The process for how people think and put things together over here is very different. Especially for me, a possibility thinker. Here, it is much more straight line thinking! Here to there. This or that. What do you want!
I’ve learned to put my questions together in very small bits of information, one piece at a time. Then, maybe, things will work!
For example, I walked down to purchase my ticket for the afternoon bus. The ticket office told me I couldn’t buy a ticket. What? As I explained further, they took me outside, walked around a corner about 20 feet away and pointed toward an office. “Buy ticket at reservation office!”
Ok then!
No one was at the reservation office so I waited behind a man also wanting to buy a ticket.
When the woman finished with the man, I told her I wanted a ticket to Kalpetta. She looked concerned and told me there wasn’t a bus. Keep in mind that at least a half dozen people working at the station told me there was a bus this afternoon at 3:3o!!!
The reservation woman looked a bit stressed when a local woman showed up and translated. No bus to Kalpetta she told me. You have to bus to Mysore, change buses, and then go on to Kalpetta. I assumed Mysore was closer to here so it might be a good spot to rest for the night and continue tomorrow.
WRONG!
Apparently Kalpetta isn’t on her destination list but the bus passes right through there. I learned this when I asked a man on the other side of the station where the buses stopped. “How long is it to Mysore”… it gets in at 4:30 in the morning, a 13 hour journey.
Hmmmm….Kalpetta is only 9 or 10 hours? Thus, the mystery was solved. Yes, the bus passes through Kalpetta and I get off there. Now, with a ticket officially listing my destination as Mysore, I have to make sure the bus driver knows I only want to go to Kalpetta. Otherwise, I could fall asleep and wake up in a different state!
Once again, a reminder for travelers! Patience, more patience. Be flexible. Figure out another way to say what you want. Ask for help. Persist! I’ll go back early and see if I need to change my ticket to reflect my intention. Otherwise, I’ll be setting my alarm for waking at 1:00 am to get off!
Ahhhh…travel day! I feel very refreshed and ready after the massage yesterday!