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Published: November 11th 2009
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We have completed the first leg of our journey so thought it was time to update everyone on our experiences thus far.
After a very busy last few days catching up with friends and family we flew to Mumbai. We spent the first day doing a walking tour of the city following our maps and guidebook as best we could. The weather was a balmy 29 with 90% humidity so quite different to England at this time of year! We saw the Gateway to India, Taj Mahal Hotel (which was undergoing restoration work after the terrorist attack earlier in the year), University, Law Courts and Prince of Wales museum.
The place is much more run-down than we expected and although there are some nice buildings, they are in need of a good clean. The sidewalks are filled with stalls selling anything and everything and families in makeshift camps with goats and dogs. We have been surprised by the large number of people living literally on the street with people cooking, washing and sleeping on well-used sidewalks with small shanty buildings erected here and there. We have seen people bathing themselves and their naked children from overflows on the side
of busy streets. It makes you realise what real poverty looks like.
There doesn’t appear to be as many foreign tourists in Mumbai as we expected, even in the tourist areas. We have only noted a handful of couples at varying times which is quite strange, we are not sure whether this is linked to the recent attacks or something else. Either way, it has made us stick out like sore thumbs and be an easy target for beggars and salesmen, although they are not quite as harassing as places like Egypt and Marrakesh.
The streets are crazy with cars, buses, motorbikes, mopeds and trucks all vying for the best line, the odd cow has even been spotted! Traffic lights are there for show as cars have no problem running through them whilst beeping their horn. We’ve taken some exhilarating taxi rides in the black cabs which swarm around the city, it’s amazing how they can squeeze through gaps no wider than the car itself! The car horn is a constant sound here, it’s used to warn people of a dangerous move instead of bad driving so crossing the road you take your life in your hands. This
leads me to our first travel tip, when crossing the road, keep a local between you and the oncoming traffic!
Food is as cheap as we expected, we lunched in a local restaurant after getting lost and had a lovely meal for 130 Rp (about £2). We also had an amazing seafood meal on the second night at a place recommended by Lonely Planet. We had a fish and a crab curry with a couple of beers for only 1,010 Rp... the equivalent of £14!! Amazing food and we even got to wear bibs to stop us getting curry on our shirts from the crab. Unfortunately we forgot the camera so no photos, although I’m sure it won’t be the first time that Dan wears a bib on this trip. No Bombay Belly at this stage... fingers crossed!
The only downside so far is that Natalie’s weather curse has hit us again... first it was sand storms and rain in Dubai, then gale force winds up Mount Snowdon, and now a cyclone and unseasonal torrential rain in Mumbai! It rained all day on our second day with some of the footpaths turning to mud and the homeless getting
a free shower. On our last day in Mumbai we were planning to travel by boat to Elephanta Island which is 10km off Mumbai and has some amazing 7th century rock carvings. Unfortunately we woke to find a Level 6 Cyclone Alert (with the maximum being Level 9)... so we didn’t fancy a boat trip across the harbour!
The other planned event that has been scuppered is a one day cricket game between Australia and India, the last in the current series. We got free tickets from Dan’s friend who lives here but with all the rain it has been washed out. That would have been an amazing experience so a real shame.
So our Mumbai experience finishes with torrential rain and wet pants. Tomorrow morning we leave early on a train to Pune to stay with an old cricket friend of Dan’s (Shaun Williams) who is head coach of Maharashtra Cricket Association. Our first train experience is sure to be interesting...
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Wolf
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Dan's wandering hands.
Hello son. Have you felt any random Indian fella's arse yet after too many kingfishers?!