Well well well after a long time waiting the 24th of March 2013 finally arrived and me and our Pete set off on a big trip with big plans! After 3 flights and 2 days of waiting in what seemed like endless que's in airports we finally arrived at our intended destination ... Mumbai, India! We jumped in a taxi and set off towards our hostel imediately caught up in the crazy roads and traffic of asia. The taxi driver repeatedly beeping his horn as we set off towards our hostel. He joined all the other drivers in beeping their horns, it wasnt clear why they we're doing this. The heat was noticeable as were a number of 'different' smells that you just dont seem to smell in england. Even in the early hours of the day there was loads going on, one noticeable event was the vegetable market in full swing with people and vehicles everywhere, even in the dark hours.
We soon arrived at our hostel, Travellers Inn. We immediately crashed for a well deserved sleep! 8 hours later we were up and about exploring. We went in search of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, otherwise known as CST - the local train station. After approximately 1 hour we found it! We decided that we would take the overnight train to Goa on 28/03. We opted for 'sleeper' class. At 335 rupess it seems like a bargain! (80 rupees = 1pound). We soon realised that CST was in fact a 5 minute stroll from our hostel when taking the correct route.
More exploring took us to Marina Drive and the water front of Mumbai where we found Chowpatty beach and we sampled our first taste of indian cuisine. We each got a couple of tastey meals filled with chopped onion, corrieander chilli and paid next to nothing. Delicious! Got talking to a couple of girls and went for drinks in the Colaba district. We visited Leopolds cafe, the location of a terrorst shooting incident in 2008 when pakistani gunmen caused chaos and left many dead. There was a bullet hole in the wall near the entrance left as a reminder!
The following day was the celebration of the holi festival, this is to celebrate the triumph of the good spirit over the evil spirirt. We took tour of the city arranged by our hostel for 600 rupees each. Here we found the Gateway Of India, built by the british raj. We saw (and experienced) the throwing of powder paint. All different colours! Also felt the full effect of the 30 degree Indian sun as I burnt my neck and shoulders!
On our lastday in Mumbai, we visited elephanta island, a one hour boat journey from the gateway of india. We laughed at the resident monkeys as they chased and stole food from visiting tourists, also visited an ancient cave and climbed to a high view point that gave a great view of the coastline of mumbai.
We've checked out of our hostel and are about to head off to CST to jump on our night train to Goa! I shall keep you updated ...
