Left Jaipur (finally after trawling the city looking for toilet roll for the journey!!!!) and checked in at the airport, but at the last minute the flight was delayed - Indian Time!!!

We were preparing ourselves for Mumbai - lots of people, mosquitos swarms, etc etc but when we arrived there were no swarms of mosquitos but there were lots of taxi drivers all shouting at you, and each other. We tried to choose the guy that looked most respectable. But after walking out of the airport area and across a road to where he claimed his taxi was, he then got on the phone - so promptly Andi and I said this isn't right and picked up our bags and headed back to the airport taxi rank. Eventually we got in a cab and hit the road to our hotel, which we'd confirmed twice now, as we were that scared of being without accommodation for the night after the eye opener in Jaipur. It took over an hour to drive to the hotel and on the way we passed the slums and went through the bad bits as well as the good modern buildings. But boy that city is scary. It is just constantly buzzing and just feels dangerous. Already we were pleased we were only staying one night. We got to the hotel to be met by the guy who we'd spoken to on the phone, pleased that he'd remembered we were coming. He said that he had specially arranged for us to have the whole first floor to ourselves, saying that is was very quiet for us to enjoy the stay and he'd arrange a taxi for us in the morning to take us to the airport. We were expecting him to be building up to ripping our eyes out for a lot more money, but he agreed with the original price. Happy days we thought. We thought we'd splashed out and paid a fortune anyway, but we wanted a bit better than the last few nights and with it being a big city the prices are higher anyway.

Well, this is were the fun begins. The highlight of the trip so far (or should I say the low light). He got his boys to take us around the front of the 'hotel' (main entrance is at the side) and up a really old wooden staircase - which just looked like something out of a horror movie. On the first floor he opened a door which led into a scruffy sitting area, with a bare bed in it. Off that was a corridor with a few doors, one door led into a bedroom, which actually was alright, it was clean enough and the bathroom was good. But the rest of the area was derelict and very very creepy. The bedroom door had a little lock on the inside and the main front doors pulled close. We looked at each other knowing that we weren't happy but said we'd get the bags up and have a chat. The guy was very pleasant, took our money and got the boys to take our bags up for us. It was explained that any time we wanted to get in, we just needed to ask them and they'd go up and open the door for us - we wouldn't have any key! Once up, we considered what we were doing!!! We weren't happy to say the least. It was teh creppiest place I have ever seen. But we had come all this way to go to Leopold's (for those who haven't - please read Shantaram - it'll explain everything, can get it in Waterstones for about 8 quid, well worth the read!) so we decided to go and get some food there as thankfully it was literally around the corner, so we didn't need any taxis etc. So we went out clutching on to our bags and each other - pertified of scary Mumbai. We ate really really slowly to stall for time and to consider what we were doing. Andi made the decision that we were just not going to stay there. We decided to ask at the nice hotel next door if they'd any rooms and if not, we'd pay hundreds to stay in a Hilton or the best 5 star hotel we could find. The hotel next door had no rooms - not surprising really! But there were a couple of people sitting at the door of our hotel drinking a beer, so we thought we'd invite ourselves along and join them. We told them about our situation and Andi actually showed them where we were staying, so somebody knew where we were, because we were on that floor all on our own. The front doors to the staircase remained open and it was quite possible anybody could walk up the stairs and break the door down (or have keys) and then we were in on our own - and nobody would know - or hear the screams! We decided we had no option but to stay, due to the time, but decided we'd stay up as long as possible, so not to have to go to the room. We sat up with the German couple until after midnight, while trying to keep conversation going to keep our minds off the slaughter house we had to go up to. But when one rat turned into 7 rats, running around our feet we couldn't stay up any longer. So we went upstairs and locked ourselves in the death room, after doing a sweep off the floor with a torch in hand. The cards came out and we were determined not to sleep and agreed we'd get out as soon as possible the next morning. We kept our bags fully packed and locked and propt them against the door, and lay in and out of sleep - fully clothed, just in case. This probably all sounds very funny to you all now, but i swear, we've never been so petrified in our whole lives. And to top it all, he hadn't taken any passport details - you need to give details to fart in this country - so now there wasn't even any record of us being in Mumbai! We lay awake, listening to the horrible city outside and the squeek of the rats and thanked our lucky stars we weren't on our own and that we'd be leaving in 5 hours again. In the morning, we eased out of the door half expecting to see either rats everywhere or a corridor full of junkies that had walked in off the street and broken in to crash for the night, but it was all clear. We walked round the corner and took a picture of the Gate of India, and then wasted some time in the 5 start hotel - just having a look around, simply to avoid hanging around the hotel or on the streets with all the drug dealers and pimps. We couldn't have been happier when the taxi came. We weren't sure which airport we were going to - as cleverly they've named the both of them the same, but we got it right. We were at the airport hours before we needed to be, but it was heaven. We drank coffee and ate food and watched the madness from the window, just so thankful that we were leaving. I think it's safe to say that neither of us like Mumbai much and we will definitely not be back. Next thing to worry about - what will the place in Goa be like!!!!