Mumbai Madness

Our train ground to a halt in Mumbai, and we were quite relieved to find that it was several degrees cooler than Rajasthan, but unfortunately we were both still suffering from Delhi belly. We argued with the touts about which dingy shite hole was better to stay in than the other ad-nausium, until we spotted a German girl who had found a cheap and comparably clean shite hole further up the road. So having finally found a place to spend a minimal amount of time in, we had a day to have a look around Mumbai and get our bearings before our mate Chris arrived from Japan.

Amazingly, in the space of just a day and a half, Tim and I were asked several times if we wanted to be paid for doing a couple of hours work. Tim was asked if he wanted to be in a TV commercial (not sure what for), and I was asked if I wanted to be in a Bollywood movie wedding scene and be a model for something or other. It would have been an awesome experience, but because we had to pick Chris up from the airport we had to turn them all down... we would have made some rupees from it too! Damn it. Next time we're back in Mumbai, we'll have to get an agent darling.

The whole picking-Chris-up-from-the-airport thing was a fiasco from the beginning. We should have realised this when the first taxi we caught to Mumbai airport overheated and broke down about a third of the way there. After transferring to another taxi we were on our way again (even though we had to fight to keep to the already agreed price), and in the end, Chris' plane was on time and he was is good spirits.
That is until we were allocated the most useless taxi driver this side of the Arabian Sea to take us from the airport to Colaba (the main tourist area). He had no idea where he was going and didn't speak any English... but at least he stopped and asked directions from other taxi drivers. Annoyingly, he would only drive further 800m before stopping to ask another taxi driver for more directions. At least the cab hadn't broken down.
After the taxi ride taking an extra hour and a half longer than it was supposed to due to us stopping all the bloody time, the unthinkable happened... we broke down... in the middle of a major intersection. We had to get out and push the damn taxi to a "safer" spot... still in the middle of the intersection, but somewhat out of the way. What better introduction to India can you get?

After finally arriving back at our flea bitten palace, Tim and Chris went out for a celebratory beer... Tim came back 4,000 rupees poorer and completely shite faced at three in the morning... telling me all about his eventful night. It started with warm beer (with 8% strength) at one bar, included some horrifically expensive drinks at the Taj Hotel (with the most attentive minion in the men's toilets imaginable... apparently he did everything but shake 'it' for them), and finished with a taxi driver tricking them into going into the depths of hell for more warm beer in the middle of nowhere. I'm sorry I missed it. :)

As a major Indian city, Mumbai is better than most (read: Delhi)... she has a really vibrant pulse with a rich street life and the local people are entertaining, whilst the faded Victorian architecture is beautiful and surrounded by tropical greenery... but as Chris was only with us for a week, we booked a day train to Goa the next day.

(mental note: 12 hour day trains suck arse.)