The monsoon rains here aren't those of Mexico or Florida. In the Americas, the dark clouds form, the rain falls for half an hour or an hour, the lightening and thunder join in, and then it passes on. The sun reappears and everyone is happy. Here, perhaps due to global warming, or maybe it's normal, the dark clouds form, the rain falls, there isn't much lightening or thunder, and the rain continues falling. Maybe it tapers off later, but most often it doesn't. The sun doesn't reappear either. But everyone is happy.
Yesterday, I had an appointment at 1:30 far from my hotel. As I walked to it, I saw a sandwich vendor and thought, "That's where I'll buy lunch when I return." Had I stuck with my original plan of buying the sandwich and eating it back in my room, I would have arrived at my hotel at about 2:47. But stupid me, I passed a street vendor selling sweet sausages and I was too tempted. So I sat down and had a plate of rice and sweet sausages. The sausages tasted good, but they were too tough - Sign number one that I'd made a mistake. Then, when I paid for the meal, I was charged 2.5 times what I'd paid for them at a different vendor some days before. Sign number two that I'd made a mistake. Then, as I continued walking back to the hotel, rain drops began falling. I don't have to tell you that that was sign number three. I say that these were bad signs because I had an important call to make at 3pm, but I'd left the number at the hotel. I made it within 10 minutes of my hotel before the rain came down like cats and dogs. It poured. And poured, and poured. It was about 2:49 when it began. As I stood under a store cover waiting, I watched the large clock on the Ben Thahn marketplace tick by. 2:53, 2:59, 3:04, 3:08. I scanned the sky for any opening - any sign that it would stop. There was none.
And so, I was forced to re-enact what I'd done so many times in the MC rains. I ran into the rain, crossing semi-flooded streets, getting completely drenched, and wondering how I was going to get upstairs to my room in the hotel without getting the hotel all wet. People watched as I ran, rain jacket free (when I bring it, it doesn't rain. When I don't...), my hair dripping wet, my shorts and tank top soaked. When I arrived at the alleyway where my hotel was, I was surprised; the alley was flooding. I hadn't seen it like that in the previous 2 weeks of being there. I continued running to the hotel and all I could think of was what I'd witnessed a few days before:
walking down the alleyway towards the main street, I had seen a woman pour a pan of oil into one of the drain holes into the ground. I couldn't believe it (well, actually I could). It had boggled my mind. Lord knows how many others did the same thing.
And so now I was having to put my feet through dirty water because the locals willingly clog the pipes. I arrived at the hotel, got upstairs, made the phone call, dried off and then returned downstairs. When I looked out the door, the water in the alley had risen considerably; I was lucky I had arrived when I did!
An hour or two later, after the rains had stopped and the alley flooding had receded, I left to go find some food. I walked in the opposite direction this time. When I got to the end of the alley, I was shocked. The main street directly in front, and as far as I could see to the right was severely flooded. It was impossible to cross to the other side, though some motorbikes and bicycles were passing by. I wish I had had my camera with me, but I didn't. So there are no pics of the Great Flood.
