Colaba, Elephanta and the gateway of India

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HI Everyone!

I am having a wonderful relaxing weekend here in Mumbai. It is nice to have a break after our week of roughing it at the lepor colony in Panvel. I spent yesterday shopping in Colaba-the epicenter of tourism. It is such a vast contrast to the northern part of the city-no auto rickshaws or trash in sight! The streets are lined with vendors selling everything from handbags to spices and the hustle and bustle is incredible. The architecture is beautiful and the majority of the buildings were constructed during the British rule. After a trip to Barista for some iced mochas (my new favorite Mumbai hangout!), we began our shopping adventure. We spent about 4 hours and managed to make it only two blocks!! The fabric is amazing here-the colors are so vibrant and detailed. I finally got myself another pair of pants for about five bucks ( they are very reminicent of Aladdin), since I severly underpacked for this trip! I figured that I would just walk of the plane and pick up some Indian stuff to blend a little better-not so much after 20 hours of travel!

We hit up Mocha (a hookah bar and lounge) for some tomato basil mozzerella panini's. It was nice to get some actual protein into my diet, since it is lacking with the wonderful Indian cuisine we are provided with. I finished off my night washing my dirty laundry in a bucket and taking a shower with a cup (Phil-the Braddock Park shower is going to seem like it's out of one of those Kohler commercials when I get back!!!!).

I spent today heading back down to Colaba to catch a ferry to Elephanta Island. It is home to Mumbai's most historical tourist attraction- a temple containing carvings of Shiva and other hindu deities. The carvings are some of the oldest in India. We ventured down to the Gateway of India (an archway built to commemorate a state visit by King George V in 1924) to catch the ferry. The hour ride across the harbor was a bit bumpy and wet, even though we paid an extra 20 rupees for the deluxe boat! Upon arrive to the island, we walked along a jetty that curved around to the stairs (all 100 of them!) leading to the temple. The stone stairway was lined with vendors selling wooden elephants (strange...there are no elephants on elephanta!), metallic Gnesh statues and jewerly. We also ran into some monkeys! They were adorable, but probably infected with rabies!! Don't worry, I stayed far away! When we finally made it to top, the temple was beautiful. It is amazing that people hand carved the columns and sculptures from solid rock. The highlight was a three headed Shiva sculpture that was about 40 feet tall!

After our voyage back to port, we headed off to Leopolds-a hotspot famous for it's tourist scene. One large chicken club, fries and a diet coke later, I feel ready for another week of Indian! I can't believe I actually made it a week without meat! Then it was back onto the train and into an auto rickshaw blarring Punjabi hiphop (a very nice way to block out the honking!) that we finally made it safely back to the guesthouse.

My rotations start again tomorrow morning, I'm heading off to the Acworth Leprosy hospital in the morning and than to a private clinic in the afternoon. We will be finishing early all this week, which will give us a chance to continue to explore the craziness that is Mumbai.

To everyone that was down the cape this past week, I hope that you had a wonderful time and drank lots of Sangria!

Ren-I know that you are going to recover in no time. You are bionic! I will be on the search for some Indian healing remedies to send back to assist in your recovery. Enjoy your time to chill out and catch up on those blogs!

Mike Metrick, yes you! Please allow phil to attend your cape functions without me there- he is the best and your parties would be nothing without him!!! I am still on the hunt for that Indian mojito mix that I know you were looking for, I will send it asap!

I will be in Mumbai for the remainder of my trip, so that means lots and lots of blogs to look forward to! Talk to you all soon!

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