Well, it's now four days since the last blog, and we have had a very eventful time. As some of you will already know, on Saturday, my birthday, I managed to dislodge the crown on my front tooth whilst gnawing on a piece of sugar cane. 4.50 pm on a Saturday is not the best time to do that in any country, but at least in Mumbai, there was a solitary dentist open. In fear of having to spend the weekend without a front tooth, and looking like Worzel Gummidge (the TV scarecrow for those of you not old enough to know him), we sought advice from the receptionist at the hotel. He told us there was a dentist two blocks away who would be open between 5 & 7 pm - so John instructed me to take my feet from the bucket I was soaking them in, and get ready to go.

A little apprehensive about what I might find we headed off, and my concerns were justified when we reached the dentists. The sliding door was locked, but on hearing us an elderly man popped his head out to ask what we wanted. I showed him the crown and the gap at the front ( not much spoken Hindi or English needed for this bit, so ok so far ! ) "just give me two minutes" he said as he gestured us to sit down on a small ledge outside, and then closed the door again. When he reappeared and I had a chance to reappraise the situation I maybe should have been a little anxious. The "surgery" was a tiny room, with equipment that predated my recollections of anything I'd ever seen in a surgery. Whilst contemplating what he was going to do with my broken crown Dr EE (great name for a dentist, and yes it is his name), went on to tell me that he had visited the UK to find work as his ex-wife lived in Harrow. Fortunately for the residents of the U.K., he found the country too expensive and dental practices too modern. In his own words, "his practices are stone age.". Maybe that's the point at which I should have left but keen to have the front of my tooth stuck back on as soon as possible I listened to him telling me about his trips to England whilst he pondered which implement to use and how to stick it back.
By 5.10 pm I had my tooth back on and was 1000 rupees lighter (nb one rupee is pretty much equivalent to a penny).

Needless to say by Sunday morning, whilst sucking cautiously on an extremely soft piece of carrot in my Dahl the thing fell off again..... Oh joy. Not wishing to repeat the experience with Dr EE, and realising a more permanent solution would be called for I scoured the Internet for a " more modern practice". Closed today, closed today, closed today. Oh well, nothing else for it, abandon hope for today and resume the search tomorrow. Not wishing to spoil Johns birthday we ventured out me under strict instructions from John to keep my mouth closed at all times unless under a shroud. Mumbai on a Sunday morning is like a completely different place- no cars, no traffic, no honking. No need to jaywalk, or avoid people walking on the pavement, or dodge people trying to sell you things. Mumbaikars obviously like to lie in on Sunday. Unfortunately, things changed a little after lunch as people started to come out and fill the streets- but it was very relaxing whilst it lasted.

Since the last blog, our wildlife tally has gone up. We have now seen 2 chipmunks, and a colony of fruit bats ( not sure whether that's the correct collective noun, but it's not something I say every day). This morning we added to the tally with one rat.....seen scurrying along with a paper bag presumably containing something deemed delectable by Mr Ratty. It was 5 am in the morning, and still dark so I can live with that. During the day vermin have been notable by their absence so far. As have the cats.

What were you doing on the streets at 5 am I hear you ask.....well that's a subject for the next blog.... So watch this space.