Mumbai

Flying across India at night, the dark landmass spread out below, studded with the shining jewels of a thousand villages and towns. The scale of habitation was the first thing to strike me. Whereas flying over some countries at night there are great patches of darkness, here the patchwork of lights went on forever. I arrived in Mumbai after midnight, visions of hordes of touts and beggars waiting to pounce did not eventuate, it was all rather calm and orderly leaving the airport.

Within 10 minutes of leaving my hotel I had stepped in cow dung. The culprit stood ruminating across the street, looking very at home in downtown Mumbai. As I have learned, all the stereotypes of cows being everywhere are true. Just when you least expect it, a cow will appear, chomping on some rubbish, or just standing around chewing the cud as the city moves around it. Sometimes they are fed, I saw a man casually feeding a whole bag of bananas to one lucky bovine.

The part of Mumbai I stayed in was the old British built city, full of amazing colonial architecture. In fact in some parts it looked more like a hotter version of some English city than an Indian one. It was great fun exploring, further north the city became more Indian, chaotic and colourful. On the way to find Gandhi's Bombay residence (which I did not find in the end) some large rally sprung up around me, which was slightly disconcerting, but I managed to slip past it.

A street in Mumbai

As an escape from the big city I took a boat out to Elephanta Island from the Gateway of India. Mumbai rapidly was swallowed up in the smog as the boat passed through a maze of fishing trawlers and oil tankers moored in Mumbai Harbor. The island was home to the Elephanta Caves, ancient temples carved into the hillside. My time there was brief as I arrived only an hour before closing.

My favorite part of arriving in India however, was the food! So many curries, lassis and cups of chai massala. And all for very reasonable prices. Whilst a potential health hazard, so far the food in India has proved very good indeed.