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Published: January 19th 2007
We arrived late morning yesterday into Mumbai on a hot, sunny, smoggy day. At the airport, there were crowds of people standing outside. We found a taxi which barely started and we quickly sped of towards West Bandra. The roads here are chaos - filled with cabs, busses, motorcycles, tons of little auto rickshaws and pedestrians. There are no lanes - at least not lanes anyone pays attention to and everyone manuveurs in and out using their horns to let people know they're coming - I'm not really sure how this system works, but I guess it does....
A bit jetlagged, we checked into our "deluxe room" at the hotel Lucky - apparently deluxe means that it is above the street noise -the constant horns that really never stop - NYC is a quiet peaceful village compared to this.
In the evening, we met up with my friend Appy's cousin Anindo who lives here and helped us book our accomodation. It was so nice to have a contact in town. After having to buy a new cell phone, we went to dinner at an indian portuguese restaurant, Goa Portuguesa. As Anindo explained it is one of the best (and
most expensive) restaurants in India - and it was. Although it was still cheaper than NY prices, having to adapt to this budget to afford a year is going to be a challenge. At dinner, we were serenaded by one of Anindo's friends which was quite the spectacle.
After dinner we went to a bar/club called Hawaiian Shack - sort of a meat-markety sausage fest as guys outnumbered the ladies about 5 to 1. It was still interesting to see this scene. At bar time, which is 1:30 here, we had to leave. It was a bit strange because for as aware of our surroundings that we're trying to be, I can't help but feel that it's going to take a while to get it. Not that anything bad happened, but there was apparently some kind of trouble brewing with some drunk patron as we left, and the bouncer had told Anindo to take us out of there.
It's really so unlike any place I've ever been - just chaotic and dusty. Everyone we've met has been very helpful and friendly, but it still a very big culture shock. There's a lot of apparent poverty, even in Bandra,
the "posh suburb" where we're staying.
On Friday, we headed to the district of Colaba to see the famous Gateway of India and check out the more touristy part of town. We walked around all day and in the evening met up with some friends of our friend Sol - Les and Anne-Gaelle, who had been living in Mumbai for a year and a half. They lived in a very nice part of town, Breach Candy, near the American Embassy. We met up for dinner at the club they belong to in Breach Candy - it was a very peaceful oasis away from the dusty, noisy streets of Mumbai. We ended up staying with them for two nights.
Our introduction to India in Mumbai was very interesting. We're getting used to the "Inglish" spoken here and the strange ways they have of communicating. One of the first things we were introduced to was the Indian "wobble." The Indians will bob their heads from side to side, which sometimes means yes, sometimes means no, and sometimes just means "I acknowledge that words are coming out of your mouth" It's a little contagious...
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Brandon
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hey! i've watched video of major intersections in India and have been completely flabbergasted. Glad your posting stuff so we get to peek in on your adventure. new cell phone? Stay safe!