Blogs from Maharashtra, India, Asia - page 2

We were up early at 3.00am, as we had a 4.00am pickup with our driver for an airport transfer. Our flight to Mumbai was scheduled to depart at 7.00am, but we find ourselves still sitting in the airport hours later as our flight has been delayed, now departing at 10.00am. There is nothing more boring than sitting around an airport...waiting....waiting... No transfer was arranged from Mumbai Airport on arrival, so we found the pre-paid taxi counter, told them our destination, and paid for our fare via a voucher system, before we found a taxi. It was R1500 ($30) into the Fort district where our hotel was, and the trip took almost two hours. A new metro line is being built through Mumbai with long sections of the roads being closed off behind corrugated iron walls, forcing ... read more

India is somewhere neither of us has been to before, so are very interested to see it. We have done a fair bit of homework for this as we want to get to see as much as possible. The ship docked at about 4.00am in the morning, and by 7.30am, we were all allowed to start leaving the ship. The ship is docked a long way from the port entrance, so there are loads of shuttle buses to take everyone to the entrance. No need to book these though as there are so many of them. The journey to the entrance took about 10 minutes. Once off the buses, they checked our visas again and we were in Mumbai. It was absolute chaos. For about 20 minutes, we walked through man after man asking us if ... read more

Had to get up a little earlier today as taxi driver was picking us up outside reception so after a superb breakfast (The Sahara Star does a wonderful selection) we wandered outside and he appeared as if by magic. We had to head right down to the Gateway of India which we visited last time as that’s where the boats go to the island. So along the fantastic road built out into the bay on stilts to get clear of the main city traffic. As the road is 4 lanes and then goes to 2 it does have a bit of a traffic jam at either end but undoubtedly quicker than the stop, start clog of traffic by any other route. Then across to the other side of the pointy bit at the bottom of Mumbai ... read more

A leisurely start to the day as our flight to Mumbai was not until mid-afternoon so plenty of time for breakfast and to pack. We’ve got quite good at packing having had two room moves in the 3 hotels we’ve stopped in. As a result my suitcase in particular really is a pretty dreadful mess. This not helped by a small spillage of Douwe Egberts coffee grains out of our emergency drink supply pot. Hope everything doesn’t get stained coffee coloured when I put the washing in when we get home. It is unusual to have coffee grains on one’s knickers but at least none have landed on my white suntops. As it happens we haven’t needed the hot drink supplies at all this trip as all the hotels have been generous with drink supplies but ... read more

Blog # 6 (February 23, 2019). India is incredibly diverse. There is a saying here that for every 50 km you travel, the food changes, the language changes, the culture changes! So, as we boarded an overnight train from Agra to Varanasi (several hundred km apart), we expected a change! Gosh, was that true! But let me backtrack a little. My last blog ended in Agra, when we boarded the train. The extensive rail network in India is amazing – transporting millions of people each day. India Railways is said to be the largest employer in the world (or maybe the second largest, after the Optus complaints department). The best legacy that Britain gave India, it is often said, is its railway network. I think you cannot come to India and not do at least one ... read more