Can't believe it's Friday already, and we are on day four in India. Where shall I start - well maybe at the beginning.
We arrived courtesy of Jet Airways on Tuesday morning to a spookily quiet and serene arrivals area. No relatives waving placards or taxi drivers touting for trade. We usually stop in the airport for a coffee to give us chance to look round and suss out the systems etc, but this time we didn't need to as there was no one about to "mug us". Has to be the easiest arrivals hall to navigate that I've ever been to. Turned out that all the relatives have to wait outside although they did have a lovely water feature and a Starbucks that we could see from where we were. Anyone entering the foyer from outside had to navigate some beefy security scanners so guess that put people off. Didn't actually see anyone making it into the building except staff.
The £6.50 2 hour drive from the airport took us through the northern suburbs to our final destination of Ballard estate in the Fort area of the peninsula. The taxi weaved its way across busy junctions, honking as we went. Past a kaleidoscope of Indian life, blue tarpaulins covering makeshift shelters, people resting on the pavement- some begging,some sleeping. The surprising thing is that despite the 35-degree temperature, frenetic traffic and constant honking we've seen no one arguing, or crashing into anyone. Everyone is very friendly and the place feels really safe even in the poorer areas. We are becoming experts at recognising who will ask us for money, and good at conversing with kids who want to sell us very nice looking things for a pittance. I'm really pleased that I am contributing to the fitness of the local youths, who leap up from their market stalls on seeing us approach to offer me pashminas, tops, trousers, jewellery - all "at a very good price". The good thing about knowing you have no space in the backpack, and a budget that has to last 365 days, is it ensures you don't get carried away buying things. I have to admit though I didn't have any problem declining a humongous phallic-shaped balloon. It was too big to even sit on so I'm not sure what I was supposed to do with it. I'd much rather spend my 10 rupees on a cup of chai.

We have managed to explore a lot of the sights In the area despite the searing heat. I'm hoping that the combination of walking, drinking litres of water and sweating, should have me down to a size 10 by the time we move on. I could be diabetic though if I don't stay away from the fizzy stuff, as that's going down by the litre too.

Those of you who know your history will know that the Gateway of India is famous as the port of entry for the visit of King George V & Queen Mary who came here in 1911. It was also the port by which the British left when they handed over India to the Indians and the last British soldiers left in Feb 1948. The Gateway is about 15 minutes walk from our hotel so we managed to amble down there on our first day, negotiating broken pavements, or lack of pavement, to reach the security screening area which led to the large expanse in front of the gate. Security around all the government buildings and potential terrorist targets is noticeably high but its presence is reassuring and doesn't cause huge delays.
The area was full of entrepreneurs trying to sell us instant photos. I reckon they must do it as a franchise as they all have the same four pictures, a camera and a developing machine.
The Gateway is opposite the Taj Mahal Palace hotel which became famous when it was bombed in the terror attacks of 2008. You wouldn't know as it's all been repaired, and is a beautiful building.

John managed to break his glasses before we left the hotel on the first day, breaking the bit of wire that holds the lenses in, so I'm assuming that's why he hasn't been able to internalise a GPS system. Luckily mine's been working well and we are beginning to feel like locals already.....jaywalking across the traffic, navigating potholes and the odd cow. This morning he went to pick them up, so I expected to have a long time by myself to put this blog together. Needless to say he was back In Quick-sticks time, glasses fixed at no charge and beaming from ear to ear that he had managed to get there and back himself. Think it must have been the dosa he had for breakfast that powered him up.

We had a full day yesterday. Those who know us well will know we usually walk as much as possible, so we are giving our blisters and legs a day off today and lounging in the roof terrace area, making plans and catching up with the duties. In this case camera downloads and washing. We walked all the way up marine drive yesterday, calling into the aquarium on the way for a reprieve from the midday heat, and a toilet stop. On the subject of which I've been surprised by the abundance of toilets and litter bins here. Anyway, I'll save that one for another day. En route we had what John describes as the best cheese toastie he's ever had......have to admit it was nice. I'll add the pic to the blog when I've done if I can remember how to do it. It was pretty much a sandwich filled with a miscellany of grated vegetables, various sauces which tasted like Dahl, a sprinkling of Garam Masala and cheese all toasted together . Best 35p we've spent. Course I pushed the boat out and added a 10p chai to mine. Unfortunately the heat haze made it difficult to get clear pictures of the high rises over on Malabar Hill, but it was lovely walking on an even pavement.....with the addition of a light sea breeze. Eventually, we reached Chowpatty beach which had great sand, that was clean and you could actually walk on it without it invading your crevices. It gave us the chance for another rest before heading off to visit Mani Bhavan - a heritage house where Gandhi spent many years of his life including the time he was planning the Civil Disobedience movement. He was certainly an amazing and influential man who had a great way with words. You could imagine Gandhi living there, as they have managed to retain the old character of the building and included many actual antiquities from the time. I was fascinated to see and read the letters he sent back and forth to Tolstoy, and read the independence charter they drafted. Having watched the film Gandhi before we came away the various exhibits were certainly more meaningful and helped us appreciate the dioramas they had created about the stages in Gandhi's life.