Le Meridien Mumbai Mumbai (Bombay)

... around 7pm to catch his train going north. I stayed in the area and went for food at the same place as last night. People are extremely friendly; they always try to strike up conversations although they do not speak English very well but it is nice.<br><br>I then went around for a walk and got to talking to a guy called Sachim, who currently studies business (if I understood correctly), at a local college. I have the impression that he was living in one on the shacks on the side of the street.

... to my new friend who shook his head. NOW WHAT!!?? "See Sir,<br>no good. You waiting list 70. Anyone with 0-10 waiting list can get on the<br>train" The anger was starting to leak into my veins and for the first time<br>in my life I imagined how Eric Banner felt like every time he changed into the<br>incredible hulk......"But I booked it 3 weeks ago on the train!!" I<br>said angrily. "Yes, but no confirm so you can only go tomorrow unless you<br>take the bus" he said. FANTASTIC!!! My ...

... could be problems with just walking out of a hotel after having the two rooms for a few hours, but everyone else said it would be fine. We grabbed all of our stuff and started to walk out. I stopped to briefly explain that we were staying somewhere else, and the manager told use that we would have to pay full price for the rooms. Our conversation, escalated into an argument over how much we should pay, and even to the point where they wouldn't let us leave until ...

... People are living on the factory premises, sleeping on the floor, and breathing noxious fumes all day long. We also visited a residential area, which was a maze of shoulder width narrow alleyways, open sewers, and hardly any light seeping through. The whole experience was very interesting. In the afternoon, we caught our first Indian train to Nasik, a pilgrimage town in Maharastra state.

... attacks. I found out later that others from our group had successful reach the Taj Mahal hotel for lunch which was apparently very delicious and expensive. We were approached by a Bollywood scout looking for foreigners to be extras in a Bollywood movie. We would get paid $500 plus food&amp;water for the day up to 9pm. As we only had one day in Mumbai we declined. A local tout was selling a tour of 10 sites around Mumbai in an airconditioned car which was ...

... were some people attempting the ascent but mostly roped. The lines looked like lemmings in slow motion. Well, our guide had no ropes and, as there was anyway nothing to see, we turned back. On the way down we took a longer route to avoid snow fields and the glacier in most parts. We did not have to put on crampons, as one of us had no crampons anymore. A very selfish Czech guy had ventured off from the group and the guide to attempt the peak alone. Well, that's fine except ...

... as to the meaning of what he had just said. And so it was that over the next 2 hours I received my education on that great bastion of Englishness, cricket. I never did ask him if I was a good or bad student. I probably didn't want to know the answer. · No upkeep As we walked around Mumbai today we wondered did the Indians actually realise that without the colonial buildings we spent the afternoon gawking at there would be very little ...

... in G.D. Roberts Shantaram. Read that book!. My copy is personally signed with this line: 'May all the journeys bring you wisdom in the struggles of the heart and courage in the heart of the struggle', dated January 1 st 2006 with the 6 crossed out and replaced by a 7. A special mention to Chor bazaar, a really big market place with one street for every trade be it in second-hand tools, tires, car and computer recycling , sweatshops, garlic or flowers. I spent 4 hours wondering ...

... in India and how people communicate with each other. Hindi is the official language, but many states have separate languages and people would speak one, two or more languages, usually commensurate to their education. As the night goes on, our conversation evolves around New Years plans, the Indians fascination with salsa and dating in Mumbai. Anushka summarizes half-way humorous, half-way aggravated - Indian guys steer away from high powered ...