Creepy hotel Manager and having panic attack in the bus station - Female Solo Travel Story in India #3

The one thing that is not so good about public bus travel in Himachael Pradash is that the buses depart on early morning and have long journey of 8 or 10 hours. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoy being on a long bus or train journey, the longest non stop bus ride I rode so far was 24 hours.And I kid you not, I am still looking forward to experience even more longer journey .

So every morning, I would wake up early to pack my backpack. Although I tend to travel light, I do have a million things and I am also not particularly organized person either. So I woke up around 5 am , packed my bag and headed to reception to check out.

Story:
There was this guy at the reception, One thing that was kind of a shock for me was that I could never find any ladies in service industry or of any sorts reception , restaurants, shops..The first time I went for the bazzar, I was on a mission to find a female seller and had no luck. So I told him I wanted to check out and wanted a car to send me to nearby bus terminal.

The reception guy: We have the same birthday.
Me: Look at the guy,kept silent
The reception guy: How do you like to go? taxi or auto (tuk tuk)
Me : How much ?
The reception guy : Taxi = 1000 INR (15 usd)
Me : In my mind , do you really think I will fall for this price? Answered Tuk tuk
The reception guy : Our birthday is the same , telling me the month and the year..
Me : Give him a glance and said nothing, What a creep!

And then he kept telling me his name and told me to write good reviews about him. I was like,Hello, I just met you 3 seconds ago . He even asked me to repeat his name and blaming me of not trying to remember his name. Apparently he is the manager of that place .
Say what, I would never book this place again .

I was glad to leave the place with the tuk tuk that arrived very soon. The only thing I felt bad was that I forgot to tip the other guy that went and called tuk tuk from the street.. I knew those people who worked did not earn much and a small tip could make a difference ..But I was rushing to get away from the conversation that I forgot to tip..

So I made my way to the bus terminal traveling through piles of trashes.. I couldn't believe the amount of trashes I saw that morning. I was not complaining, but that trashes on the streets were on a whole new level.

I was also a little nervous because it would be my first time traveling with the bus in india and I was afraid that I would get lost and missed my bus.

But fortunately bus station in delhi was simple and easy. So I confirmed my bus at the little cubicle box and waited for my bus.

Journey to Delhi to Shimala took around 10 hours with just two short breaks ( one for around 15 min and another one for maybe 20 minutes). The one thing that kept me interested was the beautiful container tracks along the way, god I love them. They were with different design and colors and just so beautiful.

It was raining and there wasn't much to see on the road.. The other thing I have to mention was that I would avoid traveling to India or especially himachel on monsoon season as there were frequents flood and landslides. our first break was a tea shop , which was flooding and I couldn't use the toilet. I could still use if I really want, but I didn't want to deal with the knee length water and decided to hold it!

We later arrived to Chandigrah , which was a major town , like a junction where every bus would make a stop here. I noticed lots of army men/women , stopping cars and I was wondering what was going on. They didn't stop our bus though.

I knew after a few days was that apparently there was a hearing for spiritual guru and hence they were tightening the security. And that leader was jailed for 20 years , found guilty of rape and his followers were doing big riots. The riots were so out of hand, I read the news few people died and injured and the buses in the region were routed and cancelled for the safety of the passengers for few days. I was so lucky that everything was settled when I went back to Delhi at the end of my trip. One thing I would do in the future though is to get updates from the local news, I was lucky that I was in this facebook group and get some immediate updates . I mean I really like India and I don't think it was as bad as what most media at most media tend to describe .But that event was just so crazy to be absolutely honest.

So the bus arrived at the second break stop, it was on a bus terminal.. so I took a photo of bus number and ran to find the toilet. I also settled for the sim card, because I would need a phone to call to book for my onward accommodation.. After everything finished, I went back to the bus and to my horror, the bus was nowhere to be found. I thought to myself the driver said 20 minutes, it's still 10 minutes. Where was the bus...? So I waited a while , I thought may be the bus will come back later, but I was feeling panic . I had that kind of fear that I would be left alone, that's why I always go the airport hours before the departure time. I rather waited and worried .But now I am getting worried.. Then I saw two kids from my bus, they were travelling by themselves, one was around teenager , one was much younger. So I said hello and asked for our bus. And guess what , they couldn't find the bus either.. One even told me , that the bus left without us!! Dear god, what would I do ? I didn't have the phone number of the driver or conductor. What would I do? My bag was still in the bus. So I walked around nearby trying to find the bus or trying to ask somebody. And then my prince charming came, there was this guy who came and asked me the bus was waiting for us!! Thank you , thank you.. I whispered.. He then told me about the parking area for the bus or the drop off point and etc.. So I went back for that 2 little boys and we run for the bus.

Lesson learnt: Not just the photo of bus number, also the phone number of the driver for next time.

The journey afterwards was much scenic, with lots of turns. The roads were doing lots of renovation but I love the views as I could see town after town amongst the mountains.

Finally made it to shimala, the same guy helped me to get a prepaid taxi from the bus terminal . It was slightly expensive but prepaid taxis are the best, so I got one. The guy offered his number for help, I said thank you and said good bye.

Shimala was gorgeous , it somehow remind me some some european building .My room was pleasantly very nice and clean with great view.But I still couldn't get internet data so I went back again to another phone shop. It seemed that the original sim card was bought from different part of india and somehow they didn't know what to do. I went a few shops, but ended up with the suggestion of getting a new sim card.So I went back to the room and called it a day.

I finally had my first meal of the day, but still they didn't have rice ready so just had the regular prathai and went for sleep. I asked for the taxi the next morning as I knew early morning would be a problem to get a taxi or the reception would be closed. I also informed that I would be leaving early morning and henced settle the bill before I slept. Another new day awaits..

!steemitworldmap 28.614665 lat 77.213631 long Creepy hotel Manager and having panic attack in the bus station d3scr