From Jester To King VIII

The next leg of my trip took me to India, not much to report there. But some news on the transit portal.

The transit portal now runs Delhi–Tokyo so if you get on the metro at Connaught and just stay on as far as it goes, the compartment itself will change to a Tokyo subway carriage (new style with the head braces) and you’ll then be free to get off at whichever Tokyo station you fancy. I found the separate breathing compartment claustrophobic and was often on the brink of a full-scale panic attack. Imagine having your head and shoulders locked in to a helmet device attached to the ceiling, not pleasant! A few of the passengers were scrutinising me, particularly a young father cradling toddler-daughter but I might have been imagining this. Downside is you won’t realise you’re dead until you actually start walking outside in Tokyo proper. For example as I was marvelling and wondering how it was all possible -- I’d got out at one of the grand marble staircase Matsushita department store exits that come out by the Ritz Carlton and Hinokicho Park, the ones that take for ever to actually get you outside in the air, and before having the opportunity to even call Shintaro my go-to person in Tokyo -- it suddenly dawned on me that I was in fact dead, and when I tried to confirm such realisation with the nearest passer-by, it was like he wasn’t allowed to say. Well he wouldn’t say and it was irritating to say the least! I knew I was dead but I felt the least someone could do was tell me to my face. Incidentally it wasn’t bad at all and I don’t know what all the fuss is about, no better or worse than being in a different place. Passport required for the return stretch which is not yet covered.

Vietnam (Hanoi) was also a place I’d seen before. But you’ll still have to scale the Cliff of Gao to reach the official border crossing where you buy your visa -- it’s right at the top -- and I was so scared I froze and was literally about to ask one of the guards if they could help me down before the prospect of seeing Thomas and the kids geed me up to endure. No cellular connection however at this point, so bring a satellite phone? The surface is this Xtra Stick Grit but trust me the 75% incline is not pleasant. Why on earth they have ice cream parlours and Rive Gauche-style boutiques past the de facto crossing is beyond me. You won’t have any Dong on you and won’t be able to partake. Also, very popular with American teenage girls, make of this what you want.