Mumbai and the start of our trip south.

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It's a pleasant 2 hour flight to Mumbai and when we arrive it is raining. We are met by Gets rep and it's an hour to the hotel...big traffic and heavy rain. The driving is quite different to north India. ...the horn isn't used as much and people seem more patient. And guess what ...cows are not allowed in the city. It also looks a lot cleaner than other cities we have been to.
The Taj Palace Hotel is beautiful built in 1903 right on the waterfront. Rgat was tge hotel shot up by terrorists in I think 2004.At reception it is confirmed we have an upgrade to a club room in the palace wing and when we go to pay for the guy says all taken care of...wow.
Sandra is in heaven...it covers high tea, cocktails and canapés and after dinner cognac and chocolates. Also Butler service. We are going to want to spend a lot of time here. Of course we go for cocktails and then to the famous Harbour Bar for a drink A lovely Italian Brunello di Montifalco costs 1800 rupees which is about 40 dollars but I had to have it. Afterwards out for a coffee by the pool and a waiter also brings cognac and chocolates This is the life..
In the morning after a beautiful breakfast we meet our guide and cross over the street to "The Gateway to India" built for Queen Mary and King George v visit. Then to the boat for an hours trip to Elephanta Island. It's a very slow boat and a sweltering day over a dreadfully poluted bay. There was not a breath of wind and by the time we got to the island we were drenched.
Elephanta owe's it's fame to the discovery of caves containing incredible statues and hieroglyphics. They have been carbon dated back to the 700s but it is not known who built them. As impressive as they were we couldn't wait to get out as the perspiration was dripping of us.
Once on dry Land we go for a brief city tour..first stop are the Dhobi Ghats or outdoor laundry. We have a tour and thousands of sheets and towels for hotels and also clothes are laundered here every day. The ironing wallah wields an iron weighing 4kg...I had a go with it. Then a drive around Victoria Gardens past High Court and to the railway station.All are beautiful buildings. Trains run 22 hours a day. On average 9 people per day die by falling off the overcrowded trains..17 mill people use daily. We stop for some Bombay Chat...Street food and have 2 different things. You can feed well here for 45 rupees which is an NZ dollar. Then back to our beautiful hotel and the pool.
Next day we are leaving for Goa....pick up at 130 at hotel.
Mumbai Airport is fantastic...equal to any we have seen. We board the plane only to sit there for 40 minutes due to conjeston. We finally get into the air on a packed plane with only 6 Europeans. We are surrounded by 8 young fellows who have just come back from Kuwait for Diwali in their home villages. The flight is only 45 minutes but they manage to distribute a meal box to everyone. ..a sandwich Mango juice and water. We give ours to the boys next to us and they disappear in a flash.
So we are an hour late and the driver from the hotel was not real pleased....an hours drive to the hotel so about 8pm before we arrive. So off to the bar for a couple of Long Island Iced Teas then to bed.
The hotel is fine...very reminiscent of a resort in Fiji.
It has a huge meandering pool.
We have a full day tour of Goa and also a half day booked for us but decide we don't want to do all of this. So we take a car for a few hours into the capital Tangsim have lunch and a walk around....lovely Portuguese influence. We had Goan Prawn Curry for $5 each which was very hot. Couldnt taste the prawns.
Goa is the smallest state of India...180kms in length with 1.4 million people. It is lovely and lush and I think we could grow to like it very much. But just 4 nights and 3 full days here before leaving for Chennai.
Last full day tomorrow. .have booked a car to go Paul John Distillery for a tour.
The distillery trip was a real buzz...the visitors centre and distillery extentions are under construction but we met with Michael D' Souza the Master Distiller and he said because we were overseas visitors he would get someone to show us around. So we went through the fermentation plant seeing the various stages and we're even taken to the underground cellars where the whisky was stored in barrels...there are probably 6 different malts. Then we were taken to the lab and sampled the top one..Oak Cask. ....A great experience. They are still small currently producing 6 lakhs litres per year which is 600000 litres. They have distributors in NZ and Australia.
When we get home off to lunch at Mishas. ...beautiful and 470 R or $10.
Booked in for tonight at Diwali dinner around the pool.
All day the work has been feverish ... kilometres of lights hung huge decorations tables set up etc. We are there for 8 and it was a great show. Lots of different dances and music from around India, and the whole thing culminating with a wonderful firework display over the beach.
We've had a wonderful time here ...4 days but could spend longer. The tourist season really opens up in November and the beach shacks are going up. We went to a couple that were open for business. . drinks and food. We had a swim in the sea but only the one..it was pretty murky....besides the pool area was so nice. We would certainly recommend Zuri Resort at Varca Beach and just 5 mins outside gate are some great little restaurants. .Mishas was our favorite.
This is the quiet part of Goa..North Goa is the party scene.
Off tomorrow at midday. . 2pm flight to Chennai and our only flight on IndiGo which is 15 kg rather than Air India 's 25 kg. We sent stuff back to Delhi with Raj our driver so should be OK as they are strict. ..
So the next adventure will start tomorrow. ...

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