Pokhara: back to being a tourist among many, and therefore a bag of money.

Today, I biked around a few towns near Pokhara. Kids flocked to my bicycle, all shouting "hello" or "namaste", which is a little annoying after a while but fine. Some of them started asking "Can I ride your bike?" and I said no, because it's not even mine, and I don't think even I can ride it safely. And as the day progressed, kids started asking stuff that made me feel worse.
"Youspen?" Excuse me? "Supen?" What? "A school pen?" Oh. No.
"Hello! Give me sweets!" Er, no.
"Give me your bike!" What?
"Do you read English?" Yes. He produces a notebook containing a written plea for money for their school.
"Hello. Give money." uuuuuuuugggghhh. There are so many things wrong here. You can't blame the kids; they're kids! So whose fault is this? The other people who gave them money? The parents who don't teach their kids that asking random strangers for money is wrong? Whoever it is that put the parents in such a position that they don't teach their kids that asking random strangers for money is wrong? The general sources of all poverty in this world?

Pokhara, meanwhile, is easy, relatively pricey, and I keep running into minor weasels. For example:
Hotel guy: Hello, just a question, can you move your room tomorrow morning, to one just above, same quality also?
Me: Uh, okay.
Hotel guy: Just because we have a group with three people, and that room also has two beds, same room. [my room has a double and a twin. yes, it's silly for me to have 3 people's worth of beds. I don't understand how moving me to another room with 2 beds fixes it.]
Me: Okay.
Hotel guy: So at maybe 8, 9 o'clock tomorrow?
Me: Well, I'll be going to the Peace Pagoda to catch the sunrise, and I don't know when I'll be back. Can I move now?
Hotel guy: Oh, well, someone is there now.
Me: Okay. Well, maybe later in the morning, that is also fine, 9 or 10 o'clock?
Hotel guy: Okay.
Me: Hey, by the way, I meant to ask you about the price. I was quoted 800 rupees ($10), but then told there was a 10% service charge, and I just don't feel good about paying for that. [truth.]
Hotel guy: [anticipating my request] No no no, you see, right now this is a good price.
Me: See, because, the hotel next door, the Hotel Plaza, they gave me a price of 700, with no charge. [also true. And the Blue Heaven two doors down is a palace, for 800. And they both have 24hr hot water, as does every other 800-rupee hotel. And they're not weaseley. I am overpaying by a couple bucks; enough to rankle me, not enough to actually make me pack up all my stuff and switch.]
Hotel guy: No, not possible.
Me: Okay, okay.
Hotel guy: So it is okay, no need to switch rooms, you go to the Peace Pagoda tomorrow, no problem.
Me: Uh, well I can switch if necessary-
Hotel guy: No, no problem, I just remembered I had a couple other rooms, this room and that room and three beds something something
Me: Okay.

Or:
Me: Do you have laundry service?
Other Hotel Guy: Yes, sure. 100 rupees per kilo.
Me: So I can give you my clothes and have them washed by tomorrow?
OHG: Well, maybe tomorrow, maybe next day, depends on weather. We dry them in the sun, so if it is cloudy maybe not tomorrow.
Me: But there are a bunch of spots on the street offering 3-hour laundry. How do they do that, a machine?
OHG: Yes, well sometimes they just say they have a machine and then they actually don't.
Me: Uh, okay. What? So they give you your clothes wet?
[OHG is nodding, smiling, moving on to another conversation topic.]
[Also, OHG is full of crap. The 3-hour laundry places work just fine. Except that one weighed my one change of clothes and tried to charge me for 3kg. I knew that was wrong, as all my stuff together is about 10 lbs, or 4.5kg. I grabbed his spring scale and noticed that the zero point is at 2kg. God!]

Tansen, Nepal: while we're making European comparisons, let's call this the little Bruges

because it's old, pretty, labyrinthine, and there's not a lot to do there but it's worth stopping anyway. Just outside the town, there are woods, Hanuman, and an awesome view you can walk to in about a half hour.

Microsoft interviewer: "How would you move Mt. Fuji?" Best answer: "Ask Hanuman to do it."

Listen, when I keep saying places are the prettiest places ever, just ignore me. At the end of the trip, I'll let you know what's actually the prettiest place ever.

The road to Pokhara

Not much to say; I only had a day there, and spent most of it walking around looking at nice places. Eating Newari food, which includes a few interesting dishes. A few fellow traveler friends and I went to find a coffee plantation. The map said it was there, but no luck, so we just ended up going for a walk.

Which helped me realize: I really like trying to find something. Especially if it's a bit silly, and especially if it's someone else's goal. I don't even care if we find it. Hey, anything you'd like me to find and photograph or something in Nepal, India, Cambodia, etc?

"Just one picture!"

In Indian places that are not full of white people, but are still rich enough that people have cameras, people might ask to take a photo of you. This happened to me first in Amritsar, a couple times in Gangotri, and then a lot in Nainital.

First thought: Sure, whatever!

