Free beer in one of the best hotels in the world!

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I've just uploaded pics for the last two blogs and will do ones for this one later.

I've got a bit carried away with typing again here but the first paragraph summarises everthing pretty much.

Wow! In one awesome day I have had about the biggest contrast in lifestyle possible! It went from my dingy hotel and lunch that was a couple of Samosas with sauce in a local cafe to drinking beers in some of the best hotels in the world and partying until 2.30 in one of the best clubs in town!

I arrived in Mumbai at something like 5am off the train (which turned out to be another great and very different journey). To cut costs I hooked up with a couple of guys from Finland (who have been travelling around with their paragliders!) to share a taxi and a hotel room. After way too much running around trying to find a hotel with a spare room we resorted to using a random drunk guy off the street to help us find a cheap room (he was after commision of course).

After checking in, the guys from Finland were tired so went to bed for a couple of hours (this turned out to be the last I saw of them). Since I had only two days to visit Mumbai and lots of stuff to sort out I headed straight out (about 8am by this point).

I used the internet for a while and then started the long-ish walk back towards the train station where I also needed to use the nearby post office. First impressions of Mumbai were, as often before, crap and I didn't like the place but after walking around for a while I soon started to pick up the atmosphere and notice all the things going on around me aswell as the beautiful colonial buildings everywhere. Today I even saw a game of cricket taking place in the middle of a road! And not a quiet road either - there was always cars driving through and disrupting play! India is really guaranteed to suprise you every day.

Sooner or later I came to the post office (a beautiful colonial building)where I successfully managed (I hope) to post a load of souveniers and stuff I wasn't using home. I also managed to dodge a couple of guys who tried to scam me and take money off me (including the post office staff) which put me in a good mood.

Next stop was the train station (also a beautiful colonial building) where I had to buy my ticket out of the place for the following day - I forgot to pick it up in the morning in my rush to get out of the place.

After this I decided to head back to Colaba - the popular area where I was staying that is also home to India gate and, of particular interest for later, the world class Taj Hotel. On the way I picked up lunch in the form of a couple of Samosas with sauce (10p), some mixed fruit salad (complete with betroot, carrot cucumber etc)(15p) and some Indian sweets (20p). There seems to be literally hundreds of them and even the locals, who are constantly asking to try small pieces, don't seem to know what is what. I bought about 8 different types some of which were nice and others that just weren't.

This is where my day had the dramatic change in standard.

About halfway back I walked past a couple of Aussie blokes who were asking directions to India gate. This was exactly the direction I was going and I said in a very sure voice 'oh yeah it's easy, just up there, keep going straight, can't miss it). As we were heading the same direction they walked with me in the hopes of getting to the right place. As anyone who knows me will predict something went wrong and I took a wrong turn leading them in the wrong direction.

Despite going the wrong way we still made it in good time to India gate. The two Aussies (One was called Andy who was 35 and the other was Tony and was a little older) were now ready for a drink and wanted to head into the Taj hotel next to India gate. The Taj is a member of the best hotels in the world club or something and the exterior alone is quite a tourist attraction. They invited me along and as the place looked so good I thought I should try to see it and should at least be able to afford a coke...

Inside the place is palatial and stunning no matter which direction you're looking. Chandeliers, extravagent stairways and other similar things are all over the place, which is huge. To say that I felt like a fish out of water donning my grubby trousers (now torn in several places), shirt and sandals is a serious understatement!

Eventually we found our way to one of the restaurants in the hotel with a sea view where we were greeted by exceptionally polite staff and shown to a table. In the background there was the gently tinkling of a piano being played and somebody singing.

As we continued talking it turned out that the two Aussies had been working in Pune for the last 6weeks developing some Insurance software for their company, which had made use of Indias cheap labour. Now they were just on their way back and were staying in what I think is the second best hotel in Mumbai - The Oberoi. It was an all expenses paid affair for them and fortunately for me they had no intention of letting me pay for anything!! I'll take this opportunity to thanks the director of the company (Steve i think) for all that was to come. And may he never read this 😊

After a couple of Beers it was getting to around 5.30 and they wanted to head back to their hotel for a shower etc but had plans to go out later and invited me along. I made a feeble attempt at being polite and declining the offer, not wanting to take the piss with the free booze too much, but it was to good an opportunity to miss so I took no convincing at all really. We agreed to meet at 8.30 at their hotel for a couple of drinks before heading out and then went to get ready - them to the Oberoi and me briefly back to my present reality of one of the cheapest hotels in town.

