Mumbai Day One

Our India travels started at the very swish Terminal 5 Heathrow on Thursday. Not sure why the media criticised it so much- it is a wonderful terminal with a light, airy feel, really nice shops and restaurants and with a very international feel- just perfect for jetting off on a long-haul flight from.

The flight was due to take-off at 9.30pm but it actually pushed back at 10pm as two would-be passengers had checked-in at the airport but had not boarded the flight. We marvelled at what might be so enthralling in T5 that you would actually miss your flight for it. Anyway, their luggage was removed and the flight left without them. The flight otherwise was without incident and so it was that we left a rainy, cold and dark Heathrow.

Fast-forward eight hours and we landed in Mumbai and into 30 degrees C sunshine. The time difference saw us landing at lunch time. Our ride to the hotel from the airport was a real culture shock. We’ve been to Bangkok so thought we were pretty much prepared for large Asian cities but Mumbai takes the biscuit- it is absolutely chaotic and with zero apparent road rules. The good news is that the traffic moves so slowly that even if you did have an accident, there would be no chance of a serious injury (something our driver gleefully pointed out to us). Cars, buses, rickshaws, bikes, pedestrians, the odd dog, goat and cow just go all over the road in a totally random fashion.

Our hotel is on the lovely Juhu beach in north Mumbai, overlooking the Arabian Sea. Forget any images of European beaches- Indians do not sunbathe or sit around on loungers on the beach as we do. The beach here seems to be a grand promenade. By evening, hundreds of stalls had been brought onto the beach and it took on a real carnival atmosphere. Fires were lit, kites were being flown in the twilit sky, hawkers touted their wares, hundreds of people strolled along in the shallow surf and on the beach, and candyfloss and soft drink sellers were everywhere. This was something purely aimed at Indians and not tourists. Indeed, we were the only two white faces on the whole beach last night.

It was an amazing first half-day here in India. We had a delicious veggie curry for dinner and slept like babies in our room overlooking the moonlit Arabian Sea.

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