Day 4 – 10th May 2009 - 10th May 2009

<div>Day 4 – 10th May 2009</div><div>Well, here we are, sitting on a train from Mumbai to Goa. It’s just gone 7:30 in the morning and we won’t arrive until 5pm! We’re pulling through the Mumbai suburbs at a rather leisurely pace, I hope the trains going to pick up speed soon!. We arrived in Mumbai three days ago after a rather uneventful flight. I managed to pass a good three and a half hours on the flight watching Ben-Hur which was pretty much the best film they had to offer on the prestigious Air India flight. Apart from the annoyance of the toddler in the next aisle, who only intermittently stopped screaming to throw up on her mother the flight went well.
You would be forgiven for thinking that arriving at one in the morning would mean that the temperature would be at least bearable. No – by the time the guy who was meeting us at the airport had fetched the car we were both sweating like pigs, and jumping into the air-con taxi was a great relief!!
The first thing we noticed about Mumbai was the poverty. I’ve been to some poor countries in my travels, but nowhere has the poverty of the people been as apparent as in Mumbai. During the taxi ride from the airport to the hotel, the main roads were filled with people bedding down for the night. Even families with babies, were making makeshift beds on the pavements as their small children played in the gutters. Not exactly a heart warming welcome!
The second thing we noticed was the traffic. Dear GOD!! Again, I’ve been to a few countries in my time and seen what bad drivers this world has to offer, but shocked would be an understatement. From the taxi driver who had to stop for directions, twice, on a 2km journey even after I had shown him our location and destination on the map, to the guy on the scooter who took a young girl clean off her feet last night. Thankfully she didn’t look too hurt but I’d be surprised if she didn’t break at least something.
We got up on Friday morning, found a bank, got some cash out and found a nice place to have breakfast/lunch. Thought we’d start off adventurous, I had pasta carbonara and Ev had some chicken, tomato and basil pasta! After that we went for a little stroll around the sights of Mumbai, before returning home for a much needed cold shower around 4. The temperature was only in the mid thirties, so we’ve got a lot worse to come when it gets up into the forties.
Mumbai was actually a lot more pleasant than we were expecting. Ev said she was expecting it to be like Cairo, but it lacked the dirt and pollution, and so even with the heat and humidity it was really quite a nice place. The only thing that did get on my nerves was the staring. It’s something we’re going to clearly get used to, but anyone would think that Indian men had never seen a western woman before. Most of them had to push their eyes back into their sockets, and pick their chins up off the floor after we’d walked past. Having said that, a lot of the people we came across acted as though Ev was invisible, only taking to me, even though she would ask questions, guess that’s something we’ll have to get used to also.
Last night we found a really nice restaurant. After I had told Ev it was a British invention and that she probably wouldn’t find it here, Ev was delighted to find Chicken Tikka Masala on the menu, and ordered that without a moment’s hesitation! Also that we wouldn’t get diet coke nor Bacardi and again this was also on the menu, and not just at that restaurant!!! We then went into a bar recommended in the lonely planet for a bit of people watching and some seriously over priced drinks, Ev had BDC and I had Jack and coke!!!! A steal at only 1300 rupees a round (£16)
Yesterday morning we got up and walked down to the harbour to catch the boat over to Elephanta Island about 11km off the coast of Mumbai. The island has some amazing temples in caves dug out of the rock itself. It was even hotter than Friday, and after the ten minute walk up the hill past stall after stall of cheap tat, we were both pouring with sweat. Nice!! The temples were amazing, but I think we ended up getting more photos of the cute little monkeys!!
We got the boat back to the mainland and jumped in a taxi to go back to the hotel. The first taxi driver didn’t know where our hotel was, even when I pointed it out on the map. The second said he knew it but still managed to get lost twice!!
We got back to the hotel and had another cold shower. I think we’re averaging at least three a day so far!! Ev then had to stay in the bathroom for ten minutes because the maintenance man came in to try and fix the air-con!!! We then went for a pleasant walk along the water front watching the sunset before popping into a little vegetarian restaurant for dinner. The taxi driver on the way back to the hotel probably spent more time on the way back with his hand on the horn than off it, but I suppose that’s just how it’s done here!!
Ev managed to get straight to sleep but I’m still suffering a bit from jetlag and only got to sleep at about 1:30, and after getting up at 5:30 this morning to walk up to the station to catch the 6:55 train, I’m just about ready to collapse.
Wow, a page and a half for two days. These blogs will probably get shorter as time goes by, but with plenty of long train journeys to waste time on, I very much doubt it!!
Bye for now!
Simon and Ev</div>