Karin And I Are In The Same Country. Tout Story.

Landed in Mumbai at 1 AM (technically Feb 22). Eric's driver, Ram, picked me up at the airport and took me to Colaba, where Eric lives. Arrived here about 2 AM. Total travel time door to door (Del Mar-Colaba) is in the vicinity of 32 hours.

Tourists are constantly complaining about so-called "touts" in India. These are the locals - usually taxi drivers - that constantly and tenaciously accost foreigners to try to get hired. They are particularly aggressive around train stations and airports where tourists report having really awful and unrelenting experiences with them.

So... Eric had told me that his driver would be waiting with a sign outside the terminal. I collected my bags and headed out - around 1:30 AM. There were dozens of people out there - mostly taxi drivers. And at least 25 signs being held up with individuals' names. I went through each one carefully but my name was nowhere to be found. I waited a few minutes and then decided that I had to call Eric to see if anyone was actually at the airport to meet me. I returned to the terminal and went up to a taxi guy and asked how I make a local call. He pointed to a phone and said "You have to call from that blue phone. You have to put one Rupee in for it to work." I had no rupees. And to get one Rupee (about 2.2 cents) was going to be a big pain in the butt. So I just kind of stared at him for a moment with a confused and forlorn look on my face (which is exactly what I was feeling). After about 10 seconds he reached into his pocket and gave me a Rupee. My very first act in India was out-touting a tout! Or, as Eric puts it, I landed in India and immediately started begging.

I thanked him profusely, made the call, found Ram, and was driven to Eric's apartment. We chatted for an hour and now it's bedtime. It's great to be here. Total sleep over the past 35 hours is approximately 2 hours.

Above is a pic from the plane after leaving London Heathrow.