After a quick (cold) shower and curry I headed off in the dark with 500Rs in my pocket and wearing the best clothes I had at the time - the same, now stitched, trousers and a clean short sleeved shirt. I was a few minutes late because I took another wrong turn on the way - in my defence I was trying to navigate like 2km through a city I don't know in the dark without a map. After arriving it wasn't long before I was seated in a plush bar within the hotel drinking ice cold draught beer and eating nibbles. In the background there was the same tinkling sound of a Piano with a guy playing it and singing along.

At around 10.00pm we headed out to find a club that my guide book and their hotel concierge reccommended called Pollyesther. It took a while to find it walking up and down the streets being told directions in completely opposite ways. So long in fact that we stopped of for a quick pitcher of beer in one of the nearby bars. In the end we did make it though and walked in at around 11.30pm with a fist full of drinks vouchers ready to have a good time. By midnight the place was rammed and really going for it. The music changed throughout the evening starting with 80's then moving on to Indian pop (was actually pretty good and i knew some of the songs from the hits in england) and finally finishing with House music. Unlike the streets of India where all the women wear sarees there were mini skirts etc all over the place and behaviour in the club was much the same as in Europe or anywhere else. There were a few other tourists in the club but 99% of the people were young Indians. One of the things that did stand out to me as different was the dancing. Indian guys and girls are always dancing and in a night club they really go for it. They are so much more animated and you see none of the 'waddling' you often see people (like me I admit) doing in England. The whole evening the two Aussies I was with showed no sign of slowing up and were going for it as much as everyone else in the club.

Eventually at around 2.30am the music suddenly stopped and the bouncers moved everyone out of the club very swiftly. While stood outside we entered a debate 2vs2 with an english guy we made friends with in the club about whether further drinks back at their hotel was a good idea. Andy, who had a massage at 9.30am and myself who had to check out of my hotel at 8am were against the idea but Tony and the other English guy were ready to keep going. Eventually Andy and I won out over the other two and we all said our goodbyes and headed home. By the time I got back to my hotel (it was only a couple of hundred metres down the road but I got lost again!!) it was 3.30am and it was pretty difficult checking out on time this morning. I'm very pleased to say that in the morning I still had the 500Rs in my pocket despite my efforts to spend it.

It's been really cool to see how India looks when you have a little more money to spend and also how the wealthier parts of Indian society let their hair down but I'm now back to my budget world and loving it all the same 😊

I won't really say much about today as I haven't done much other than recover. Even this was good fun though. I spent an hour sitting in the middle of the train station this morning trying to take in as much fluid as possible before I tackled the task of buying four train tickets at once for my last week here. People watching was how I passed the time and is interesting everywhere so is not unique to India but you take more notice when you're in such a different environment. Little interesting things are always bringing a smile to your face - Like a young Hindu girl dressed in a bright saree I saw saying hellow to an older more traditional muslim couple where the woman was covered in black. They were hugging each other and laughing and joking with the two woman gossiping and giggling with each other. I was amazed at how even though the religions are so different but incredibly important to them they get along as though some of the completely different ideas they must have about what is 'right' don't exist.

Tonight I catch a train to Aurangabad and have a busy week coming up before I leave India now - quite apt really to be busy being in India and all.

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Photos

The Taj Mahal Hotel
Next to the unimpressive (lets be honest) but famous Gate of India. I was fortunate enought to spend an afternoon drinking beer in here for free.

Indian Sweets
Of the few that I tried this time these were my favourite - mostly syrup with a bit of squidgy stuff.

Colonial Buildings in Mumbai
This happens to be the train station and is, unlike the Gate of India, an impressive building. As is the post office but neither attracts much attention from tourists for some reason.

Where the streets have no name
Actually Mumbai is pretty good with street names but most places in India don't bother.

Inside the Taj Mahal Hotel
When I took this photo I was still wondering around the place in grubby torn clothes but the two Australian guys I was with were my ticket to being tolerated inside i think - thanks guys :)

Inside Pollyesthers
Good music, a great atmosphere and lots of beer. What more could you want?

The Aussies
These are the guys that took me out for the evening. Left-Tony, Right-Andy, Corner me.

Contrasting lifestyles
A touching sight - homeless people outside the Taj Mahal Hotel. I never saw the real extent of the poverty in Mumbai but some places have a population density almost one person per square meter!

India Gate
I wasn't personally impressed with this place (built to welcome the British Royals once) but I like the photo and it was a nice enough place to hange out for a while.