As we are nearing the end of our tour of India, it is a relief to find some more time to chill out in Goa!! A whole week in fact, which is nice as I also get to spend some time with my mum who now lives here and is putting us up, or more to the point putting up with us :)
I am sick again with a sore throat, suspected tonsillitis and nicola cannot shift her cold, we are a right pair, so a good job we are not moving around anywhere for a while, to give us time to recuperate. One lesson we have definitely learned already is we need to slow down a bit, but is is so hard trying to fit everything we want to do in such a small space of time, but when I look back on the time we have spent here in just 8 weeks we have circumnavigated the whole of India, practically!! It certainly feels like it!!
The week in Goa was spent catching up with old friends and family and mainly relaxing on the beach, and enjoying the restaurants and bars in the evenings, which were mostly filled with Russians who could not really speak much english, but were happy to buy the drinks, and after a few more cocktails, we danced the night away and it did not matter anyway as it got too loud to talk much. We also met an Indian guy from Mumbai who was there with his friends and Australian girlfriend, who was a Bollywood movie star, or so they said, and we hung out with them for the rest of the night as they were much more fun then the Russians and could speak english, and were also very happy to ply us with booze all night, but unlike the Russians were quite happy just to hang out and dance with us because we were having so much fun, especially after a few more jaeger bombs!!!
It feels like a second home here to me now as this is my seventh visit in as many years, and I am looking forward to many more to come!! We whiled away the days sun worshipping at Cafe Del Mar, making friends with all the kids trying to sell us stuff we did not really want to buy but we were suckered in a few times.
Mainly we just bought them drinks and chatted about their families and life here. Most of them are from Karnataka and come to Goa with their families to earn money during the tourist season. The parents will send them out to the beach to sell trinkets as kids have a better chance of getting people to buy, especially as they are such characters and so much fun to hang out with, and so bright and polite, always thanking us for the drinks and everything. I would often find myself wondering what they could achieve if given an education and the chances in life we have. I remember one boy telling me he wanted to be a policeman when he grows up and his friend a doctor, I hope it works out for them! The girls are all so pretty but just don't know it, hey have it drummed into them that if their skin is too dark then they are ugly and no man will want them. I tell them that in England a lot of girls try and get brown and here they all want to be white!! It just goes to show that no matter where you are in the world people always want what they have not got, as a race we are just never happy!
It was an emotional time when I left as I will not see my mum again for at least another year as we commence with our travels, and I always find it hard to leave Goa as it has a special place in my heart. It feels strange also knowing we are leaving India next week for China. We have been here for what seems like ages now and it just seems normal to be here, we almost feel like natives!!
We boarded our final train in India for the 12 hour overnight journey to Mumbai to arrive at 6am the next morning! As usual the train was hectic with excited children running riot and families feasting on dinner together and sharing food and chatting away as they always do together. We had a very nice family sleeping with us so we were lucky and enjoyed a fairly good nights sleep for a change!
Arriving in Mumbai we picked a hotel from the lonely planet called India House, which is in Colaba near the Taj Palace hotel and the India gate, so a great central location, we also have a sea view and I think it is the cheapest hotel in mumbai, no luxuries here, cold water showers in shared bathrooms, but it is clean and comfortable if a little noisy as it is the backpacker haunt, but for 550 r per night we are not complaining, well that is not strictly true as I did complain about there being no hot water when they said there was, but hey that's India for you, tell you what you want to hear!! At least until they get your money :)
After a few hours sleep we took a stroll around the area to take in the sights, along the seafront to India gate and then into Colaba's main streets, where we found Leopolds restaurant, made famous from the book 'Shantaram', the true story of an Australian escaped convict on the run in India who hides out in the slums for years, a great book and an amazing story!! We enjoyed the buzz of the crowds in here and sat people watching and drinking iced teas, before having a wander around the shops. We found a small shop in a mall that sold the outfits we have been looking for that we can wear to the carnival in Rio. After some bargaining we agreed on a price and now just have to lose about 10lbs as there is not much to them, but they are bright and flamboyant in pink and blue with lots of beads and tassels hanging off. The biggest mission though will be to get them there in 1 piece shoved in our already full backpacks!!
After catching up on more sleep, the following day we had lunch and headed to Chowpatty beach to spend the afternoon people watching and see the sunset over Mumbai. We sampled some bhel puri, which is delicious and a cornetto, not very Indian but we were at the beach :)
As the day drew to an end the beach filled with families, courting couples, friends hanging out, and tourists all coming together to watch the sun go down and enjoy the fun of the beach away from the chaos of the city. This is a great place to be. I really like what I have seen of mumbai so far, it is not at all how I expected it to be. People here are friendly and welcoming and there is generally a happy, excited buzz about the place! We were even offered a part as extras in a bollywood movie but filming was cancelled today due to technical difficulties! Shame, our chance of fame out the window then!
After another dinner at Leopolds restaurant we bargained for a ride on a horse and carriage, and not just any horse and carriage!!! This was like something from Cinderella!!! Big silver throne, lit up with lots of flashing coloured lights, we just had to have a ride, and feel like princesses just once in a lifetime!! Our horse was called Raja and he was just 5 years old and well cared for by his owner. We gave him some food to say thanks and headed back to the hotel to try on our Rio outfits and get some rest ready for last day tomorrow.
Our last day in India was finally upon us, I can't believe we are leaving this beautiful place after what seems such a long time here, I am full of mixed emotions, on one hand I am excited to be going to China and on the other I am so sad to be leaving and am going to miss this place so much! I have found it always to be full of surprises and frustration, fun and crazy, happy and sad, rich and poor, chaotic and peaceful, the south very different to the North. The most diverse place I have ever been!
We took a boat from the Gateway of India which is next to the famous Taj Palace hotel, as pictured above, to Elephanta Island to see the famous carvings in the caves which are thousands of years old and one of the best examples of this type of work in all of India.
The detail was amazing and every picture depicted a story mainly involving Lord Shiva including his marriage to Parvotti. We wondered around for a couple of hours and headed back to the hotel to collect our bags and leave for the airport, The journey was a tour in itself as we headed along the coast road and into the city. We saw a glimpse of some of the slum areas but not as much as we expected. Mumbai seems a very modern city and the poor seem very segregated from the wealthy. We eventually arrived at the airport and regrettably said our final farewells to India, until the next time!
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