We arrived in Mumbai tired and hot - so our pre-booked taxi, not arriving was not a great start to our trip! We decided to share a taxi with a very nice French boy, who was also heading our way. The taxi ride was an "experience" to say the least, we didn't think we'd arrive in one piece! The rules to driving in India are that.....there are no rules; just overtake, beep your horn and you'll fit in well! There was even a fight in the middle of a big intersection which we, and a million other cars just drove around! We arrived at the hotel, where they had no record of our reservation, but luckily there were rooms available, so we had a few hours sleep before exploring the city.

We headed for a walk around the city on our first night - which is hot, sticky, smelly and dirty, but it was colourful and vibrant and was well worth the visit - this was India as we imagined it would be! After getting used to the beggars, hawkers and stares from the locals, we felt more settled. Just down he road from our hotel was the 5 star, luxurious Taj Mahal hotel, which was built in 1903 by JN Tata, after he was refused entry into a Euro hotel, for being a 'native'.

The Gateway to India was also on our road, which is a huge monument that was built to mark the visit of King George V in 1911. The last British regiment left India through the gate in 1948.

16th Jan - After an interesting first breakfast of jelly on toast (!) we headed for the Victoria Terminus and the markets. The Victoria Terminus (Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) is the main train station in Mumbai and is a huge and very impressive Gothic building (see photos). It was built for the Great Indian Penninsular Railway company in 1887.

Next stop was Crawford market, which is an undercover fruit and veg market. We bought some grapes and oranges, our planned haggling didn't go so well, as we didn't even try, it was so cheap anyway! The market manager showed us around the spice stalls and took us to see the Pashmina shop, which was really interesting. We learnt that Pashmina's are made from Antelope fur and it can take up to 15 antelope to make the finest quality shawl, made from only the throat fur - which is the finest!

After a busy day at the market we stopped at the Taj Mahal hotel for a couple of fruit cocktails - yummy! That evening we headed to Chowpatty Beach - a night time experience. The beach is full of local families and couples and the odd tourist. There are loads of food stalls, a small fairground (powered by muscle alone!) and masseurs at the ready to rub your head! We tried the famous Bhel Puri (crisp fried pieces of dough mixed with puffed rice, fried lentils, lemon juice, onions, herbs and chutney), which really nice. We sat on the beach until the beggars got too much and we were finally shifted by a young girl standing on our toes and kicking sand at us!

17th Jan - We got up early to check out and then headed to the harbour to pick up a boat to Elephanta Island. After being a little ill, which we put down to the grapes we'd bought from the market (we did wash them, promise!) the boat ride was quite relaxing. We paid to get on to the island and then found that after walking 120 steps to the caves, we had to pay again to go into the caves; they charge for just about everything in India! The caves were very impressive, carved into the rock in the 2nd century BC. The Hindu Gods are carved into the rock and are very detailed, although are now beginning to show signs of age. On the way out we saw an electric socket in the walls of the ancient caves, so this attraction could just be a ploy to attract the tourists, but we enjoyed it all the same! When we got back to dry land we headed straight for the airport to catch our (delayed) flight to Goa. Arriving at 8pm, we jumped in taxi (the worst ride so far in India - I think he was trying to kill us!) and headed stright to the South of Goa, to Palolem Beach. This is supposed to be the least developed of Goa's beaches, so we are glad we didn't choose the most developed!! It definitely caters for tourists, unlike Mumbai.