Big day out

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So as promised we were up early an Raj took the three of us out for a magical mystery tour through North Mumbai. Kiki, Pam and I piled into the back of Raj's car, while his wife and son took the passenger seat. The morning traffic was starting to build, even though it was still early cars were veering wildly left to right to get through honking horns loudly as they went. We passed through a toll which Raj told us meant we were leaving the city...technically. We were taken into the 'countryside' which although still built up did not have the same feel of people living in each others pockets that the rest of Mumbai had. Sticking with tradition I was starting to drift off to sleep gripping tightly to the door handle so as not to slump sideways onto Pam's shoulder. The car stopped and I jolted awake as Raj told me to hop into the front seat. We hadn't arrived at the temple but at his sons school in what appeared to be a tower block in this particular colony.

Now as we headed to the temple, Raj told me how important it was for his son to be well educated and be outside of the city so he could enjoy his childhood. It struck me as a very uncommon thing to happen in India, that is to say that most of the children I'd come across had often been sent out to work rather than be at school so as to supplement the families income. It truly spoke to me of Raj's character and what a genuinely lovely guy he was.

Once we had arrived we walked to the halfway point. Raj had explained to us that this temple was full of history as we sat to have a chi tea. It is said that when Shakti (Shiva's wife/consort) was taken ill the monkey God, Hanuman, was sent into the forest to collect herbs to make her well again. Unsure of which herbs to collect he used his great strength to move a hill to where she lay and it is for this reason that so many curative herbs can be found on the hillside surrounding the temple. We jumped into a tuc tuc to take us to the temple as the trail was a bit too much for cars. The journey was interesting as the four of us and the driver clearly proved too much for the engine to cope with, so we had to hop out intermittently and meet the tuc tuc at the next bit of flat track.

The hillside was arid and dusty as we got closer to the top, a tell tale sign that monsoon season was round the corner. We walked up the stoney steps to the temple, avoiding the monkeys as we went and were offered another chi. We returned to the first part of the temple where I received my first Hindi spot and a tie dye bracelet from one of the priests. We were then walked up to the swamis hut. The previous swami had lived to 108 years old and according to Raj survived by only drinking water and smoking pot...yeah, we all know where this is going. True enough, Raj produced a cigarette and some hash from his pocket and after much faffing placed it into a pipe. As we sat in this small hut smoking this pipe at 9.30am I decided that Raj might not be as responsible as I first thought, but hey...when in Rome!

Aptly we were then shown to a food stall where we were served fried slices of pirating a light batter accompanied by a chilli pickle sauce to knock your socks off. I, of course, got stuck into the sauce taking delight in the faces of the Indians around me who were amazed I could take the heat. Little did I know that it would come back to bite me later.

We walked our breakfast/munchie food off by heading to a nearby pond which formed part of the now dried up riverbed. I declined the second pipe being offered around in favour of taking photos of the surrounding vista instead.

I was beginning to get all hot and bothered from the lack of water and the gradually rising temperature. I opted to bite my tongue and grant our host some patience (very unusual I hear you cry!). We headed back to the car in the tuc tuc and stopped halfway down for another chi tea and yes, you guessed it, another pipe. I was unsure whether Raj would even be able to drive us back but I figured his insurance would cover it ;-)

When we arrived back at the Anjali, the three of us split up to do our own thing for the afternoon agreeing to meet up for a movie in the evening. As I sat blogging, my stomach started to turn. The chillies had gone through me like a dose of salts and made life very uncomfortable until I managed to stop long enough to venture out in search of some pepsi and Indian sweets.

We struck out on foot that evening to the 'BIG Cinema' and decided to watch a Bollywood movie - the done thing when your in India. We settled to have our nachos and giant pepsi's laughing about the pizza in a cone we had seen advertised. We opted for seats right at the back of the screen, cliché I know, but for 100rupees (£1.35) but they were the best seats in the house. I can only describe it as being like the episode of Friends when Joey and Chandler first sit in their lazyboy chairs...blissful! 

Before any movie is played in an indian cinema, they play the national anthem and you all have to stand whilst it's played. The anthem was signed by children at a school for the deaf with the tune played very softly in the background, very moving. We sat and watch 'Manu weds Tanu', a rom com that although none of us understood a word totally got the plot. It was almost reminiscent of Hugh Grants performances in the 90's, predictable in the direction of the story and as cringeworthy as you like!

The three of us headed back giggling at the experience and after the early start very much ready for bed. It had been a long day and I wanted to pack as much into my last day in India as possible, which required a good nights sleep.

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