The first thing we noticed about Mumbai was also its most emblematic feature: the traffic. Noticed is the wrong word. In fact, so is traffic. Rather I should say that an unruly, never ending organism of taxis, rickshaws, mopeds and cars enshrouded us in a …. cascade of beeping, hollering, swerving, overtaking and spitting as made our first jourmey from the airportt. Drivers seemed compelled to gain an extra inch, an extra second advantage over all other vehicles, rivals that they were forced to contest with from dawn to dusk, day in day out. The end result was that Mumbai itself seemed to be a city on the move.

Initially was very hard to keep up. Our first day was certainly challenging. After our taxi journey to the hostel, we endeavoured to take our first steps in the frantic city. Crossing the road was akin to taking a leap of faith. Forced to bob and weave through the endless stream of criss crossing vehicles, with no pavements to call upon,we had no choice but to put our best foot forward and hope that we made it to the other side. When I first proceeded to test the grace of God, I was reminded of that scene in Dodgeball when … trains for the game by running through traffic. As our tour guide and friend Anthony later informed us, there is a saying in Mumbai about crossing the road: ‘Good head, good leg,good luck'.

Fortunately, by the grace of God, we survived. However, it was only to be met with intense, unblinking stares from the hoards of men on the other side, not used to seeing two white foreigners in the area. This was something that persisted throughout our entire stay in Mumbai. As a milky white, ginger haired girl, Alice got it the worse. Though I think we both got more used to it as the days went on, the staring was difficult to deal with on our first venture into the city. With very few women on the streets and large gangs of men on almost every corner, Alice found it particularly intimidating. As we continued on our walk, we attempted to discern what exactly the looks conveyed. The same unblinking stare seemed to somehow convey surprise, awe, curiosity, humour or reproach depending on the individual in question.

After having endured the stares and roads for a couple of hours or so and not daring to delve further into the labyrinth of Fort, our local area in Mumbai, Alice and I trudged back to our hostel hoping that a long and peaceful sleep would bring us some respite.

Obviously, this was travelling in budget hostel so such ambitions were not to be met. Falling asleep with the lights being flicked on and off, people using the toilet positioned near your bed and with nothing but your towel for cover is all part of the experience though I guess.