Comments from Ian in blue italicsWell, the last few days in Mumbai can only be described as a whirlwind!
Took off from Terminal 5 LHR (which is amazing by the way!), arriving in Mumbai around 10 hours later.
As expected Em seems to be fascinated by the 500ukp+ handbags in Terminal 5!! What is it with women and handbags!! Unfortunately I couldn't stretch to a handbag so I satisfied one of Em's other cravings - Starbucks!! - much more affordable!!
Our first experience of India was on the flight - we couldn't believe how demanding the Indians were. The in-flight meal was our first taste of India (excuse the pun!!) - it was our first airline curry (and it was actually not bad!!). So a few hours of sleep and a spicy breakfast later we arrive in Mumbai.
We exit the airport to a huge sea of faces and finally spot the little card that is being held up with our name on it by our rip-off taxi driver.
Rip-off being a relative term given that it only cost us 12ukp but compared to the proper price of 7ukp it was still a bit steep! It was nice not to have to negotiate with one of the thousands of vintage black/yellow cabs as soon as we'd got off the plane though.
Frustratingly, the drive from the airport 30km to our hotel took 1.25 hours and with the sun beating through the car was quite uncomfortable.
On the way to the hotel, I feel myself falling in love with the place already...it just feels like the most amazing place that I can't wait to explore.
We got very little sleep on the plane (although Ian did mention that at one point I had my mouth open and my head on one side, so I must have slept a bit!) We are both shattered by the time we reach the hotel (3pm) and decide to have a snooze...which unfortunately turned into a few hours and we didn't wake up until 7pm!
We head out into the fort area of Mumbai for something to eat...there's a lonely planet recommended place just round the corner from the hotel, although there's no-one in it and it looks like it's about to shut. We wander past a small eatery which seems busy so decide to try it. The food is lovely and for the bargain of 183 rupees (2.40) we have plenty to eat and drink, plus take away a bottle of water with us. Em is such a cheap date!!
By 10pm we're back at the hotel.
We wake up in the middle of the night as in Em's pursuit to quieten the noisey air con in the room she'd managed to switch the unit to fan only (even though she swears it did it itself - women eh!!). As a result we woke up at 1am to 29degC heat.
On Thursday morning we wake up and wander outside where it seems oddly quiet. Given we've never been to Mumbai before, we're not sure if it's normal or not.
We take a walk around Mumbai, covering sites such as the town hall, Mumbai University, The oval cricket ground and the High Court.
We do manage to start accumulating photos though and got quite a few pics of the architecture (yes there is architecture - honest!!) as well as pictures of people sleeping in the strangest places (see photos!).
We've not found anywhere open to eat, so we head down to the Gateway of India where we had planned to go across to Elephanta Island...we're sure to find something to eat down there...
We get to the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel to find most of India's media camped outside. We wander through the crowd and stand in awe at the fire that seems to have broken out in the hotel. We're only 100 yards from the hotel and we watch like everyone else as the fire brigade battle to put the fire out.
After a while we head back towards our hotel and a young woman stops us and asks if we're with the media. We explain we're not and ask her what has happened, which is when we find out some hostages are being held by terrorists at the hotel. At this stage, it still does not seem a big issue as all the locals are quite relaxed still.
We finally find a place to eat on our way back (Steph, you'll be pleased to hear it was a veggie only restaurant!). The food was just as yummy as our last meal.
Lunch was slightly surreal as we see an elephant walk by as we eat. We did hope to catch up with it on our way back to the hotel but only find 'evidence' of where it had been - I'll leave that bit to your imaginations!! :-)
We get back to our hotel and open the daily newspaper to find them reporting on "Mumbai Under Siege". It feels surreal really, and we think the media has probably blown things out of proportion. We don't let this stop us enjoying ourselves and we head out again to find the Mumbai Bazaars (which actually we don't end up finding!), then a sunset stroll to Chowpatty Beach (past the Oberoi hotel!!).
On our way to the beach, we get stopped by a group of guys who ask us what we are doing out and tell us to "go back". All very odd!
By the time we walk back from the beach, the streets are desserted and nothing seems to be open.
One of the things that did strike us as being weird was the amount of police on the street (but again we weren't to know if this was usual or not for Mumbai). On our way back we stop off at quiet a high class Indian eaterie called, wait for it.....GAYLORDS! It was so posh that the waiter brought the bottles of lager to the table for inspection before opening them as if they were fine wines!!
It's not until we get back to our hotel, turn the TV and phone on that we realise Mumbai really is "Under Siege"!
The phone didn't stop bleeping from family and friends trying to contact us! It's really nice that everyone has been worried about us (in a weird sort of way!)
The weird thing about all of this is how close we'd been able to get to the Taj and the Oberoi without realising there was a problem so it's no wonder it felt like nothing was wrong.
So, after an eventful day in Mumbai, where we've not quite managed to see everything we wanted (might have been a bit scary going to the train station!), we have left Mumbai for Udaipur on our way North.
Luckily for Em we're back in Mumbai towards the end of our trip so she should be able to satisfy her bizarre bazaar craving (aka Indian retail therapy!!) then.
Ian is still smiling, so amazingly the Mumbai/India/Em experience has not scared him off yet.
