Jan 24th
Finally got some rupees in hand. I e-mailed a money transfer from my bank account in Edmonton to my friend Remi, a commonplace procedure I have done many times before. He took rupees out of his Indian account and gave them to me. Remi is really into doomsday and conspiracy stuff so over and over again he warns me,
"You trust technology too much, you are going to loose your money!"
Sure enough, he checks his email twice that day and still the email he has to respond to to be able to put money into his account has not arrived in his in-box. It's gone from my account and I get to hear many warnings that all this teck stuff will soon pass away, Shiva is rising to destroy the world.That is what Babba is doing in Chennae. Next morning I check the status of that transaction, my bank tells me that the email has been recieved but noty responded to, so I check his e-mail account myself. Nothing in the in-box but there the little bugger is, hiding in Junk mail. Funny how the universe sometimes tries very hard to give you exactly what you ask for. Anyway, finally get it sorted out, I don't loose my money and the world doesn't come to an end. I don't know if Remi is happy or sad about this.
I still do not know if the problem is with my card or the machine. Talked to another Canadian, her Royal Bank card stopped working, perhaps all of us canucks are being frozen out by changes in banking protocol or some sort of financial treaty. Hard to understand some Indian processes. Will try the card out in Vishakaputnam in some banks that have worked before that they don't have in Puttaparthi..
Have an uneventful train ride and transfer to local train up to where Ram's wedding is to be held in Repalle. Ram meets me at the station.
"Did you get my message? My grandmother passed away yesterday".
The wedding is now a funeral. Wow! That's harsh! I say what I can to offer comfort to the family and try as much as possible to just stay out from under foot. It's not a good time for visitors.
So I will continue on my planned itinerary, go up to Visnakaputnam and then to Goa a little earlier than planned. I can zip back up when Ram's wedding finally is celebrated, now I know how to get here.
And my internet isp is not picking up. This account is suposed to have roaming but neither Ram's text message arrived or my internet connection connected. We may just be too far away from a microwave tower here. Or I may just be out of time, though that's hard to believe.Will try it later at Gunter and find a Reliance shop and ask what the problem is.
Andrah Pradesh is often called the rice bowl of India. In this part of the state you can certainly see why. The fields are flat, lush with crops, rich with water. The green is incredible, soft and lush and rich. In the evenings sea mist rolls in from the Bay of Bengal The air is soft with moisture.. Hundreds of large haystacks dot the cleared fields, not those rocky stupas that give Puttaparthi it's name, "Anthill".. The cows loll in the street plump with water and sleek. The little town of Repalle is beautifully clean with totally reasonable traffic. It's a beautiful, colourful, prosperous looking little place, mainstreet about a mile long I'd estimate. Ram says his extended family loves coming back to their native place for holidays with the family. It is his mother and late grandmother's home.
At the train station people came over to tell me that they believed in Christ and ask if I was a missionary. It was spooky, they were standing around two deep. I felt very self concious about all the attention. Hey Rainbow, one lady asked me to take her back to Canada to peel vegetables!
Ram told me I should be able to get a good hotel room in Gunter for 100 rs so I decided to splash out and get one for three hundred. very nice room, just perfect for my needs. Now to find out how long it's going to take me to get a ticket to Vishakaputnam.
Finally got some rupees in hand. I e-mailed a money transfer from my bank account in Edmonton to my friend Remi, a commonplace procedure I have done many times before. He took rupees out of his Indian account and gave them to me. Remi is really into doomsday and conspiracy stuff so over and over again he warns me,
"You trust technology too much, you are going to loose your money!"
Sure enough, he checks his email twice that day and still the email he has to respond to to be able to put money into his account has not arrived in his in-box. It's gone from my account and I get to hear many warnings that all this teck stuff will soon pass away, Shiva is rising to destroy the world.That is what Babba is doing in Chennae. Next morning I check the status of that transaction, my bank tells me that the email has been recieved but noty responded to, so I check his e-mail account myself. Nothing in the in-box but there the little bugger is, hiding in Junk mail. Funny how the universe sometimes tries very hard to give you exactly what you ask for. Anyway, finally get it sorted out, I don't loose my money and the world doesn't come to an end. I don't know if Remi is happy or sad about this.
I still do not know if the problem is with my card or the machine. Talked to another Canadian, her Royal Bank card stopped working, perhaps all of us canucks are being frozen out by changes in banking protocol or some sort of financial treaty. Hard to understand some Indian processes. Will try the card out in Vishakaputnam in some banks that have worked before that they don't have in Puttaparthi..
Have an uneventful train ride and transfer to local train up to where Ram's wedding is to be held in Repalle. Ram meets me at the station.
"Did you get my message? My grandmother passed away yesterday".
The wedding is now a funeral. Wow! That's harsh! I say what I can to offer comfort to the family and try as much as possible to just stay out from under foot. It's not a good time for visitors.
So I will continue on my planned itinerary, go up to Visnakaputnam and then to Goa a little earlier than planned. I can zip back up when Ram's wedding finally is celebrated, now I know how to get here.
And my internet isp is not picking up. This account is suposed to have roaming but neither Ram's text message arrived or my internet connection connected. We may just be too far away from a microwave tower here. Or I may just be out of time, though that's hard to believe.Will try it later at Gunter and find a Reliance shop and ask what the problem is.
Andrah Pradesh is often called the rice bowl of India. In this part of the state you can certainly see why. The fields are flat, lush with crops, rich with water. The green is incredible, soft and lush and rich. In the evenings sea mist rolls in from the Bay of Bengal The air is soft with moisture.. Hundreds of large haystacks dot the cleared fields, not those rocky stupas that give Puttaparthi it's name, "Anthill".. The cows loll in the street plump with water and sleek. The little town of Repalle is beautifully clean with totally reasonable traffic. It's a beautiful, colourful, prosperous looking little place, mainstreet about a mile long I'd estimate. Ram says his extended family loves coming back to their native place for holidays with the family. It is his mother and late grandmother's home.
At the train station people came over to tell me that they believed in Christ and ask if I was a missionary. It was spooky, they were standing around two deep. I felt very self concious about all the attention. Hey Rainbow, one lady asked me to take her back to Canada to peel vegetables!
Ram told me I should be able to get a good hotel room in Gunter for 100 rs so I decided to splash out and get one for three hundred. very nice room, just perfect for my needs. Now to find out how long it's going to take me to get a ticket to Vishakaputnam.
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