1. My suitcase was ripped open somewhere along the journey from Canada to India. At least I manged to replace it before needing to get on a plane from Dehli to Mumbai.
2. Less than stellar place to sleep – you don’t always know what you’re getting yourself into.
3. Trip date changes – we were originally planning on spending 4 weeks in India and had made all arrangements around that plan. A shortened time line has left me scrambling to buy plane new tickets, make changes to existing tickets and try to find hotels in Mumbai at 7am for the same day. On the bright side, I do get to spend extra time with my friends and co-workers in Manila now.
4. What can I say about the hotel arrangements? Most hotels were booked solid and couldn’t accommodate us for the entire duration. We’ve had to hotel hop just to have a place to stay. 4 days in one hotel, check out at 7am, check in to new hotel at 9am (travel time). 2 days in that hotel and we hop to another one…
5. Crazy schedule – I know we need to meet a lot of people, but it’d be nice if the schedules weren’t back to back meetings for 10 hours. An occasional bathroom break or lunch time slot would be nice.
6. Our cab was in a car accident.
7. I kicked a toddler.
8. My VPN connection doesn’t work so I can’t access work email from inside the office. I have to connect in from the hotel before and after heading to the office. Network guys haven’t figured out the problem yet *whaaaa*
9. Assuming the hotel has an Internet connection.
10. And that the hotel’s Internet connection is actually functioning at that time.
11. My cell phone isn’t working properly. I can get incoming calls but can’t make outgoing calls. I’ve paid a small fortune so I can call my husband and can’t use the damn phone! The phones were originally barred after 5 days because the Simm card dealer didn’t file the paperwork. Ted’s phone was sorted out, but mine took an extra day.
12. Then, they didn’t turn on nationwide roaming – so when we shifted to Pune my phone stopped working. Anyone traveling to India who needs a cell phone connection should avoid HUTCH like the plague! I’m now working on day 4 without a working cell phone and reliable connection to North America. I haven’t spoken to my husband since arriving in India weeks ago. I’m looking forward to Manila, where I know the cell service well and can easily hook up my phone to call home.
13. Despite having multiple email confirmations that I booked 3 rooms in Pune, when we arrived at the hotel, they only had two reservations on file. Luckily, they had an available room so Subhasish has a place to sleep.

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