Muggy Mumbai

Greetings from India! We arrived in Mumbai early this morning. We were picked up and driven to our hotel through a rickety old road passed what seemed like endless rows of little shops with thousands of moped taxis, trucks and buses standing idle. It was pitch black outside yet lots of people were about collecting water or making their way to work. Some of the smells were pretty pungent, but by the time we reached the Hotel New Bengal, it was nothing we are not by now used to. Our hotel is charmless, we have a tiny box room with two whirring fans which makes it feel like we are sleeping in a factory. On the positive side it is en suite and we have cable TV!

We had some lunch in a nearby market (vegetable thali) and then took a taxi to the Gateway of India, the giant archway at the bottom of the harbour built to commemorate a royal visit about 100 years ago. It's across the road from the Taj Mahal Hotel, the grand hotel that was attacked by terrorists a couple of years back. Its white and red and very striking. As we were walking around the arch two groups of people asked if we would be in their photos - being a Sunday a lot of out of towners are in Mumbai (we figure) so it seems pasty white people are sought after for photo albums. It was quite funny being in these random photos. So far everyone is very friendly, with big smiling faces. The cattle roam as they please, even along the pavement and seem to be in better condition than some of the locals. Anyway, it's quite amazing and a little surreal being here.