Intercontinental Ic The Grand Mumbai Mumbai (Bombay)

During my travels I had a small list of things I wanted to see or do whilst in India and dare I admit being discovered and claiming my fame and fortune as the next Bollywood superstar was one of those! Though a photographer on set was very keen we 'meet up for a test shoot' I’m not sure that ...

Hey Everyone- I'm not going to write as much as the previous entries because I need to get up early tomorrow AM and catch a bus to Pune. I'm kinda pumped about that because it will round out my Indian transportation experience: train, plane, A/C car, taxi, auto rickshaw and now bus. The only thing left is the metro which I think we will hit up in Calcutta. This morning was about the same as yesterday. We slept ...

... into the local cabbie's culture presented itself to us when returning from a walk to Chowpatti Beach we climbed in the back of a cab to find the driver had decided at some point the interior was to dull for his tastes and had seen fit to install what can only be described as a pole-dancer's pole between the front seats. The food we have enjoyed so far has been excellent and one particular place, Cafe Mondegar became a regular haunt to escape the sun and enjoy aircon and one of the ...

... monkeys, who to be honest are not remotely cute, just as bad as the kids and two of them shagged on our balcony!! Shortly after this, we caught several of them heading INTO our room - by the time we'd staggered into the room, they were coolly sitting on the bed with my packet of granola bars opened, wrappers off, munching away. Do you think they actually looked concerned when we entered? No, they hissed and bared their teeth at us!!!! They are ...

... better known Malabar cousin, and a different shade of russet brown, almost as if to match the colour of the Matheran red mud pathways! Blue Barlerias grew in profusion. A pair of mating Common Mormons put on a dazzling dance, followed by a pair of mating Blue Mormons, a sight to behold. All too fast to be photographed, but priceless memories nonetheless. Eventually we reached the path going up to Wireless ...

... banks. A solitary bison sleeping in a secluded marshy bank, grudgingly rose as we came closer, gave us a dirty look, and sauntered into the forest. He promptly returned as we moved away. After a while, we docked at the banks of another remote 'finger', where we enjoyed a most welcome lunch of mixed rice with delicious pickles, sambar and curds. Our poor guides had lugged all this in their rucksacks. We spent an hour on the banks, lethargically ...

... extra in some Bollywood films. I can't hide my mix of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt attributes. This would have been good fun but it takes all day and I have better things to do. I just hope I'll be asked again next Tuesday or Wednesday when I'll have nothing else to do. It really feels like one week of holidays within my travels and I think I even put on weight. I'm really grateful that they come to see me here and this nice break gives me ...

... entirely made up of Indian couples and Stephan and I initially feel slightly out of place. However, this isn't a great problem once you realise the following: From the average Indian's point of view, if you're lucky enough to have a comfortable lifestyle in one of the world's richest countries, why would you choose to spend a lot of money to go and rough it in a place rife with poverty and disease (and no available women)? So they think we're a bit nuts anyway. Anyway, the ...

... that also did not bring me far. Finally I called Shona who helped with the translation. Rajuta told me that she was sad she could not speak English and that I could not speak Gujarati, because she wanted to speak to me more. Á__ _ __ÁLateron, the parents indicated the departure, and more disciplined than myself had ever been, and certainly more than Shona this evening, they began to clean up Shona's playroom. Both Nikita and Rajuta. Only when they ...