- trapped in Ahmedabad - and ill!
Gujarat's capital city is not one of our favourite places, to be sure, and we were keen to leave as soon as possible. but, regrettably, today was not to be as planned - the chief reason for which was Edd. [Edd: I'd woken at around midnight after finally managing to grab a mere moment's shut eye after hours of restless turning. hot, feverish and delirious, the malaise of the previous afternoon had returned with venom.] despite all of the wet towels, neither of us had got much sleep and Edd's temperature wasn't going down either. Philippa excelled in the Florence Nightingale role despite not inconsiderable anxiety on her part. damp sheets were administered to fevered brows and the towels were soaked again (in the shower!). we gave it a few hours, during which Edd faded in and out of consciousness and flailed around a lot. allegedly. when the just before 5am alarm went off for our departure for the state bus to Palitana, Philippa made the entirely common sense executive decision that we weren't catching any buses today. we'd be stuck in Ahmedabad for at least another day.
since Edd was a limp wreck, we waited a few hours of still hotness before Philippa asked the management if there was an AC room to which we could retreat. taking the fan-only room to save money, in this instance, had proven to be a false economy. fortunately, the hotel was able to oblige, with a replacement just around the corner. although smaller in overall size, it was further away from the road and outside noise and had a truly chilling AC. perversely, after spending so long trying to keep Edd cool, the main problem now was ensuring that that he didn't get too cold! within a few hours, Edd had gone from shower-soaked towels and sheets to being wrapped in a blanket. but it did mean that both is us finally got some sleep.
hours passed.
Edd began to feel a little stronger, as well as hungry! so, we ate a late lunch downstairs, our first food of the day. our desire to leave Ahmedabad was now, of course, stronger than ever, and Edd felt well enough for us to take a rickshaw to the state bus stand and repeat yesterday's paltry transaction, with the seat numbers we were given even being suspiciously identical. this time we had the added bonus of being served by a woman with enough English to tell us the journey's duration (6 hours) and place of departure in the station, so it wasn't quite a Groundhog Day situation. the weather was stuck on repeat, however; stifling, intense heat, untroubled by any breeze and exacerbated by air chewy with pollutants.
Ahmedabad was one of the 10 most polluted cities in the world a few years ago, and we doubt very much that this will have changed. our sometimes inaccurate guidebook states that 60,000 new vehicles squeeze onto its roads every year. at this rate, you won't be able to see from one side of the street to the other for exhaust fumes. Philippa phoned her mum from a nearby STD stand, while at a counterpart, Edd tried to change our Palitana bookings to accommodate the day's delay. the phone number was now out of order and, while something of a change from not being answered, this seems to happen whenever you need to get hold of someone. Palitana seems to be a two hotel town, and we managed to secure a rather expensive (AC) room for tomorrow at Option #2.
once more we pass the house which no longer has any sides to speak of.today, we feel a strange kindred with it.
the icy arms of the AC encircled us again when we got back to the Hotel Good Night. getting out and about had been a good move despite the discomfort of doing so in the middle of the afternoon. a new ticket meant a new way out of the city, cause enough for celebration. it's difficult to say if we would be less hard on Ahmedabad if Edd had not been so ill, but we think that our viewpoints would not differ that greatly. by the late afternoon, Edd was well enough to nip out on his own and walk the few hundred yards to the internet cafe to do a little blogging and emailing. after a day spent in bed half-watching television, it was important to get out and do something before going completely stir crazy, almost as much as because healthy levels had been restored. this blog is falling far behind, now, after enforced absences from internet cafes and uploading restrictions. it's frustrating and annoying, but we're doing everything that we can - we hope you understand!
our second, final meal in Ahmedabad was taken at the Kalapi. after all of Edd's health woes, he was reduced to eating sweet and sour veg and boiled rice in a country stocked with such exquisite foodstuffs. we repeated our drinks purchase journey of yesterday for another early start, this time pursued by a relentless beggar woman who actually ran after Philippa in a dashed street pursuit before Edd intervened. the locals, clearly no fans of the homeless, joined in and told her to clear off in no uncertain terms. the final result was the opposite of what we would have intended, but the general aim of many beggars here appears to be so vexatious that payment is made to get rid of them, an attitude that can be too much to deal with sometimes.
in a room far more suited to sleep before a journey, we found ourselves watching the sci-fi martial arts mess of a film that is Black Mask II - City of Masks. genetic mutants disguised as professional wrestlers were turning into strange, uncontrollable beasts, and only a rogue genetically engineered enhanced human could save us; provided he could escape the attentions of his counterpart and nemesis sent to kill him by the super-brain that designed them both, as well as avoid turning into a panther. it's worth noting that we checked, and Edd's fever had not returned, nor had Philippa contracted one. nevertheless, it seemed a suitably hallucinogenic end to a feverish and best forgotten day.
it felt a lot like we had lost a whole day of our trip for a stupid hat error. [Edd: Philippa had done a fantastic job of bringing me around and out of the fever.] we crossed all possible appendages and prayed we'd be out of here, finally, tomorrow.
all the best
edd & philippa
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