So our train journey to Mumbai was interesting. If you haven't seen the video on Facebook that Hannah made then I suggest you do. The story goes something like this. We had pre-booked second sitting reservations for the journey which was supposed to take about 8 hours. Usually we'd go on a sleeper train for anything above 5 or 6 hours as it can get pretty un-comfy sat on hard seats for that length of time. Sadly due to the popularity of the route we had no choice but to book these tickets. We thought we'd just suck it up and stretch our legs whenever we could. So the train arrives and we could not believe how many people were already squashed into our carriage. We somehow managed to squeeze ourselves onto the train and were suddenly genuinely concerned we were going to have to stand where we were with our bags on for 8 hours as we were so squished we couldn't move or take our bags off. We just had to try and push through the sea of people between us and our seats.... typically these were as far away as they could be from the door. Now this would've been difficult with no bags but with our massive backpacks on our backs and our smaller day packs on our front. It was a bit like two Mr Blobbys trying to squeeze through – people were not happy with us! I just kept repeating my seat number so people knew where I was heading and we both eventually got to our seats. We somehow managed to squash our bags into the already full overhead luggage rail and breathed a small sigh of relief. We weren't actually sat next to each other and I had definitely got the bum deal with my seat. I was perched on a row of seats (made for 3 people) containing 2 adults and 3 children. Hannah was on the row of seats opposite, sat by the window with only 3 other people on her row, with two toddlers on laps. Lucky. Once we had settled it became clear just how crowded it was. People were sat all over the place, in the aisles, on the luggage racks, on top of the bench uprights, any children small enough were plonked in makeshift baby hammocks swinging from the overhead luggage racks! There was no way we were going to be able to get out of our seats until we arrived. As if that wasn't enough, we were amazed to see that different people selling cucumbers, crisps, water etc. were all trying to clamber through the crowds as usual too! Our journey was made slightly more entertaining as three different arguments between women broke out at various points, one of which looked destined to end in fisty cuffs but was eventually cooled. Another of which I was sat right in the middle of and I had the whole carriage staring at me! Finally after 8 long hours we arrived in Mumbai. I was grateful to leave the train but Hannah found the whole experience amazing. I think this was because she managed to spark up a conversation with the ladies sat with her. I say conversation, mostly sign language and nodding! She had a grandma sat next to her who kept trying to get her to eat her food, salted cucumber, sweets, noodles and handfuls of fennel seeds! One of the toddlers kept crying as they wanted to be by the window so Hannah had them on her lap for a good while. One of the girls even gave her some earrings as a present! Must have made a good impression. 

Our time in Mumbai was short and not very exciting. We saw more impressive British built buildings in The High Court, University, The Gateway Of India and the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel (where the Mumbai terrorist attack was centred). We visited a market which contained stalls selling fruits, spices, and several pet stores. The stores contained lots of kittens, puppies and baby rabbits all outside in the heat of the day. Not a great site to see. One store in particular had not even put water in the bowls for their animals. One big black fluffy cat was physically panting he was so hot and thirsty. Luckily Hannah had a bottle of water with her and made sure each one got a top up, even demanding the owner open the cages so she could get at the bowls. We also visited the City Museum, which was probably the best kept museum we'd found in the whole of India, and a museum telling the life of Ghandi. Both were very good.