Real Money Trouble

I have been pretty lucky, that with nearly two years of traveling, I have not had any major crisis, requiring me to sell my things to avoid imprisonment or anything like that. I had brought along a gold chain for that purpose, but then I forgot it in a hotel room in Varanasi. That was like losing $100. I have had a few slight scares, however.

The first came the day I flew to Melbourne, Australia. I had been used to using my credit card for all transactions while I was in New Zealand. I tried make an online booking of a room at the YHA, but my credit card was denied. Then I received an email from the bank, stating that they had deactivated my card because of fraudulent activity.

I spent the rest of the day on the phone trying to clear things up with the bank. Apparently, someone in Atlanta, was attempting to use my credit card number, to make purchases at Walmart. They agreed to send me a new card, to my YHA address in Melbourne. And I switched to cash only transactions from that point onward.

For cash only transactions, I would have to rely on ATM's to withdraw money from my account. While there are ATM's almost everywhere, not every ATM works with every card. I told the story of my experience in Indonesia in Stuck in Labuan Bajo and Leaving Labuan Bajo.

Before I crossed the border from Thailand into Laos, I read in my guide book that there was only one ATM in Laos, and it was located in the capital city Vientiane. So, I stocked up on Thai Bahts, only to find a brand new ATM as I crossed the border. Laos then became the only country where I had to regularly utilize money changers.

In Cambodia, the US dollar is the main currency. The Cambodian currency is used as change for amounts less than $1. There, I exhausted my stash of US dollars, and it did not occur to me to restock before leaving the country, even though I knew the ATM's dispensed US dollars.

During my first week in India, the world economic crisis captured the headlines with the failed US banks. One of the banks that failed was Washington Mutual or WaMu, for short. That was my bank. A slight panic set in. What was going to happen to my money? A couple days later, Chase bought them out. My money was safe. But what about my ATM card?

WaMu's website indicated that there will be a smooth transition. Account numbers will be the same. ATM cards will continue to work. No need to panic. But a few weeks later, I had cause to panic in Ernakulam. I was frantically running from one ATM to another and getting error messages like, “Card not valid” and “Transaction canceled, contact issuing branch”. Eventually, I found an ATM that worked. The State Band of India, SBI, turned out to be the only bank, in India, I could reliably count on to give me money when I wanted it.

In Nepal, I had to delay my departure from Katmandu by one day, because I was once again getting those error messages, and I didn't have enough money to pay for my hotel room. There is an SBI branch in Katmandu, but it accepts only VISA cards. Mine was Mastercard. But the next day, one of the other ATM's worked. It must have been a temporary disruption of service. Katmandu, after all, gets just 4 – 8 hours of electricity a day.

I continued my travels without a care in the world until June 30th, in Chamba. There are two ATM's in Chamba, and they are both at the same SBI location. One said “Card not valid”, the other “Transaction canceled, contact issuing branch”. Same thing the next day. The bank insisted there was nothing wrong with the machines or the communications. Other people had no trouble.

I spent the day in the manager's office trying to get money. “If I show you my bank statement, can I write a check?” “No, we are not authorized to accept personal checks.” “Can I apply for a loan?” “No, we can not give you a loan. You have to be a resident.” “What are my options? Do I have to go out on the streets and beg for money?” “We're sorry, there is really nothing we can do to help you.” For the first time, SBI failed me.

I eventually asked my brother to send me money via Western Union, so I could get out of Chamba. But the question remained. Was it the ATM or was it my card? I decided to go to Dharamsala. This is where the Dalai Lama lives, and lots of tourists visit, so I figured it would be a better place to be to fix whatever was wrong.

On the 4th of July, after checking into a guesthouse, in McLeod Ganj, the “busy little traveler town”, according to my guide book, just north of Dharamsala, I went in search of the SBI ATM. “Card not valid.” So, I asked my brother to check if, by chance, Chase had sent me a new card. He checked and replied that they had, and that my old card would stop working at the end of June. Now, I can't be angry with my brother. It would be unreasonable for me to expect him to check my mail everyday to let me know when something important comes. I couldn't keep up with it, myself, when I was back in Indiana.

That night, I called the bank and explained my situation. They agreed to send me a new card, at my address in McLeod Ganj. I should receive it in 3 – 4 days. 3 – 4 days later, I asked the monks if they had received a package for me. (My guesthouse is run by a Tibetan Buddhist monastery.) After a week, it still had not arrived. I logged into my account and found a message saying they were sorry for the inconvenience, but they could not issue a card to an address outside the US. What?!

I called the bank again. I was told, by the lady on the line, that the card had not yet been sent, but would be sent a a few days to the address on file. No, no no. I explained about my call the previous week. I was put on hold. She came back and said it will be sent to the address in India. I asked her how it will be sent. She said by regular mail. I said no, that will take four weeks, I need it to be expressed. I was put on hold again. A manager came on the phone and said that it had already been sent via FedEx, it was already in India, and she gave me the tracking number.

I felt better. The package was in Chandigargh. I should get it within 2 days. But then I started to wonder, why is it sitting in Chandigargh for 2 days? It was sent on July 6th, arrived in Delhi on the 8th, arrived in Chandigargh on the 9th. It was now the 11th. It does not take 2 – 4 days to travel from Chandigargh to Dharamsala!

I tried contacting FedEx. Finally on the morning of 13th, I got an answer from them. Dharamsala is not on a regular delivery route. I should expect to receive it on the 17th. They will try for the 16th, but definitely by the 17th. So, Dharamsala was not a better place to be. A few hours later, while I was in the shower, there was a knock on the door. It was FedEx delivering my package, 9 days after I requested it. FedEx is not express everywhere, but I had received my card, it worked, and all was well with the world – my world, that is.