Today we woke up at eight ready for a full day of sightseeing in Mumbai before heading to the airport later. We firstly headed towards grant road train station and for the huge sum of sixteen rupees (about twenty pence) we got two return tickets to central Mumbai. We hopped on the train and headed towards the centre... We were constantly stared at, probably as I was the only female in the compartment... Most use the female only compartment but the journey was short and most seemed friendly.

Once we arrived we took a stroll down to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, also known as Victoria Teminus, It is the largest and busiest railway station in Asia and the main station in Mumbai. It's a gorgeous building and wouldn't look out of place in London, It's very Victorian in style and was built by Fredrick Stevens in 1887. It was extremely busy with hundreds of people constantly flowing out of the main door but we still managed to have a good look at the beautiful gothic arches and stained glass windows.

After we were finished we headed south towards the Gateway to India and the famous Taj Mahal palace hotel... This was the reason I came to Mumbai. As we walked further towards the harbour and the palace hotel the streets became more and more like London, very grand, Victorian and wealthy. I lost count of the number of Jags and Bentleys that drove past us.... However where ever there is a tourist attraction, there are a million touts, tour guides and locals selling the most random items. We were harassed hundreds of times by guys selling huge spotty balloons... At least five to six foot in length. On approaching me for the millionth time I simply and honestly told them I would never have a use for a six foot balloon, especially in Mumbai. We dodged and dived our way through the hagglers (or hawkers as they are known here) and entered through to the gate. The gate was built in 1911 to commemorate the royal visit of King George V and proudly stands facing out towards Mumbai harbour. It looked very similar to India gate in Delhi and to be honest I was more memorised by the beautiful building behind it.

For behind it was the spectacular Taj Mahal palace hotel and it truly is beautiful. It is an iconic hotel and probably most famous for the brutal terrorist attack in 2008 where numerous people sadly lost their lives to a crazed gunman... (Who was actually hung during our time in India after a lengthly trial). The hotel has risen up from such a traumatic time and redesigned its self completely and remains as opulent and as popular as it was previously. We decided that although we would probably never afford to reside there in our lifetime, we could still enjoy a cup of tea so we headed inside. The doorman were wonderfully polite despite our clearly scruffy appearance and welcomed us in. After the attacks the security rightly so is very strict and you must enter through airport type security before getting into the hotel... This is politely and beautifully handled and to be honest most airports could learn a lesson here.

Once inside our first reaction was whoooooooooah! The place is stunning and architecturally a wonderful sight. I was in heaven... Everywhere was lush fabric, beautiful carpets and stunning jewellery being advertised in the lobby shops. I was blown away and at times like this I curse the rich and wish for just one day I could win the lottery or inherit a fortune from a long lost relative. We checked out the main reception and it was beautiful... Steven was convinced he saw the indian twenty twenty team so was made up.... Although as he wasn't completely convinced he didn't want a pic.

After a few pics (so that we could at least pretend we stayed here lol) we headed up to the sea view lounge and wow what a view... If that was how the other side lived then I wanted a piece... Or even just a cup of tea. We headed up to the door and peeked the menu and Steven actually let out an audible gasp! A cup of plain English tea here was nearly four hundred rupees ....nearly a fiver and that was without the huge amount of tax added in Mumbai. I knew he would happily let me have a cuppa there... Well not happily but would all the same but I could see it would cause him and his wallet physical pain so I suggested we find somewhere nearby and he very quickly agreed. We ended up still having coffee in the Taj palace hotel... But in the Starbucks downstairs lol. It was still pretty civil and I even enjoyed a smoked salmon and soft cheese croissant which was delicious. We sat for a while enjoying a break from the dry and immense heat of the city and I wrote postcards while Steven checked out the free wifi. I have tried to get him involved in the postcard writing with no avail... Managing only two! So I'm afraid they are written by me.... Ad the quality of cards here is pretty shoddy so apologies prior to their arrival... If they arrive.

After brunch we headed back out and into the main part of town towards the high court and the museums and galleries. We walked past a McDonald's and Steven couldn't resist a cheeky burger... His brunch had clearly not satisfied home and he bought a aloo burger meal for fifty five rupees. We then decided we would hit the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (formally the Prince of Wales museum) and thought we would have a look around. It was three hundred rupees each and two hundred for the camera so after we had paid we headed in. The museum is stunning and is Mumbai s biggest and best museum. It houses hundreds of relics from throughout India's history and even had an Egyptian exhibition on so Steven finally got to see a real life mummy. We were given audio guides and happily plodded around listening to all the history being explained to us. In the sculpture room there was the most incredible piece of work carved from the wood of a tree and was absolutely amazing... Completely blew me away and the two hundred camera fee was worth it for evidence of that alone. It wasn't a relic or anything and had been made in a competition ...not sure when but it was truly spectacular.

We wandered around for most of the afternoon enjoying mogul paintings, Hindu sculptures and weapons of war... Including Akbar's very own suit of armour, that was very cool. We then finished up in the gift shop where we bought a small star for our Christmas tree back home. We left the museum and were astonished to see that it was after five so we wandered back to church gate road to catch the train to grant road. In the station there was a lot of commotion and it turned out there was a rally going on drumming up support against sexual assault against women in India... I thought well done to them!! I imagine it is especially difficult to change the rights of women in a country so make dominated as India and it was going to be a long struggle for them. A young boy handed me a flyer, which I read on the train outlining their proposal and the sad thing was it is stuff that is the norm for victims back home... The girls here have a particularly tough time and to think it had all come into the spotlight again after a very brutal attack on a girl in Delhi, while she was on a bus fall of people... And no one intervened. Disgusting! I wished them luck and headed for the train. On our way back from the station we saw the cutest little group of kids who were carrying their homemade Christmas displays home from school... Was so sweet, I asked if they wanted a pic and they agreed excitedly, after that a mother walking close by wanted one f her son and his large picture of Santa... Adorable!

On our return to the hotel we were glad to see that our laundry was piled neatly and cleanly on the table waiting for us.... Bliss! We packed the now clean and very compact clothes into our bags and headed to the airport. We must have taken the most run down car in India... Every time we stopped in traffic, which was a lot... It stalled and the engine went off, and if we did get a momentum going it rasped and sputtered!! About two hours later, and after we saw a proper car accident involving an auto rickshaw we reached the airport and checked in our bags. Thankfully the guy was fine and was grinning as they pulled him free.

I then finally found a postbox and posted our mountain of postcards and then headed to the departures lounge and grabbed a bite before boarding our flight to Malaysia at 23:50. We were both pooped by now and could barely keep our eyes open. We climbed into our seats on the plane and attempted... Unsuccessfully to get some rest. We had heard horror stories about Malaysian airways but I was impressed. The air hostesses were lovely and friendly and they kept giving us free tiger beer which was delicious, plus we were fed which we weren't expecting. So off we flew to Malaysia... Goodbye wonderful incredible India... And hello to our next adventure.