[khoj]

It is quarter to 4 in the morning and I am sitting here awaiting an update that might come in a few hours or few days. Whichever, I am now glued to the thread hook line and sinker. 5stars for you deky.

[maddy42]

Wow. Now i remember why indians love to carry cash!! Lots of it is better in such situations!! Scary tale.

You can keep people at their feet!!

[rrahul_2778]

Dude, this is very interesting. I think you should really consider writing atleast as a part time . Subscribing to this thread, please don't make us wait too much

I felt like reading a suspense-thriller only exception being we knew the happy-ending as you are now posting this from Jaipur! Keep writing, deky.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

@Dhiraj,

the travel story is really interesting,
waiting for next post.

[watashi75]

Here comes another mouth watering travelogue! I am betting my 5 stars on it.

[deky]

Originally Posted by MX6

Welcome back Deky. I love reading your logues as they are very very inspiring and bring about a great factor of adventure. Couple this with the way you write. You should seriously quit your current job and start writing thriller / adventure novels dude.

Hopefully, this ship doesn't burn. I was once stuck in a similar predicament. Coming back from US, without a DATV that allows one to pass through UK to the Indian subcontinent, my company still managed to book tickets through LHR. How I managed to reach Mumbai from New york with the ticket that takes me through London is another adventure. Your story poised at this point has refreshed those memories!
I still thank god and the kind check in counter person who helped me reach home safe without breaking any laws anywhere. May be that story will figure somewhere later. But want to hear about how you got off this fix dude.
Don't keep us waiting for long.

Thanks MX6. Your story also sounds interesting. You should take out time and share it with us. And about my giving up my current profession, well I do not see that happening anytime soon, as frankly I love it more than anything else. Plus my profession is so flexible that it gives me time to do lots of other things that I enjoy doing. So anyways I am in a win win situation

Originally Posted by pawan_pullarwar

Story becoming very adventurous and interesting. Subscribed this thread to get update

Originally Posted by sachinj12

Deky, post quickly na!!

Its like reading an adventure novel, except that these are real life incidents!!Glued to this thread.

PS: My refresh button has conked, you are getting me a new key board

Thank you, thank you. Next part coming up right after this

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Hey good stuff man. I like.

I once spent a similar adventurous night like you - penniless and broke, but with a SLR around my neck, in party clothes,in Rome. I walked the streets the full night. It was s*** scary then and I can only thank my lucky stars I wasn't robbed. But in just 7 years, I've forgotten many details. Unlike your photographic memory!

You sir, will make a fantastic grandfather Kudos.

Now get ON with it!!

Wow, Streets of Rome are indeed scary. Whilst on the cruise we had specific instructions not to venture out alone in the evenings leave alone the night. So I can imagine.

Originally Posted by khoj

It is quarter to 4 in the morning and I am sitting here awaiting an update that might come in a few hours or few days. Whichever, I am now glued to the thread hook line and sinker. 5stars for you deky.

Lol....what you doing up at 0345 hrs? Planning another meet I guess!!!

Originally Posted by maddy42

Wow. Now i remember why indians love to carry cash!! Lots of it is better in such situations!! Scary tale.

You can keep people at their feet!!

Originally Posted by rrahul_2778

Dude, this is very interesting. I think you should really consider writing atleast as a part time. Subscribing to this thread, please don't make us wait too much

Thank you very much for the valuable comments. Much appreciated.

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

I felt like reading a suspense-thriller only exception being we knew the happy-ending as you are now posting this from Jaipur! Keep writing, deky.

Oh Ravi this was in the year 2002, after that I continued sailing on the ships for another 3 years. But stay tuned to know more.

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

@Dhiraj,

the travel story is really interesting,
waiting for next post.

Originally Posted by watashi75

Here comes another mouth watering travelogue! I am betting my 5 stars on it.

Thank you once again.


Jaana Tha Japan Pahoonch Gaye Cheen---Contd

I must have slept for some time in the night, but I am sure the phone did not ring during the time I was asleep, I was snoozing on a bench right next to the phone. Infact even going to the loo did not seem like a good idea, what if the phone did ring while I was away? Anyway I was getting desperate to get out of the airport, I had decided even if that meant I had to spend my own money for a room I will do so and think about how to arrange more money later.

