The only real reason I initially had for heading to Mumbai/Bombay was to meet up with my friend Lilith and her friends Laurel and Elise so we could travel Rajhisthan together. After having my credit card details stolen in an internet cafe back in Guwahati, I'd cancelled my card and arranged to have it sent to the hotel where the girls had booked in Mumbai. In theory it would all work perfectly and I'd waste no time, but it's India and of course - nothing goes to plan...I arrived at 5.30am at the station with what felt like the beginnings of another stomach issue and realised I hadn't actually informed Lilith that's when i was arriving. With no better alternative coming to mind, I took a cab to the hotel they were staying at, discovered which room they were in (which was disturbingly easy) and knocked on the door, waking all three girls at 6am. A shower and short nap later the girls informed me of a hostel that had cheap beds so we treked over and I booked in.
The girls had booked a train to Jaipur - the pink city, departing on Saturday afternoon. It was Friday, my card was supposed to arrive Saturday, so i couldn't book that train just incase it didnt arrive on time. It didnt. No mail is delivered on Sundays either so it wasnt until Monday afternoon that I got news of it's arrival.
I didnt have much interest in Mumbai and being a little under the weather didnt have too much trouble spending my time at the hostel playing guitar and relaxing. I checked out the Colaba area and visited the famous Leopolds Cafe from Shantaram (well from the outside.. ridiculously expensive), but late Sunday afternoon I decided to head to Chowpatty Beach and visit the ISKCON hare krsna temple there for a Sunday Feast (regular occurance worldwide). Unfortunately in India the Sunday feast is in the afternoon not in the evening so i missed it.. however they had an attached restaurant which i heartily dined at. meeting a devotee Deepak while eating. Shortly after, I was extremely surprised to bump into Karuna Das. A devotee I'd met one time in Vancouver! Neither of us had any idea the other was there so it was quite a shock. Not ignoring the significance of sucn an event, I arranged to meet him the following (Mon) morning and spend the day together. With Deepak's ceaseless assistance a car was arranged for a trip out to some ancient rock caves dating Before Christ, quite incredible. Later in the day after I found out about the credit card, and speaking to the girls, I decided to skip Jaipur (i'd heard it was just another big city anyway) and get myself to the quieter Udaipur where Lilith et al were planning on heading in a couple of days. Visiting the other RadhaKrsna temple in Mumbai in the evening with Karuna and Deepak, there was a travel agent there and after some stress arranged a Train/Bus combination to depart the following day.
In the end I grew to like Mumbai, but it was really just a city. A very different feel to other big cities i've visited, Mumbai seemed a lot more organised and in control, but the warm weather and bayside scenery give it a very unique feel.
The girls had booked a train to Jaipur - the pink city, departing on Saturday afternoon. It was Friday, my card was supposed to arrive Saturday, so i couldn't book that train just incase it didnt arrive on time. It didnt. No mail is delivered on Sundays either so it wasnt until Monday afternoon that I got news of it's arrival.
I didnt have much interest in Mumbai and being a little under the weather didnt have too much trouble spending my time at the hostel playing guitar and relaxing. I checked out the Colaba area and visited the famous Leopolds Cafe from Shantaram (well from the outside.. ridiculously expensive), but late Sunday afternoon I decided to head to Chowpatty Beach and visit the ISKCON hare krsna temple there for a Sunday Feast (regular occurance worldwide). Unfortunately in India the Sunday feast is in the afternoon not in the evening so i missed it.. however they had an attached restaurant which i heartily dined at. meeting a devotee Deepak while eating. Shortly after, I was extremely surprised to bump into Karuna Das. A devotee I'd met one time in Vancouver! Neither of us had any idea the other was there so it was quite a shock. Not ignoring the significance of sucn an event, I arranged to meet him the following (Mon) morning and spend the day together. With Deepak's ceaseless assistance a car was arranged for a trip out to some ancient rock caves dating Before Christ, quite incredible. Later in the day after I found out about the credit card, and speaking to the girls, I decided to skip Jaipur (i'd heard it was just another big city anyway) and get myself to the quieter Udaipur where Lilith et al were planning on heading in a couple of days. Visiting the other RadhaKrsna temple in Mumbai in the evening with Karuna and Deepak, there was a travel agent there and after some stress arranged a Train/Bus combination to depart the following day.
In the end I grew to like Mumbai, but it was really just a city. A very different feel to other big cities i've visited, Mumbai seemed a lot more organised and in control, but the warm weather and bayside scenery give it a very unique feel.
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