Mumbai Musings

So...my first day in India and I'm already updating my blog. If that's not dedication then I don't know what is!

I arrived here just after midnight this morning - not even 24 hours ago yet, but it feels like I've been here for a week already. Phil and I met at the airport and endured what we thought was quite a harrowing taxi ride (but what we now realise was a very comfortable one!) to our hotel, the hotel New Bengal which is in the old town of the city. It's pretty cramped and basic, but hey, the toilet flushed and the shower had hot water, which here is always a bonus. We also had a fantastic free breakfast this morning of chickpea masala, puris (fried bread), boiled eggs, omelette, banana and of course toast with vegemite (without which no breakfast would be complete).

With full bellies, we stepped out on to the street for our first real taste of Mumbai. The thing that strikes you first about the city is its aroma - a pungent combination of incense, rotten egg gas (sewerage perhaps?), urine and spices that even pervaded the plane within five minutes of touchdown. We did a lot of walking around the Fort (old town) area and checked out Victoria Terminus, Mumbai University and the High Court of Mumbai - all beautiful gothic-style buildings with intricate stonework that have retained their beauty and sense of stateliness despite their state of disrepair.

Being conscientious ex-law students with a continuing interest in the administration of justice (haha!), we even sat in on a criminal hearing in one of the courtrooms, and were surprised to find that the cases are tried in English (although we couldn't really hear much). We also walked around a large oval near the courts where there were a number of cricket games being played.

We then took a taxi to the port to see the Gateway of India (a large stone arch - think an Indian-style Arc de Triomphe) and the famous Taj Mahal hotel, which was worth seeing for its clean Western-style toilet alone!

Lunch was at a little restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet and we had an amazing feed of Masala and Palak Masala Dosai (large crisp pancakes filled with spiced potatoes and lentils, and a spiced spinach mixture respectively, served with a spicy tomato sambal and cool coconut chutney). It was absolutely delicious - much better than the dosai I've had at the Malabar restaurant in Crows Nest and at $1 each, less than a tenth of the price!

The prices here really are unbelievably cheap, with the exception of accommodation, which in Mumbai is much more expensive than in the rest of the country apparently.

Mumbai is very overwhelming. We spent this morning wandering around in a culture-shocked daze trying to cross the road without being skittled by one of the ubiquitous black and yellow taxis and fighting off hawkers. It's also very polluted (think black snot!) , and poverty is everywhere, which is hard to deal with.

It's now 3.45 in the afternoon, and tonight we have a long overnight train journey north to the city of Udaipur in Rajasthan. It's been nearly eight years since my last Indian train journey so I'm not really sure what to expect, but we've booked a second-class airconditioned sleeper carriage so I'm sure it will be pretty comfortable. Thanks to my largely irrational phobia of running out of reading material, I came armed with six books (adding another two kilos to my luggage), so I'm looking forward to bunking down with a book and a cup of chai as we watch the country go past from our train window.

Phil and I are about to head to Crawford market, a large covered market around the corner of our hotel, to stock up on fruit for the journey. Mangoes, bananas, figs, grapes and pomegranates seem to be really plentiful here and look delicious.

The funniest thing we spotted today are vibrators being sold on street stalls! And we're not talking adult shops...just unpackaged dildos being displayed among the chocolate bars, toy cars and fake Rolexes! It does make you wonder...

Anyway I'd best be off, as my hour is already up on the net.

Love to you all,

E x