will warm up the room a degree or two.

Tomorrow’s going to be another adventure, as I have no idea what part of town I’m even in. I’m hoping some of the other tour group members straggle in tomorrow, so that I can glom onto them for some company.

Oh, and if you ever fly to India and you’re waiting at the baggage carousel for your luggage, don’t. It’s probably all piled up at the end of the hall, so just go look for it there.

Time to crawl into bed and make friends with Shantaram. I’m lugging around a 900+ page book, I better get some use out of it.