My mom made it safely to India, and better yet, she has written our Mumbai blog with lots of things that she has noticed in her few days here. Please enjoy:
Amber was not hard to pick out of the crowd after I cleared customs. Even with her local clothes and a bit of a tan, she is still a fair beauty that is easy to spot. The Amber-hugs are great as ever, and she got a big one from me and many others back home. The day/night delimiter on the plane map showed that I am almost exactly on the other side of the world. However, watching a couple movies and sleeping on the direct flight from Newark made the journey go so fast that I feel like I am not so far from home. Being with Amber is awesome! She takes care of me really well.
Our hotel in Mumbai (Bombay) was a treat for her, and she quickly pointed out it had both toilet paper and a soft bed. We are in a great location for our daily excursions. The first day we took a boat ride out to Elephanta Island to see the temples carved into the caves of the hillside. The boat ride over the milk chocolate Arabian Sea and trash floating by didn’t entice us near the water, even as the air temperature and humidity rose. A cold beer was much safer. Disembarking from the boat, the male dominance of this society was clear as women traveling without men, like Amber and I, were the last off the boat. Women also have separate lines and waiting areas. Workers at restaurants, shops are predominantly all male.
The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel (left) and Gateway of India (right)
View of Mumbai from our boat ride
Elephanta Caves
Although there is some tourist activity here, maybe even a tad more on this Easter weekend (although only 2.5% of the population is Christian), the visitors are mostly from around India. Very few non-Indian tourists, especially whites, are seen anywhere. Many of the white visitors are from South Africa. About half the women are dressed in traditional saris, and a significant number of burquas are also around. Although we draw a few glances, we don’t seem to be treated any differently and have not run into any issues. The people are quiet, in general, and although we are asked to buy and give handouts, most take “no” quite easily and move on.
The city itself is busy and noisy, mostly with honking horns. The driving is insane. Families ride on motorcycles, with children packed on, women riding sidesaddle, holding babies and swerving around the tightly packed cars. Pedestrians walk on the streets when the sidewalks are blocked or unavailable, and the traffic just goes around them. Sidewalks are used for napping, cooking, selling and other daily activities. The green walk lights are a joke. A green light and counter to cross doesn’t mean the traffic stops for you. I should have figured this out quicker when I started seeing green walk counters that started at over 100.
The second day we wandered through markets and haggled to purchase a few local goods. Amber has perfected her “poor local college student” line. Prices for food and goods are very low. Pants were about $4-5 each, meals are $10-12 for both of us, including beer, and taxi rides are only a dollar or two. We went to the local museum in the afternoon and were paying to get in (50 cents for Amber as a local student and $6 for me as the international tourist) when I heard “Jo-Ann, is that you?” Unbelievably, my Boulder tennis friend Zoya Popovich was right behind us. She was in Bombay for a wedding – what are the chances? Afterwards we tried to fit in and go to the local beach known for its rides, food, and beach for watching the sunset. It wasn’t quite what we expected, but we did get a beautiful view of the sunset over Mumbai.
Local vendors around Mumbai
Prince of Wales Museum – Apparently also a good meeting spot for friends from across the world
The “rides”… guys pushing kids around on toys
Now we know what they mean when they say this beach is toxic
Our last day in Bombay took us back on the streets for a morning adventure and then to the Ghandi museum, which is in the house that he lived and worked in later in his life. It was a great exhibition and nice setting. Down the street we went to “By The Way”, a restaurant that is run by an organization that is working to train women to be part of the work place. The restaurant was entirely run by women, and it felt different – first time being served by women, and they smiled at us. For the sunset, we took a taxi ride up one of the biggest hills on the west side of Bombay to a community garden to watch the Easter egg shaped sun dip into the chocolate milk. Happy Easter.
Ghandi’s library
We left Bombay on a 10:15pm train for the 12 hour ride to Manipal. We are in a sleeper cubby with 4 others and are already almost 4 hours delayed. Gives me time to watch the countryside and Indian life go by.
amberbeserra 