Monday, February 22, 2010

Day of Nothing: The Third

Thirty minutes after falling asleep I was woken up by free airplane food. I ate it with much gusto, but was quick to note that I now had a short two and a half hours left to sleep before landing.

Out I went again, and then as wheels hit tarmac I awoke, trying with all I could to keep my eyes open and my mind alert enough to get off the plane and grab my bags. This proved to be far harder than I could have imagined. I do recall not being thanked for flying with the airline – this shocked me as it was the first time people haven't been warning and smiling at the door wishing you well, while thinking about their plans for the evening. Then I was grabbing my bag from the moving belt.

Security must have been passed through. I must have been stamped into the country too – oh that's right. It's coming back to me now. I had to pay $70.00 for the pleasure of entering the country and then I cleared security. Next I know I was in McDonald's eating a breakfast bagel. I must have went to an ATM before this though. Then I was standing in front of a giant t.v. screen showing footage of Super Street Fighter IV. And it was wonderful. I stared at that until it ended and became a trailer for a movie with Matt Damon.

By this point I had wasted three hours, and it was 7:30. Only half an hour more until my shuttle would show up. By this point it was everything I could do to keep my eyes open. I also started to doubt that I gave the shuttle driver the right date. The next thirty seven minutes were quite worrying, then I was in a minibus by myself. I fell asleep. I woke up. There was a road black. Then I was in my hostel, heading up to reception. It was 8:30 and I needed sleep more than anything else I could imagine, but – fun fact – I couldn't gain access to my room until two in the afternoon.

I'll just cut to the chase – the next six hours were spent on the internet in a haze of exhaustion. Much music was downloaded and listened to. At two I went to my room, and by this point I could not sleep. I did lie awake for a few hours, and when I decided it was time to do something real with the day it was dark.

I still didn't trust myself to wander outside in my mind-altered state. I felt like it would be fine, and yet I knew that I needed sleep before I'd be able to make sense of things. Instead I went to the McDonald's down the street and ate food. There may have been tomatoes involved? There was also ice cream. But not good ice cream, it tasted like the strange ice-milk from the mid nineties.

And then I was falling asleep around midnight. At midnight everyone else in the dorm room was getting dressed and ready to go out for the night. Perhaps tomorrow I'll be able to go explore the city and see some things.

This transit day was a strange and odd one, and is riddled with holes of lost time. Most hostels I've been to would have let me check in earlier – especially if check out is at 10am. Welcome back to Hostel International rules and regulation.

On the plus side – the shower? Wonderful.

1 comment:

  1. Travel days like that are gruesome. You'll be fine after a good sleep and ready to hit the streets again. Still enjoying following along with your adventure.

    Where are you now?

    ReplyDelete

 
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