Departure to the Unknown: Friday, July 30th

Before I left Portland I had asked the hotel to arrange a train ticket to Pune. There were none to be found so I arranged the next best thing: a bus. During my previous visit I also booked a bus and recalled the lush countryside. I left the hotel with enough time to get to the bus stand which is really just a shop on the side of the road where the various bus companies have a storefront for pick-up. Apparently the taxi I had the hotel arrange was not aware of this and he took me to the address on the ticket- the travel agent who sold the ticket to Mr. Suhas. The driver jumped back in the car and managed his way a little further. I was becoming anxious, worried that the bus would for once be at the pick-up point on time. I arrived ten minutes late, but fifty minutes early for the bus. The first hour and a half on the bus was spent sitting in traffic and driving around Mumbai to the other pick-up points until the bus was mostly full. By the time we were out of Mumbai and climbing through the Ghats rain was falling hard.