Blogs from Maharashtra, India, Asia - page 131

So here we are in Mmbai after hours and hors of bus travels we're heading more South, and the beaches are to come soon! Mmbai is a great city, so many people we met along the way told s bad stories about it and to me they were all wrong. This city is great! So mch to do, friendly people, great food and nice architecture. I have to say thogh that accomodation is quite higher in price but that's what big cities are for right? We've been here 2 nights now and have walked the city streets for hours. It's great. We leave at 5pm tonight to head for Goa, were the beaches are awaiting us, a nice break from it all. Carolyn is leaving on the 8th adn I'll stick around India somwhere 'til the ... read more

Okay...so it's hot!!! Bit of an understatement, Bombay was swealtering...I'd walk a few feet and be dripping wet. Mumbai's a great city...however it does one of, it not the largest slums in the world...so my train arriving at 5am proved a real eye opener...this is the first time I've seen people taking a dump, they were using the side of the rail tracks...happy as you like squatting and having a shit! Still if you've gotta go! Bit of a shocker as in 4 weeks this is the first time I've seen this and on such a massive scale...all those early morning bowel movements to shift! Train dropped me off north of the main backpacker area in Bandra...dodgy rickshaw man took me all over the place to get to Bandra station, apararently there's two east and west, ... read more

Well, Steph and I have had a hectic couple of days. We took an overnight bus from Udaipur to Amedebad (I don't think I spelled that properly) which ended up taking 16 hours. I am not sure how to describe the journey. A- I was afraid for my life and B- it was soooooooo long. If you can imagine for a second being stuck in a small compartment above the seats in a bus for 16 hours, the two of us, with our bags! The first 10 hours were o.k, after that, it got a little uncomfortable. Especially because we were told it would only take 12. Word to the wise, anytime and Indian tells you it will only take a certain number of hours, add a couple on. If he/she tells you the bus will ... read more

OK. I have lost impetus on this blog. I'm not in India anymore. I thought I could keep writing it in retrospect but its really hard! I have lots to add to the following, I have hand written notes and everything... and I may update this over the weekend, but people have been asking for the next chapter and the quickest way to give it is to plagiarise. And quite frankly, although it's not the same way I'd write it, Toby is a better writer than I am! (don't tell him I said that) So check these two out for the Mumbai chapter at the end of my trip (feel free to read the rest of his trip too - its quite interesting!). My mumbai-for-the-cricket summary is: It was brilliant, I love Mumbai, we had a ... read more

Very weird to be in India and not be a rarity. About the first thing that me and Fi noticed when we came back for the test was that the place was full of white people. Apparently the Barmy Army brought about 2,000 Brits over, which in a city of 17 million or so might only be a drop in the ocean, but it still meant that you could wander the streets and see more than the occasional westerner. Despite being a tourist and not a traveller (my new catchphrase) I couldn't help being a bit put out. We were there before them. We were old hands. We knew the customs. The best places to eat. What were they all doing there? How dare they upset the equilibrium of people who had been in India so ... read more