Day 4 - Historic Bombay

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Let me tell you something..... it is very hot here..... 92 F today....

Our plan for today was to forgo a private airconditioned car and driver and to use taxis to get around. Daniel met us at about 10 and we began planning our day. We were to visit a number of temples and historic sites in Mumbai. Much more interesting than we might have imagined. Taxis are quite an experience here.... believe it or not there seem to be more taxis than in NY. Apparently two types the Blue and White are air conditioned (and not very common) and the Yellow and Black not air conditioned and barely driveable. What was interesting is that only about half of them have side view mirrors. One cannot tell if the side view mirror helps or not because we kept our eyes closed most of the time. The streets look like they are normal two lane streets... but somehow the drivers make them three lanes... the right, the left and squeezing between the two. Horns are blowing constantly because not only are there the cars (mainly taxis) on the streets, but also motorbikes (with an average of 2.4 people on each... most without helmets, and then the brave folks trying to cross the streets.... Please pray for them.

The first temple we stopped at was the Hare Krishna temple. Not surprisingly we met many monks and others.. all bald except for a little tuft of hair on the back. Lots of prayers were being said and folks prostating themselves all over. I told one of the monks that I new the Krishna song.... Hare Krishna... Hare Krishna.... and have met many of them at airports throughout the world. He was seemingly unimpressed with my knowledge of the religion. Next we stopped at the home of Mahatma Ghandi, but did not spend long here because we would visit again with out tour. After leaving there we went to the Jain Temple which was absolutely beautiful. The people we met were amazingly friendly and loved talking about their learning.

We had a wonderful lunch at a restaurant on one of the main streets. The food has been fabulous. I asked the waiter to decide what i should eat and he came through with a chicken mughta and a rice dish along with some great breads and a major large kingfish beer. the bill for three of us was about the equivalent of $25. After lunch we visited the hanging gardens which overlook the city and then off to a Jewish cemetary in the city where many of the Bagdaghi Jews are buried. Mom was very upset because the care of the cemetery was virtually non-existant.

By the end of a full day of travel we are soooooo exhausted but have loved every minute of our time here. When we got back to our palace, Daniel and I hung around to chat about his business and Susan went up to shower. We both fell asleep for a short time before it was time for cocktails in the lounge. Today it was an Indian Merlot for mom and a gin martini followed by a gin and tonic for me. After Akim carried me upstairs we watched a bit of CNN.. worried about the southern california fires... and finished off the day.

Tomorrow we start our tour..... Our tour guide called us and told us we would meet at 11am, have lunch at the Oberoi and then dinner at the Taj. A day of formal touring and meeting our group of agents. Later, everyone.

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