As I was engrossed with the thoughts of what should be my future course of action, the phone rang. It was my agent, he had finally succeeded to get a room for me. He gave me the name of the hotel and asked me to take a taxi to that place and a room had been booked for me in that hotel. He also instructed me that most probably I would have to go to the British Embassy later in the day and get a Visa stamped from there. And after the visa is stamped they will arrange an evening flight to England. For further instructions I had to wait in my room as that would be the only way they will be able to contact me. Well indeed things were looking a bit brighter today.

I had exhausted all the Pesetas in phone calls and snacks and now it was time to change the Pounds. I changed some pounds leaving the rest hoping that by the evening I would be in England. When changing UK Pounds to Pesetas you get a lot of them. But don’t be fooled, you spend also in big numbers.

Before I took the taxi to the hotel I had to do one more thing. And that was to give the airlines I was flying my Hotel’s name so that they would get in touch with me when they get my bag back from England.

Thankfully I was out of the airport and heading to the hotel. The journey was long and the taxi meter was ticking very fast. Ever happened to anyone that when you low on cash and you are in a taxi your eyes are always glued to the meter? Well that exactly was the case with me. Finally I did reach the hotel and bill was almost half of the pesetas I had got. But the brighter side was that atleast I had a room to stay, and money matters could have been sorted with a clearer head. And what a Hotel it was!!! I think it would have been the best and the most expensive Hotel in the town. Apparently the Captain of the Ship and the Crew Purser also came to know of my situation and directed the agent to find me a room at any cost. Bless Them!!

Usually such class hotels do not allow people to check in without any luggage. I did raise a few eyebrows but thank fully I was pre-booked and the room was at the company’s expense. I made sure at the time of check in that the company had also directed them that the food part of the expense will also be taken care of by the head office. Rooms as expected were nice, anyways after spending the night on a bench at the airport, this was nothing less than a palace. And the best part was that the toilets also had phones, so now I could freshen – up in peace without the fear of missing instructions from the agent/ head office. But the bad part was that I would have to stay inside the room so that no phone calls go unanswered.

It was almost noon and the agent never called. The only call I got was from the airlines informing me that they had located my bag and got it to Madrid airport. They told me to come to the airport identify myself and the bag and collect it. I was still hoping to be at the airport by the evening to catch the flight to London, so to save on money and avoid unnecessary expense on traveling I informed them that I will come in the evening to collect it, to which they agreed.

The agent finally called, it was not good news. The British Embassy had denied a Visa to me. (reasons I do not remember now). He said he will extend my booking at the hotel for another day and he would discuss the latest developments with the head office and give me a solution by tomorrow morning. The only silver lining to this phone call was thatno one would be calling me till tomorrow morning so now in the evening I could go to the airport and collect my luggage, afterall wearing same clothes for 2 days and staying in the most expensive hotel in the town is not nice.

Though the taxi to and fro from the airport costed me more money, but it was worth the effort. Fresh clothes make you feel fresh too with renewed energy I tried to make the most of my stay in Madrid by walking around the town. This also didn’t last for long, it was freezing cold and it started to rain. I could not afford my limited supply of clothes to get wet so I walked back as quickly to the hotel as I walked out of it. It was back to the room back to the 4 walls surrounding me and back to flicking channels on the TV showing only Spanish programs. Well for English program’s I had to pay and that I could not afford at the moment.

Not allowed to go to my destination, England, not allowed by the Captain to get back to the ship due to not having mandatory certificates, low on cash, I was stuck in Madrid not knowing what is instore for me …I had my meal and just slept hoping for a better tomorrow!!!!

[khoj]

Hi deky,

Last night I was stuck in a massive thunderstorm on the foothills of Lonavala. My car along with several vehicles were stuck in the driveway of a friend's bungalow as a tree branch came down taking an electric wire along with it just outside the gates. So we had to wait for the local MSEB guys to do the needfull and finally headed home after midnight. By the time I settled in after responding to the daily edak etc it was time for tbhp and before I knew it it was 0330 hrs. It was a little after that when I discovered your thread.