Second thought: Wait, this is weird. Imagine if I went up to a poor guy making shoes, thought "hey look, a real Indian", and asked for a picture.  That'd be sure to make him feel self-conscious at best, exploited at worst. (granted, there are people who make their living doing this. I don't know how they do it unexploitively. anyway, they're not me.) They're taking a picture of me not because of who I am, but because of what I represent.

Third thought: This is not the same at all as taking a photo of a poor shoemaker (or beggar, or whatever), because the power/class dynamic is in the other direction. The poor shoemaker photo is like if some rich high-roller with a Rolex and a Rolls Royce rolled up to your office while you're working and asked for a photo of you at your computer: weird. But when an Indian asks for your photo because you're white, it's like asking a celebrity for a photo. And it's always nice when celebrities take photos or sign autographs freely, so I should do the same. Further, I will also ask for photos with them; then I will get lots of interesting photos with real Indians.

Fourth thought: I actually don't care about having photos with people I've never met. Drop that last bit.

Fifth thought: Sometimes this is actually a nice interaction. I've had friendly young couples ask politely, I've had three giggling 12-year-olds completely stoked to have a picture with me, I've met cool dudes with good hats.

Finally, I've asked for a photo with an Indian only once, to get a photo with this guy.

(afterwards, of course they wanted these photos also. happy to oblige.)

Last Epic Bus Trip day 2: Mahendranagar-Limbo-Tansen

Got on a bus at 5am. Changed buses at 4pm. Got off a bus at 7pm. Really, it was not all so grim: they were all local buses, sure, which means they're tiny and packed, but the conductor put tall confused me in the front seat ("You sit here. Legs.") so I could stretch out a bit until it got super-packed. The road was mostly flat. A nice Belgian girl named Laura joined the bus at one point. And I listened to the newish album from Big Boi (of Outkast), which is really good. (on my phone, I mean. I needed a break from blaring Bollywood.)

The scenery was surprisingly sleepy. Straight, foggy, and nondescript for hours. It was like something from a movie: our hero drives on through a fog until the fog lifts and he's in bizarro world. (actually, I was thinking, and trying not to think, Silent Hill.) It wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't really pleasant either.

Made it to the small "romantic medieval town" (thanks, Lonely Planet) of Tansen. Only 4 hours from Pokhara now, but I think I'll stay here for a day. It looks nice.

Mahendranagar is dim.

Day one of the last epic bus trip (knock on wood) is complete. I went from Nainital to Haldwani to Banbasa, crossed the border to Nepal, and continued to Mahendranagar. I thought this would only take a few hours; it's tiny on the map. But I started at 9am and didn't arrive until 6pm.

I'm in Mahendranagar. There is not much light anywhere. Signs are not lit up; I had to ask around to find a hotel, any hotel. I wish I could bottle and sell the feeling of relief that happens when you go from "where am I going to sleep in a couple hours?" to "here is a place that is warm enough and likely without bugs big or small."

Still, this is the kind of place that makes me want to get going as soon as possible.

Nainital: the other other Switzerland

(I swear, on the list of "things Indians sweat pretty hard", Switzerland has got to be up there with Volvos. Nainital is I think the third place I've heard described as "little Switzerland".)

Nainital used to be a British hill station, which is to say, rich white people fled to here every year when the weather got hot. It's mainly a few roads around a lake. It's upscale and very nice.

I whiled away a couple days here, although I did spend a lot of that time in Internet cafes trying to figure out the visa/two-month-rule situation. Still, I did take in a couple of the attractions, including boating on the lake and the cable car up to Snow View. From Snow View, appropriately enough, you can see the Himalayas. And shoot BB guns.

It's kinda tacky too, but on the plus side you can explore new worlds of street food including Bhel Puri, roasted peanuts, and "American-style" corn. You can go bowling, listen to a Nepalese rock band on the street, or eat dinner at a Chandni-Chowk-themed restaurant because you already miss Delhi. You can also do some day hiking, horseback riding, pilgrimages, or golf, though I didn't have time to do any of these.

That's not bureaucracy, this is bureaucracy.

This post is long and frustrating and legalese. I won't be offended if you skip it.

I want to go to Nepal and Bhutan from Nov 2-18, then return to India until Jan 2. The problem is that my visa is a 10-year multiple entry visa, valid for up to 6 months at a time, but there's this new "2 month rule" saying that if I leave India, I can't re-enter for 2 months. (this is because of some recent terrorist who was going back and forth to Pakistan, scouting terror sites.)

However, there's a clause in the "2 month rule" which says that travel to neighboring countries for tourism and then re-entering within 2 months, as I'm doing, is fine. However, I want to be sure I can get back into India.

(Note that there is another clause that says that re-entering in 2 months is fine for anyone, if there's a death in the family or emergency or something. This requires FRRO registration, and is not the clause I'm looking at.)

Official site:
The actual law (as of March 9, 2011) is here.

Unofficial officialish sites:

This site says a permit is not required if you carry an itinerary and ticket bookings. You can get authorization at the port of entry (i.e. the Nepal border) or the India embassy in Nepal.

