India. Mumbai
After a long but pretty comfortable flight, where we managed to procure 3 seats for ourselves (aisle-empty-window), we have safely landed in India. I used the flight to catch up on movies - Social Network, which was great, Town, which was pretty good, and Wall Street 2010, which was terrible. Unfortunately, I watched them in ascending order of suckitude, so there was little left to do but sleep after that.
We were picked up by our hotel, which was about 5 or so miles away, which took us about an hour to traverse. We weren't too upset, as the slow traffic allowed us to take in the chaotic life unfolding outside the car window - people cleaning vegetables, burning fires in the gutters, fixing old bikes, all amidst weaving tuk-tuks and huge buses and trucks painted in psychedelic colors. After a quick dip in the hotel pool, we saw that over the fence, there was a beach with huge throngs of people, fireworks, trained monkeys and the like. So of course, that's where we went.
The garbage-strewn beach was crowded with people, families, couples, vendors of all kinds, and street urchins, all concentrated in a compact area around an open-air fast food court. Of course, I could not resist kicking off the trip right, and indulged in some delicious concoctions of unclear nature. The paneer dosa was especially amazing, as we shared it on the steps right next to the beach, taking in the pulsating beat of this city. Tomorrow, bright and early, we are off to Nagpur, for the first day of wedding festivities.
We were picked up by our hotel, which was about 5 or so miles away, which took us about an hour to traverse. We weren't too upset, as the slow traffic allowed us to take in the chaotic life unfolding outside the car window - people cleaning vegetables, burning fires in the gutters, fixing old bikes, all amidst weaving tuk-tuks and huge buses and trucks painted in psychedelic colors. After a quick dip in the hotel pool, we saw that over the fence, there was a beach with huge throngs of people, fireworks, trained monkeys and the like. So of course, that's where we went.
The garbage-strewn beach was crowded with people, families, couples, vendors of all kinds, and street urchins, all concentrated in a compact area around an open-air fast food court. Of course, I could not resist kicking off the trip right, and indulged in some delicious concoctions of unclear nature. The paneer dosa was especially amazing, as we shared it on the steps right next to the beach, taking in the pulsating beat of this city. Tomorrow, bright and early, we are off to Nagpur, for the first day of wedding festivities.