I arrived in Mumbai tired, a little worn out, and very sleepy. I had arranged to stay with a couch surfer here in Mumbai, however, the time that I was to arrive didn`t work with cultural mores. So I decided to hang out at Mumbai International until I was able to get a taxi and head to my destination. What to do at 1am, Mumbai time, when stuck in an airport without WI-FI, or a cell phone??? Well for starters you can charge your laptop while testing out your new new outlet adapter, which btw was successful! You can also write, which is exactly what I came here to do:)
My dilemma was such: I had at least 7 hours to kill. I didn't want to leave the airport because I didn't know where to go, or what to do. Also, I was a little frightened to leave the airport at 1 in the morning. I also needed to get internet access as I had not written down my hosts' address or phone number. I couldn't get any networks at the first location I sat down at in the airport. I ventured further. Well actually I tried to get into the Departures area. This was my plan all along. If I get into departures, there is sure to be WIFI, an internet cafe, food, bathrooms, and potentially a place to sleep for the time being. It was a good plan. Except that they try and keep out free-loading foreigners who are not actually departing by plane to another city. Whoops:S I tried to convince everyone that I needed to get into the Departures area so I could buy a plane ticket to another locale, but this strategy didn't work. They redirected me towards the booths where you can purchase a plane ticket, in arrivals, where I had just come from.
In the arrivals hallway I pulled out my laptop to see if there was in fact a WIFI network I could access. Success! My computer finds the Mumbai Int'l network!
Fail! You need to enter in a local cell number to access it:( Or head into Departures to the Security Desk and get an access code/password! "Good grief" as Charlie Brown would say!
So now what? I had remembered seeing a hostels booking place in arrivals. I thought that might be a good place to get information about WIFI. If anyone would be looking for WIFI it would be idiot foreigners who didn't write down crucial information before leaving the country. The hostel place was actually a "Budget Hotels" booking booth. I explained the situation to the guy that worked there. Without a second thought offered to help me out by using his cell phone number. Yay!! At first unsuccessful, however a connection was established and I was able to access my accounts and get my host couchsurfers' address and phone number :)
That was the easy part. The hard part was keeping myself entertained and awake for the next 6 hours until it was morning and I could actually leave the airport :P
My dilemma was such: I had at least 7 hours to kill. I didn't want to leave the airport because I didn't know where to go, or what to do. Also, I was a little frightened to leave the airport at 1 in the morning. I also needed to get internet access as I had not written down my hosts' address or phone number. I couldn't get any networks at the first location I sat down at in the airport. I ventured further. Well actually I tried to get into the Departures area. This was my plan all along. If I get into departures, there is sure to be WIFI, an internet cafe, food, bathrooms, and potentially a place to sleep for the time being. It was a good plan. Except that they try and keep out free-loading foreigners who are not actually departing by plane to another city. Whoops:S I tried to convince everyone that I needed to get into the Departures area so I could buy a plane ticket to another locale, but this strategy didn't work. They redirected me towards the booths where you can purchase a plane ticket, in arrivals, where I had just come from.
In the arrivals hallway I pulled out my laptop to see if there was in fact a WIFI network I could access. Success! My computer finds the Mumbai Int'l network!
Fail! You need to enter in a local cell number to access it:( Or head into Departures to the Security Desk and get an access code/password! "Good grief" as Charlie Brown would say!
So now what? I had remembered seeing a hostels booking place in arrivals. I thought that might be a good place to get information about WIFI. If anyone would be looking for WIFI it would be idiot foreigners who didn't write down crucial information before leaving the country. The hostel place was actually a "Budget Hotels" booking booth. I explained the situation to the guy that worked there. Without a second thought offered to help me out by using his cell phone number. Yay!! At first unsuccessful, however a connection was established and I was able to access my accounts and get my host couchsurfers' address and phone number :)
That was the easy part. The hard part was keeping myself entertained and awake for the next 6 hours until it was morning and I could actually leave the airport :P
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