As expected Em seems to be fascinated by the 500ukp+ handbags in Terminal 5!! What is it with women and handbags!! Unfortunately I couldn't stretch to a handbag so I satisfied one of Em's other cravings - Starbucks!! - much more affordable!!
Our first experience of India was on the flight - we couldn't believe how demanding the Indians were. The in-flight meal was our first taste of India (excuse the pun!!) - it was our first airline curry (and it was actually not bad!!). So a few hours of sleep and a spicy breakfast later we arrive in Mumbai.
We exit the airport to a huge sea of faces and finally spot the little card that is being held up with our name on it by our rip-off taxi driver.
Rip-off being a relative term given that it only cost us 12ukp but compared to the proper price of 7ukp it was still a bit steep! It was nice not to have to negotiate with one of the thousands of vintage black/yellow cabs as soon as we'd got off the plane though.
Frustratingly, the drive from the airport 30km to our hotel took 1.25 hours and with the sun beating through the car was quite uncomfortable.
On the way to the hotel, I feel myself falling in love with the place already...it just feels like the most amazing place that I can't wait to explore.
We got very little sleep on the plane (although Ian did mention that at one point I had my mouth open and my head on one side, so I must have slept a bit!) We are both shattered by the time we reach the hotel (3pm) and decide to have a snooze...which unfortunately turned into a few hours and we didn't wake up until 7pm!
We head out into the fort area of Mumbai for something to eat...there's a lonely planet recommended place just round the corner from the hotel, although there's no-one in it and it looks like it's about to shut. We wander past a small eatery which seems busy so decide to try it. The food is lovely and for the bargain of 183 rupees (2.40) we have plenty to eat and drink, plus take away a bottle of water with us. Em is such a cheap date!!
By 10pm we're back at the hotel.
We wake up in the middle of the night as in Em's pursuit to quieten the noisey air con in the room she'd managed to switch the unit to fan only (even though she swears it did it itself - women eh!!). As a result we woke up at 1am to 29degC heat.
On Thursday morning we wake up and wander outside where it seems oddly quiet. Given we've never been to Mumbai before, we're not sure if it's normal or not.
We take a walk around Mumbai, covering sites such as the town hall, Mumbai University, The oval cricket ground and the High Court.
We do manage to start accumulating photos though and got quite a few pics of the architecture (yes there is architecture - honest!!) as well as pictures of people sleeping in the strangest places (see photos!).
We've not found anywhere open to eat, so we head down to the Gateway of India where we had planned to go across to Elephanta Island...we're sure to find something to eat down there...
We get to the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel to find most of India's media camped outside. We wander through the crowd and stand in awe at the fire that seems to have broken out in the hotel. We're only 100 yards from the hotel and we watch like everyone else as the fire brigade battle to put the fire out.
After a while we head back towards our hotel and a young woman stops us and asks if we're with the media. We explain we're not and ask her what has happened, which is when we find out some hostages are being held by terrorists at the hotel. At this stage, it still does not seem a big issue as all the locals are quite relaxed still.
We finally find a place to eat on our way back (Steph, you'll be pleased to hear it was a veggie only restaurant!). The food was just as yummy as our last meal.
Lunch was slightly surreal as we see an elephant walk by as we eat. We did hope to catch up with it on our way back to the hotel but only find 'evidence' of where it had been - I'll leave that bit to your imaginations!! :-)
We get back to our hotel and open the daily newspaper to find them reporting on "Mumbai Under Siege". It feels surreal really, and we think the media has probably blown things out of proportion. We don't let this stop us enjoying ourselves and we head out again to find the Mumbai Bazaars (which actually we don't end up finding!), then a sunset stroll to Chowpatty Beach (past the Oberoi hotel!!).
On our way to the beach, we get stopped by a group of guys who ask us what we are doing out and tell us to "go back". All very odd!
By the time we walk back from the beach, the streets are desserted and nothing seems to be open.
One of the things that did strike us as being weird was the amount of police on the street (but again we weren't to know if this was usual or not for Mumbai). On our way back we stop off at quiet a high class Indian eaterie called, wait for it.....GAYLORDS! It was so posh that the waiter brought the bottles of lager to the table for inspection before opening them as if they were fine wines!!
It's not until we get back to our hotel, turn the TV and phone on that we realise Mumbai really is "Under Siege"!
The phone didn't stop bleeping from family and friends trying to contact us! It's really nice that everyone has been worried about us (in a weird sort of way!)
The weird thing about all of this is how close we'd been able to get to the Taj and the Oberoi without realising there was a problem so it's no wonder it felt like nothing was wrong.
So, after an eventful day in Mumbai, where we've not quite managed to see everything we wanted (might have been a bit scary going to the train station!), we have left Mumbai for Udaipur on our way North.
Luckily for Em we're back in Mumbai towards the end of our trip so she should be able to satisfy her bizarre bazaar craving (aka Indian retail therapy!!) then.
Ian is still smiling, so amazingly the Mumbai/India/Em experience has not scared him off yet.
1 comment:
glad to hear you're both safe. Its odd when this happens, people at home not knowing how you are and you in the midst of the chaos and not even realising it. Shows how powerful the media machine can be. The same thing happened to us during the london bombings from our friends up north. Nice to people care x
anyway enjoy the rest of your trip, it looks amazing. I'm looking froward to living vicariously through your blog ;-)
jen x
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