day 1- arrival. 11pm india time (mumbai), 8am nyc time. slept ~ 5 hours on the plane. watched 3 movies on the way and had our first exposure to indian food and our first curry! we had this chicken dish with rice and mango sweet dessert to eat with plain yogurt. so yummy. we also had a mini chick-pea curry wrap which i actually did not end up eating but was quite excited about! :) the first thing we all noticed when we got off of the plane was this thick, heavy air with a very distinct strong smell. we are definitely in india we all thought. when we got to the airport, after waiting 1 hour or so to pick up our suitcases, we located our driver who held a sign with our names on it. the only thing ravi told us about him was that he's short with a mustache. there were many many short indian men with mustaches that night. many many people followed us to the car. we were so confused, wondering if they were also sent by our friend and were accompanying the driver. as we approached the car we kept accumulating more people trying to help out by carrying stuff which just made us more confused. when we finally got to the car, someone asked me to sit in the car first since i'm the girl. then one of the men proceeded to ask Wells to pay up 20 US dollars for the service that they gave us in helping out. apparently they were not sent by Ravi at all but were just random men at the airport trying to trick toursts into giving them money. We gave $1 US to the dismay of our friend who told us not to give them even a penny. Within hours of landing we all knew that this trip would be a learning experience for us all and definitely a culture shock. We drove in the dark, thankful for the airconditioning of the mini van to where we would stay the next 10 days. We had our first meal of butter chicken and lamb and green pea something with roti. Best meal ever. no exaggeration. We're in INDIA!
day 2- woke up at 5am mumbai time, tried to go back to sleep until 7 when I realized it was futile and decided to shower and read in bed instead. i waited not so patiently for my fellow travel companions to wake up and watched some tv in the lounge before our host woke up. i finally got to see the view of the apartment which overlooks that Arabian sea through huge floor to ceiling glass windows. It is amazingly beautiful with water as far as the eye can see but when you look at the border of the water and land you can see a small community of slums. People were awake as early as 7am as well. What a different living environment literally steps away from where I was staying in this beautiful apartment. We stepped out into the large balcony and looked at the streets of South Bombai, saw the dilapidated apartment buildings from outside, everything looks old and used. The air is so thick and humid, so much heavier than even the most humid of nyc days. We woke up and ate potatos and yogurt and fried bread, a traditional indian breakfast we were told. so amazing we all ate until we were way too full. we then proceeded to pack up to leave to see the city. We went to Colaba, walked the streets of the markets with stands on both sides of the street selling trinkets such as bracelets, necklaces, saris, pashminas, tshirts, clocks, etc. everything was so colorful, the air was thick with the scent of incense and the streets were crowded with locals. We went to a nice bar/restaurant Indigo where we ordered fresh watermellon juice so we could sit and rest up a bit. We then went to another market located indoors with rows and rows of stalls of household goods, foods, grocery items, spices and wicker baskets. The smell was so strong inside we almost could not stand it. Everyone looked at our group of 4 Chinese people with curiousity and eagerness to sell us their goods. We walked in the streets just in time to see a local mosque being filled for one of their daily prayer times. Women clad in burkas and long saris and men packed the inside and outside of the mosque on their knees praying. We stopped for some drinks and got canned fruit juices and soda, a much needed refreshment after only maybe 30 minutes of walking in the humid air. Then we went on our way to the next tourist attraction, Victoria Station. Mumbai's version of Grand Central (also where the train scene in Slum Dog Millionare took place!) where we saw 9 rows of trains. We were able to walk up to one of them which was waiting to be filled. I stepped onto the first cart (the ladies only cart) and took a picture. There was no airconditioning, women sat on the chairs or on the floor near the wide open doors in order to catch a breeze when it starts going. This is not the LIRR people. There were people everywhere in every direction moving. Then we went to the Gateway of the city, a large Arc de Triomphe type of structure at the waterside of Mumbai. We went into the Taj hotel and used the restrooms as well as explored the restaurants and bars of the beautiful hotel. This was the site of one of the attacks in 2008 so there was increased security both going into the hotel and also using the public areas within the hotel like the swimming pool. Next we went to a small Indian restaurant serving snack foods like chats. We tried our first mango lassi here and ordered many small dishes of fried foods. Everything was spicy and amazing of course. We were happy to go back into our airconditioned van to go home after a long day of exploring and experiencing India culture. Back at Ravi's apartment I took the best nap of my life, 2 hours of deep deep sleep which gave me enough energy to get ready for a dinner with Ravi's family and his future brother in law's family. Another apartment building that looks old and unkept from the outside but at 5 star hotel quality inside with another amazing front row view of the Arabian Sea. With frequent offers of drinks and hors d'ourves, we were all feeling quite luck and spoiled. When dinner came out and we were served the BEST lamb of my life (seriously) I felt like I was dreaming. We are soo lucky to be here.
Day 3- We went to Lenava, a countryside escape 2 hours away from the heart of Mumbai, a frequent vacationing and weekend spot for the wealthy of the city. As we drove and were caught in traffic we saw many more areas of slums, some of which were 3 or 4 floors high. We stopped by McDonalds where everyone but me got the McChicken MacHara Mac or chicken nuggets. I was feeling carsick from the frequent stop and go's due to the traffic and the crazy driving of our driver. We finally arrived to Lenava and was greated by monkeys and buffalo. It was like a rainforest. We also got to experience our first monsoon experience with heavy rains and winds causing the rain to only come from our left side! We went on a hike to see the waterfalls which was beautiful. Who else gets to say they went on a hike during a monsoon in India? It was a great day of just relaxing, hanging out with new and old friends, card games, mafia, taboo and relaxing. This is defintely not the normal India tourist visit I thought as we again had two amazing meals prepared for us by the maids and cook at this weekend house.
Day 4- The four of us woke up at 7 almost as if all meaning to together and waited for Ravi to wake up to head back to the city. We got back by 3 and went straight to Breach Candy Club, a country club with two huge pools close to Ravi's apartment. We ate at the restaurant inside the club and had lots of starters such as spicy cheese bread, cheese nan, different kebabs, chicken wings, butter chicken and mutton vindaloo. another amazing meal, no surprise there. after this we all changed into our bathing suits and went for a dip in the swimming pool. oh yea! and the club is right next to the Arabian sea so when you're in the pool its almost like youre swimming in the sea! The pool was salt water filled which came as a little surprise but was okay once you got used to it. We then went back to Ravis and showered and prepared to go to the upscale mall Palladium. The first stores I saw were Burberry and Zara. not quite what you would expect to see in India, and honestly the first time I've seen these in this country so far. The mall was beautiful, 4 floors, filled with stores from Americana in a Roosevelt Field type of environment. Besides the many Indian people wearing saris around me I coudl easily forget I am in India! We walked to the connecting shopping centers with more reasonably priced apparel and goods and also saw their food court with places like McDonalds, Dominos, and Chinatown Noodle Bar. We all passed out on the way back to Ravis almost thankful for the traffic so we could rest a little longer. When we came back we ate Chicken Biryani, a rice and chicken dish with spices and a yogurt sauce. SOO so good. And today is the first day that I've found time to write about our travels so far. India so far is really amazing, I'm having such a great time. There is so much more to do and see. I'm excited for the rest of this upcoming week!
No comments:
Post a Comment