Looking forward to more adventures with the dawn of a new day in Madrid.

[MX6]

@Khoj
Incidentally we had massive thunderstorms in my place too. My daughter slipped (rainwater in home) and fell. She was frightened for the first time. Was a tough night for us.
Luckily there was no powercut here.
So where exactly are you now? your location reads dilli and not the standard in-transit. Are you in Pune? Lonavla? Vashi?

@Deky. My case was very bizzare. I was in Newark airport. Airlines asked me to go to JFK to take the flight through UK as that's what my ticket mentioned. But I can't traverse that route due to no DATV.

Can't return back to US because my visa is over. Have to leave that day. Being a saturday, no one in my office was reachable. No cash in hand. can't stay back in US, can't enter UK. Interesting huh? And having 65 kgs of luggage with me plus a cabin baggage and a huge Casio Keyboard!

But good thing was people spoke English in US!

Anyway, that episode will come up may be when I do make another trip to US as a log here. But we are eagerly waiting for your version Senor.

[advaitlele]

@Deky - amazing narration. As phamilyman said, you would make a fantastic grandfather. keep it coming. @MX 6 - it was a scary night. we took 1hr+ and 30 kms for a 5km drive yesterday night with water logged road, near zero visibility thanks to downpour and completely dark with trees on the road. Luckily my son was happily sleeping in the car unaware of anything outside.

[deky]

The morning next day had another twist in the tail. The agent called me and told me that they would now try for a Visa for me to go to Cyprus. This was getting really bizarre every minute. But why Cyprus? Well as per him Cyprus Visa was easier to get and the govt. there gave special consideration to seamen holding Seaman’s book to enter their land. For those who do not know a Seaman’s Book is a very poor form of a Diplomatic Passport for seafarer’s. The book is issued to keep a record of the vessel's you have sailed in and usually Visa’s for various countries which happen to be the port of call for the ship are endorsed here.

Anyway I was not bothered now. I had left things on fate. I could not have done much in that situation. I was totally at the mercy of my agent to get me out of the mess. Only thing that was important to me was that wherever they sent me they had to make sure that it should be all expense paid and I was luckily that they understood my plight and agreed to it.

I could also understand the company’s situation. True that they had messed up but still as per the law I could not have joined the ship without finishing the course. Also another reason why they were trying all possible means to help me finish the course as soon as possible and join the ship was that my position on the ship was vacant. A cruise ship has just the right number of crew on board to do the assigned duties. Apart from the regular daily duties that a crew member is assigned ob a ship, he also has to carry out specific duties assigned to him in case of an emergency. So the longer I stayed away from the ship the longer someone would be burdening the pressure of extra emergency duty. And that is a big concern on a cruise liner.

So now another wait started, the wait was for a Cyprus visa. No messages came through till the afternoon. I had lost hope about leaving Madrid that day too. I was waiting for this uncertainty to end quickly. I had started feeling like a prisoner in this lavish hotel. It was getting quite lonely. I had not spoken to anyone except on the phone for the last couple of days, I also could not leave the room to make sure I do not miss important phone calls. Life could not have got more boring I thought.

And then the phone rang again. I was thinking now what? The person on the other side was my agent and was sounding pretty happy. After listening to the news he gave me, even I started jumping on the bed, my joy knew no bounds.

After all, I was leaving Madrid, finally!!!!

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by deky

The person on the other side was my agent and was sounding pretty happy.

After all, I was leaving Madrid, finally!!!!

leaving where? Cyprus or London?

man,
don't keep us waiting,
Since last evening, you had posted the things at the time of day as it happened at those days.

Hope, your next post will be after one hour which will be about travel to British or Cyprus embassy in Madrid.

[sudev]

What a narrative spiel you cast!!!

[jacs]

Good start deky, infact this would be a bible for foreign travels once completed!

[akshaymahajan]

With so many things going wrong at the same time, in a foreign land, without cash in hand, I have to say you handled it very patiently and calmly. I would have like blasted somebody had he told me you dont have a valid visa.