Mumbai,
India
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Hey all... I arrived in Mumbai last night, took over two hours for the taxi to get me from the airport to Colaba - traffic jams caused by a Ganesh-related celebration of some sort. Anyway lots of fireworks going off and people celebrating, even if I'm not too sure what it's all about. Stayed a night in a grubby, stifling, windowless two-metre cube (Venus Guest House) as it was the first hotel I tried and I was feeling a bit sick after arrival. I'd had four of those little bottles of wine on the flight, and then being hit by the heat and the excrutiatingly slow taxi trip into the city just proved a bit too much. Checked in at 9.30pm and went straight to bed. Now staying at the Maria Lodge which is a little better and also cheaper (Rs.550). Didn't bother trying to haggle but could have probably got it cheaper if I had.
Had a nice shave at a "saloon" which was refreshing; this was one of the things I had on my "to do" list, so it's nice to throw myself into it. And it's so hot and sticky here... what can I say except thank the gods for lime soda :)
More later.
