First off, Dolly is feeling much better today, and even by yesterday afternoon she was able to accompany me on a long auto ride across town to the FRRO office, where I need to register if I want to stay more than 180 continuous days. Its a 20km trip, about 12 miles, which might not sound so bad, but its continous traffic, top speeds of about 30 kph, and air so thick with exhaust that you can chew it. It took and hour to get there, including a ridiculous traffic jam where the cars and buses and autos managed to get wound into a deadlock where no one was able to move forward. Eventually, the police came and backed up individual cars to create space to let the knot untangle.
After all of that, we were at the wrong f&^%ing office. Its difficult to figure out what to do and where to go and with what forms. I am now past the 14 day mark, after which there's a fine, so now I'm just going to wait until Bilaspur, where it won't necessarily be any easier, but some of the paperwork (especially proof of Indian address) will be easier to come by.
Last night Dolly and I both drove the Deepika's scooter for the first time. It only took a few minutes to get the hang of the controls, and it was easy to drive on the side streets. It was much more stressful when we had to go a few dozen meters down the main road - a right turn across busy traffic, and then another U-turn to get to the shop where we were going. Between the new controls, driving on the left, and traffic it was a stressful few feet. Leaving the store, we couldn't figure out how to get the scooter started again and had to ask for help.
After that errand, Dolly took a few practice passes up and down the road. She started out slow and cautious, and got better. She was wobbly at first when she tried to ride with me as a passenger, but she got the hang of it. There was one close call - when she went to turn around at the end of a narrow alley, she gave the scooter a little gas to help turn (turning the right handle accelerates), and it started getting away from her. The scooter pulling away caused her to turn the handle even more and she almost drove the scooter up into someones gate. We have videos, but the house internet is down... we may post some later.
After all of that, we were at the wrong f&^%ing office. Its difficult to figure out what to do and where to go and with what forms. I am now past the 14 day mark, after which there's a fine, so now I'm just going to wait until Bilaspur, where it won't necessarily be any easier, but some of the paperwork (especially proof of Indian address) will be easier to come by.
Last night Dolly and I both drove the Deepika's scooter for the first time. It only took a few minutes to get the hang of the controls, and it was easy to drive on the side streets. It was much more stressful when we had to go a few dozen meters down the main road - a right turn across busy traffic, and then another U-turn to get to the shop where we were going. Between the new controls, driving on the left, and traffic it was a stressful few feet. Leaving the store, we couldn't figure out how to get the scooter started again and had to ask for help.
After that errand, Dolly took a few practice passes up and down the road. She started out slow and cautious, and got better. She was wobbly at first when she tried to ride with me as a passenger, but she got the hang of it. There was one close call - when she went to turn around at the end of a narrow alley, she gave the scooter a little gas to help turn (turning the right handle accelerates), and it started getting away from her. The scooter pulling away caused her to turn the handle even more and she almost drove the scooter up into someones gate. We have videos, but the house internet is down... we may post some later.
