Ramada Plaza Palm Grove Mumbai (Bombay)

... in Mumbai was still very hot 33˚C and a bit humid but strangely enough it felt more bearable than in Dubai. I had a pick up organised by the hostel which was good because I think I would have struggled otherwise. As soon as we left the airport, I realised that being in a car here was going to be an experience. I had heard about Indian roads and it is absolute chaos; there does not seem to be any rules. Drivers are constantly beeping almost like a kid ...

... puke, **** and sex panther...I was<br>AGAIN..beginning to get wound up. A lovely English girl who obviously spotted<br>my distress walked over to me. We chatted for a while and she seemed generally<br>concerned about my well fare. Her name was Una and something told me that this<br>wasn't just a chance meeting...maybe we were to meet again later in my trip??<br>But at this point there was absolutely nothing she could do and so regretfully<br>she walked away wishing me all the best. It's ...

... means that this neighborhood is now considered central, with North Mumbai stretching far beyond it. Vijay's father built the first floor and added apartments above as his sons got married, with the result being that the whole building is occupied by one very extended family. Doors are mostly left open and unidentified relatives, from seven to seventy, continually wander in and out. Pinkey and Vijay have a separate room and ...

... sixth sense made me realise, that this was a toilet unlike anything else they'd probably ever seen! First of all, the boys had to go one way and the girls had to go the other. This caused quite a lot of confusion and we had to get a male teacher to go in with the boys. What followed was at least half an hour of fun and frolics which would have gone on longer if I hadn't broken it up! First of all, the western toilet. Once they'd got over the shock of the ...

... just go to one of the other stupid teachers who puts a plaster on for them etc. Anyway, I feel we are getting no where fast with some of the plays because the kids just will not stop fighting and just will not listen. Even when we explain to them in Hindi that they will be no the stage in front of their parents on Sunday night, it doesn't seem to work. I am almost looking forward to when we are back to the usual curriculum - its weird ...

... we were amazed to see that nearly half of the city was composed of shantytowns. Quite a shocking site. 20 million people in the city, half of these are living in such areas. From this moment, until we flew out of the country, the irony that is India would be staring Alon and I in the face. Rather than jumping into India head first, we thought easing into it at a slower pace would be best, so we arranged another local host. Yet again, we were very ...

... on the outside already. We found Flora's statue and the Horniman Circle and in the park in th centre tried desperately to photograph a glorius butterfly, but everytime we got close it just jumped straight into the air and out of the frame. Bummer!! We've been going to a different place for dinner every night. Usually the meal for two of us costs about 200 rupees or $7 but last night we went to a swish place - cost us 400 rupees. The ...

... in lovely parklands with loads of canoodling Indian couples.! I walked back to the hotel land did a bit of clothes shopping along the way, packed my bags and said goodbye to everyone and caught a cab to the airport. I couldn't check all the way through to Istanbul but the kind check in man did put a priority on my luggage. Once you check in you can't leave the terminal so I read and shopped and made the uneventful 3 hour flight to Mumbai...

... v=BB6a_JEV YnE Although the caves are not in proper condition but still they leave one wide eyed. There are in total around 130 caves built on the hills and were first excavated by BUDHIST MONKS who used the place for meditation. The caves were first discovered in 2nd century BC.