It isn’t uncommon to feel a little homesick while traveling abroad. You might miss your friends, parents, food that is familiar to you, or perhaps just your daily routine.

I suppose I miss all of these but nothing like I miss broadband. I yearn for the days when I had speedy downloads and Skype video conferences at the click of a button. The cyber cafes simply don’t cut it. Their speeds are simply too slow, their software outdated, and their times inconvenient. What has surprised me most is how slow my connection at work in India is. I am lucky if I pull 20 kbps to a reputable internet site. Downloading essential programs has turned into a multi-day affair.

I fear that my disconnectedness is hurting me where it hurts the most - my wallet and my relationships. My parents called me on my cellphone using Skype, but I had already gone to bed and I was quite sleepy when I woke up. I have spent quite a few rupees on cellphone minutes but yesterday I ran out of minutes on my cellphone. To compound the problem, an email that should have been sent to Kathryn while I was at work somehow remained in my drafts. The outbound connection at work is so slow at times that  downloads and gmail connections randomly stop. My coworkers have told me the network has been abnormally slow these past two days.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel for the apartment, but it’s no fiber optic pipeline. I purchased a 256kbps DSL from Airtel and it should be installed sometime today or tomorrow. Is running internet just as important as running water? Who needs a cup of tea in the morning unless you can enjoy it over a couple emails and youtube videos?

Having stocked up on enough laptop batteries to last me from Newark to Paris, it was a very enjoyable flight which I shared with some favorite tv shows and movies. Taking Air India was a pretty good choice. The food was excellent –curried mutton with potatoes and unlimited red wine. I was still full from the excellent Portuguese dinner I had with my parents before I left, but I made some room. The seats, however, were pretty uncomfortable. Thankfully, I purchased a new Bose noise cancelling headphones since my other headphones broke. The crying baby was mostly inaudible and I passed the time writing an offline email to Kathryn.

There was a very short stop in Paris and we headed on to Mumbai. This flight was 8 hours long, but it felt twice as long as the 7 hour flight we had just completed. I slept half of the way and then woke up and browsed the in flight movies and spoke with my seatmate who worked with IBM AS400 mainframes as a consultant.

Arriving in Mumbai was exciting. You could see how hot it was outside by the amount of condensation outside the plane windows. I met another Indian friend while exiting the aircraft who was heading to Bangalore on the same flight I was. We tagged together and made it through security mostly okay. They were very curious why I had 6 laptop batteries in my handbag.

The flight to Bangalore was very quick – an hour or so. Unfortunately, my first experiences in Bangalore weren’t exactly happy. They flagged my camera bag and started to inspect it in customs. They wanted to charge me $280 duty tax because “very expensive camera, very expensive camera.” I argued with the guy saying I didn’t have $280 and that I couldn’t pay it. This went back and forth for a good 10 minutes, before I said, I can pay $100. I handed him $100, he looked around, and then let me go, but he couldn’t give me a receipt. This left me feeling angry, but hey, not so bad.

It was 2am in Bangalore, but you couldn’t tell because the airport was just swarming with porters, people asking if you wanted a taxi ride, and other travelers. The porters are a sly bunch. They ran up and started “helping” me with my cart of bags. I’m perfectly capable of moving a cart and told him “no thanks,” and “I don’t have any money.” Another porter came up and said, “no, no problem, we help.” Well, after moving all of about 100 yards, they wanted $20. I gave the guy who actually helped me $5 and he eventually left. Live and learn…be firm at telling these guys “no” or I’m going to be ripped off.

The departures section of the airport was closed and I had to wait outside until 4:30 when they opened. I sat outside the ticket office and guarded my bags. My flight to Pune wasn’t leaving until 6am.

The flight to Pune was by far the most enjoyable – many thanks to Kingfisher Airlines. Incredibly well ran and a very delightful flight complete with excellent food, techno radio station, the most comfortable seats, and a cold glass of fresh orange juice served by a friendly stewardess. I entirely forgot about the duty tax guy in Bangalore as the sun rose and I started to really see India for the first time out of my window.

When I got to Pune, I picked up my luggage and headed out to find a taxi. Crap – I have no rupees and the bank is closed. I finally found a taxi who agreed to take my American money and drive me to the hotel. I got ripped off since I ended up paying $15 instead of what should have cost $8, but that’s the price you pay…

The Gordon House Hotel is great and is only $100 a night, including free breakfast and A/C, and internet for 100 Rs/hour (about $2). I took a shower, charged up the appliances, unpacked a little, and then headed out. I found out there’s a jazz club and a large movie theater part of the hotel. I wandered down some streets and was amazed. People drive all over the road and they all drive bikes. There are hardly any cars except for a few compacts. The rickshaws are nuts and drive all over the road – if you survive, it’s legal?

Food is incredibly cheap. Disobeying all warnings, I ate some roadside food. I bought some fried onion things that sort of resemble latkes but rolled into a ball with spices and spicy green salted peppers on the side, served in a cut up piece of newspaper. They were incredible and incredibly cheap at 6 rupees (about 25 cents!). Everything is cheap. I took a rickshaw to Parvati, which is a temple in the center of the city which overlooks the entire area, for 73 rupees ($1.50). You aren’t even supposed to tip them.

Parvati Temple was beautiful. I met two Indians who were happy to talk to me about America and India. They showed me around the temple and translated the signs, such as “take off your shoes” and “no photography.” The hike up was invigorating. I hadn’t had a full night’s sleep in over 5 days and I had been traveling for 25 hours, but it felt good. I took some pictures where allowed and explored the museum full of ancient Indian artifacts (only 5 rupees!).

When I got back home, I was incredibly hot and feeling a bit wiped. I decided to take a nap at 5pm which ended up turning into sleep until 1am. I caught Kathryn online and we skyped for awhile. I miss her and it was great to see her again! We’re still trying to plan a trip to Cairo which I really hope works out.

I had skipped dinner and needed food badly so I ordered some room service. Two hundred rupees at 2am buys you a large portion of chicken biryani complete with cucumber sauce and fresh sliced vegetables. Simply incredible.

I called another hotel and booked a night there for half the price I’m paying right now. Hopefully it will be as good. I also emailed IBM asking for, uh, where do I show up and when? That could be helpful, but I wouldn’t mind spending a few days exploring Pune. I plan on visiting Pataleshvara Cave Temple and Aga Khan Palace (where they filmed the movie for Ghandi) tomorrow. My body isn’t in US time or India, but caught somewhere in between. I am going to try to get some sleep now. Once I get Photoshop up and running, I’ll post the pictures I took.