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Published: December 14th 2011
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My last night in Varanasi ended more spending. I was hunting the markets for a present to get my nephew, more specifically, an army style watch with a compass. I asked someone (who I later found out was named Rahul) who sure enough knew someone who owns a quality watch shop. And of course, in the land of India where anything is possible, a small watch shop had one army style watch with a compass. Rahul, who was very sweet, bargained with me, took me for some aluchat (a local street snack which is like a potato dumpling served in a leaf with a spicy dahl type sauce for 10 rupees), after which I felt very much obliged to 'see' his shop. No obligation to buy, right?! I walked out having spent 3000 rupees on spices, masala spice, chai and essential oils. I was sure he made a great profit on me. I realised it's all part of the game. The small tour of the backstreets on the way to the watch shop, the haggling advice, the introduction to indian street snacks is all part of making a sale. It is very normal for Indians to spend up to 2 hours
of their time sitting you down with chai in order to sell you something which may be worth $50. And very smartly, they play on the fact that we feel obliged to repay them for their time. It's not the first time I've fallen for it here and I'm sure it won't be the last.
The next day, I was ready to see something new and got myself on a plane to Mumbai.
Contrary to other cities in India that I had seen so far, Mumbai immediately appealed to my western attitudes. It has a clean, glitzy airport with a well organized prepaid taxi service (though touts will still try to confuse you and pose as prepaid) and fountains with lights and skyscrapers beyond edging the outskirts of the airport. I immediately felt comfortable in its cleanliness and organization and felt like I was in a 'real' city again.
Staying in Colaba with many other travellers, it felt good to not have to cover up completely, to not get gawked at constantly, to be able to buy beer freely, to not have to watch out for cow shit and have to deal with the stench of public
urinals when walking down the street. And I realised, I am a creature of comfort, I'm appealed to taking what I want from this land and leaving it again to go back to my safe, comfortable environment.
Mumbai, or Bombay as its still referred to among locals, is a city of paradox. Skyscrapers meet slums (literally), Bollywood glamour meets people sleeping in the gutters and reminds me of, once again, everything/one having a right to exist in this great land.
Interestingly, Mumbai's major slum is like a city within the city. It houses 1 million people, whether they reside in a shed or in a 3 storey structure, bringing in a turnover of $650 US a year through varying business ventures. Unfortunately, I was not game enough to experience the Dharavi slum (largest in the southern hemisphere) by myself, and as there are no photos allowed I decided to save it for when I come back.
I was fortunate enough to meet with my fellow aussies from Varanasi and spend some good few hours drinking pitchers of beer at the infamous Leopold's, try out one of Mumbai's fine dining restaurants where $100 got us 2 amazing courses,
bottles of wine and a cocktail. I did more shopping for random things as well as for things I've always wanted. But after 5 days, even Mumbai got too much for me and having realized I have not spent any time outside of a city in India, I was ready as can be for Goa.
Which is where I sit now, living in a bamboo hut on the beach against the sound of the waves crashing and think, I love this country… again.
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sunharra
HARRA
so u not coming to udaipur. dear u missed really something. if u r really so impressed with mumbai's cleanliness, then u should have seen udaipur. Is has been voted the best tourist city in the world last year.