Well, you can read all the books you like about a place but as we've learnt, there's nothing quite like arriving off a 9-hour (and at times, bumpy) flight to a manic city like Mumbai to give you a total culture shock! The first thing we noticed was the heat (goes without saying, we are from Ireland after all!) and then the mosquitoes, not to mention the erm, interesting rules of the road as seen from the back of a black and yellow Premier taxi cab.
What else - there is the poverty of course which is widespread and hits you like a smack on the face, along with the hardship of so many people, plus the relentless hawkers and touts and the inevitable rats ... (Susie is surprising herself and is no longer having a panic attack every time something small and black which moves faster than her jumps out from the undergrowth). The food is excellent (Rusholme in Manchester for a curry? You must be joking!) and we can't get enough of it! From bhelpuri to paneer masala to vege kulcha, experimentation is definately the key!
In the past 3 days we've done quite a bit - visited Mahalaxmi Hindu temple, viewed ancient rock carvings on Elephanta Island, taken in Mani Bhavan, Gandhi's residence when he stayed in Mumbai from 1917-1934, chilled on Chowpatty Beach and generally enjoyed getting to know this mad but amazing place.
(Me posing on Chowpatty Beach)Next stop is Goa for some no-brainer relaxation on beaches and dining on freshly caught fish ... sounds like heaven after 4 days in hectic Munbai! But that said, we're meeting up tomorrow (Saturday) with my brother Conor 'Hasselhof' McC, his girlf Emma 'Legs' Halpenny, Steph 'Muffin' Sloan, Stavros 'The Greek' Karapakledis, Bal 'Innit' Sekhon and Phil 'I am the Prince of Wales' Flacke, so the relaxation might have to be sacrificed for a wee bit of partying...!
(Fishing boats, Elephantas Island)Namaste for now! XX