This site says the same thing.

People's experiences online:

This epic thread has over 2200 posts. I'll start from the most recent. At about 2280-2289, people are basically restating the law, as I understand it. #2267 had no problems. Going back a few pages, seems like nobody actually has experience here, just lots of speculation about the law.

This person had gotten the permit and didn't need it. Someone else here had no problem. The officer told him he had wasted his time getting the permit.
This guy had no problems.
This person said two people had recently done it.
One responder (uselessbaba) here had done it last year.

This guy bribed a guard. Not condoning this, but it happened.
I'm omitting a couple threads where people just heard about stuff. "I heard people got turned away" and "I heard people got back in no problem" are not useful answers.
I've not found any threads where someone is actually visiting neighboring countries for tourism and are getting turned away.

So things seem pretty positive on the internet, but I don't want to risk this. Whom can I contact?

"Foreigners holding tourist visas, who after initial entry into India plan to visit another country largely on account of neighbourhood tourism related travel and re-enter India before finally exiting, may be permitted two or three entries, as the case may be, by the Indian Missions/Posts subject to their submission of a detailed itinerary and supporting documentation (ticket bookings)."

What's an Indian Mission/Post? I read further, and the law talks about the FRRO/FRO (Foreigner's Regional Registration Office/Foreigner Registration Officer), so I check the FRRO website, which is useless, except that it has a string of phone numbers. I call them all:
26711384 says visas are at 26711443.
26711443 is a fax.
26195530 answers "FRRO Delhi, dial an extension or wait for an operator", but whether I wait or dial extension 302, no answer ever.
26192634, ext 142 is always busy. (or has long beeps; I assume that means "busy".)
26171944, ext 141 is the same.
26711384 again (because at least I talked to a human) tells me to call 26107940, ext 302.
26107940, ext 302 is busy a couple times, then answers "FRRO Delhi, dial an extension or wait for an operator" and there is no answer.
I give up for now.

I talk to Keith at Sonapani, a seasoned part-time expat, who advises me that the Ministry of Home Affairs (on Mansingh Road in Delhi) is actually the one I want. The MHA is huge, but I find this list of contact info for the Foreigners' Division. I'm in the process of calling them all today. So far:
Anil Goswami's office (23094927) has advised me to call GVV Sharma (23383075).
Anuj Sharma's office (23389286) has advised me to call Vinod Kumar (23381374). 23381374 is listed as PV Sivaraman's number, not Vinod Kumar's.
Vinod Kumar's number (23073645) is a fax machine.
PV Sivaraman's office (23381374) didn't really know what I was talking about, and said I had to come to Delhi to get the permission to re-enter within two months, but I think that means if I'm under the "emergency" clause, which I'm not. Then he gave me some other number, 23382989, and hung up.
GVV Sharma hasn't responded.

So. What to do? Well, the Bhutan trip and plane ticket ($1448) is already paid, so skipping it and staying in India for all 4 months is a really bad option. Nobody's been unsuccessful returning to India. The letter of the law would say that I'm fine. I'm going over land borders, which seem more likely to be friendly. I'll go to the embassy in Kathmandu to see if I can get anything in writing. But still, but still...

... wait! Finally got through to Mr. G.V.V. Sharma, and he knew what I was talking about. And his response was reasonable: contact your local FRO in Nainital. Where? In the SP. The SP? The Suvendra Police. Err, okay.

I ask the internet cafe owner if he knows where the SP is. The SP? The Suvendra Police. Well, just walk out this way. Okay. I find a police station. "Hello sir, can we help you?" Well, I have a tourist visa, I mean a multiple entry tourist visa, and there's this two month... "Sorry, we can't help you here." My heart sank as I feared he'd send me to Delhi, but: "Just go to the SSP." Where is it? "Across the way. You know Tallital? Just ask there." Tallital is 1km away. Great!

After asking a couple of folks and climbing a big hill, I find the SSP: the Superintendant of Police. Superintendant, right. At least I didn't go in there asking for Mr. Suvendra.

I ask for the FRO, and am directed to a side office where a young lady is sitting. For some reason, this is surprising. "Hello. Um... are you the FRO?" Yes, this is his office. I explain my whole story and she tells me that, because I'm on a tourist visa, I can go wherever, I don't have to register with them. (I guess if you're on a work/student/etc visa, you have to register there if you leave/enter the country. Eep!) I explain that there is actually this two month rule for tourists, handing her the printout of the rule (booyah), and can I have something in writing? She says no, no permission is required. Argh argh, I still want something to fall back on if the immigration officer is having a bad day.

I ask, "Can I have the phone number of this office then?" She replies, "Sure. Can I have yours?" Uh, okay. What just happened here? I mean, she is kind of cute. No no, this is India, that is not what just happened here.

But everything clicks a little bit as she explains that when it says "Get permission at the Indian mission/post", that means the border post. Explain my situation as I leave India, and somehow get permission to re-enter. And if I have any problems, I can call her. Excellent.

So! Tomorrow: Nepal, here we go!