Mumbai!

This post was written on Saturday, 1/9/10, but we did not have internet until now.

The plane descends, skimming the corrugated roofs of Asia's largest slum. Walking out onto the tarmac we were struck first by the smell of the city. Not at all offensive, the air is heavy and carries a sweetness. It smells of incense, spices, smoke and the press of humanity.Though we will spend the majority of our four months in Lucknow, we decided to fly through Mumbai and spend a day and two nights here so we can experience India's largest city before heading north. By beginning in Mumbai, we may have begun with the Indian city that is most overwhelming.

There's so much about India that is shocking. Children bathing in roadside puddles, construction workers scampering up bamboo scaffolding, packs of feral animals roaming for food, cows tied to roadsigns contentedly chewing litter, street-children with babies on their hips begging for money...but India also has an incredible charm. The people are warm, friendly and engaging. When a rickshaw swerves to miss a passing taxi or when a cyclist collides with a merging scooter there's no anger or hostility in their exchange.

Our plan was to make it to Hotel Oasis, but discovered when we called from the airport that due to our late arrival, we lost the room. Luckily there was a desk to make hotel bookings and they helped us to find Hotel Atlantic in Juhu, a beach city close to the airport. We were unsure if we were being cheated by the desk clerks, but gave them the benefit of the doubt and were able to successfully bargain the price down to half the suggested rate. We are trying to get into the routine of bargaining every price, since that seems to be the norm here. A driver picked us up and we made our way to the hotel where we have a room that would be considered seedy in America, but is pretty nice by Indian standards- air conditioning, shower and toilet, and a double bed with clean sheets.

Though we did not go to sleep until after 1am, we were wide awake at 5am. When we made it out of bed and looked out the window, we realized we were a short block from the Arabian Sea. We got dressed and packed our bags and made our way to the beach and were surprised to find many people walking, jogging, and doing calisthenic exercises. We figured we saw enough of Juhu and grabbed the most colorful taxi either of us had ever seen and made our way to Colaba, the 'hip' area of Mumbai that the tour book suggested we visit. Unexpectedly, the hour cab ride was an event in itself. Both of us were glued to our windows and trying to take everything in on both sides of the cab. We saw commuters, vendors, people sleeping on the street. We saw trains stuffed with passengers hanging out the doors and the sale of colorful produce and grains on the side of the road. We saw views of the water, tall skyscrapers and a sea of corrugated tin shacks. We were amazed with everything we took in, and also were amazed by the driving habits of every vehicle on the road.

Our driver dropped us in the heart of Colaba, near the 'Gateway to India' and the Taj Mahal Hotel on the water. We found a hotel and put our stuff down and headed to a delicious breakfast of chai and a masala dhosa for Kate and a cheese, onion, and pepper dhosa for Dan. Three meals later we are still considering it the best meal we have had. We spent the rest of the day walking the entire length of Colaba. We could barely stay awake through dinner so made our way back to the hotel and went to bed.

Due to jet lag we were up at 4am this morning and at 6am we took a morning stroll and stretch by the sea. It was nice to see Mumbai awake as the sky turned from dark to light. We made our way back to the hotel to pack up, had breakfast, and had another interesting (read: scary) taxi ride to the airport via the Sea Link bridge, a new bridge that is not complete, but usable to avoid the traffic of Mumbai.

We've seen and experienced so much in our first 36 hours: the bullet holes left by terrorists at Leopold's cafe (now packed full of tourists), street children who threw fish at us because we didn't give them money, Dan getting a shave by a street barber as locals stared and laughed at the foreigner, and learning the difference between muslim and hindu shopkeepers (the former being more straightforward, less boastful and not as willing to bargain).

Now we are at the airport and we look forward to our flight today as we head to Lucknow – the city that we will call home over the next three months.

Namaste,
Kate & Dan