Hello there!!

Sorry for the delay, we have been having such a good time that we are finding it hard to update the blog! We'll give you a taste of what we have been up to so far.

Arriving in Mumbai was literally like being thrown in at the deep end. Organised madness is the best way to describe this place. At the airport we had to fill out numerous forms which we weren't told about, we were thermally scanned for swine flu and went into wrong queues. The heat and humidity was blistering! We also saw an extremely hairy security guard who could have done with shaving his ear lobes, and got to hear a woman let rip (probably too much curry). So not all bad!

We got a tuk tuk at break neck speed with our teenage driver - no seatbelts of course. Glimpsed hundreds of people living by the side of the road and people, traffic and cows walking in all manner of directions! Our luxury 2 star hotel, the Hotel Samrat was at best a bomb site. Our toilet didn't flush, there were numerous buckets spread throughout the room but at least we had air-con!

The next day we noticed that our hotel was missing one of its walls, but this allowed us to see a few random farmyard animals pottering about joining the madness. On our numerous tuk tuk rides and train rides, we saw the shanty towns stretching for miles and expensive hotels and shops lining the streets opposite.

We explored the city and got to experience the polar opposites of India. On the one hand there were attractive young Indians wearing the latest designer gear and on the other there were countless people living street side, or on the beach in upturned boats and little tents - although everyone seems to live happily together. We also noticed that a lot of people seem to spend most of their day either standing around chatting, talking on their mobile, asleep in their car or sat outside buildings doing nothing. One and a half billion people have to do something!

Curries in Mumbai, especially those of the mutton variety are amazing!! We enjoyed numerous dishes at places recommended by the travel book and one by ourselves in Ju Hu (Bollywood) which apparantely was one of the nicest seafood restuarants in town. The food was good, but I don't know, with a portaloo toilet and plastic sheeted roof I have a feeling that it wouldn't go down so well back in the UK!

We have taken in all of the city sites including the Colonial part, hundreds of markets, countless smells, a sheesha bar and a cafe called Gaylord's (don't spoil Chai with soya ass milk - that is not a homosexual reference!). Getting lost in Mumbai is the best way to do it, especially when the occasional rainfall breaks the swealtering humidity. JF had a harrowing experience in an open toilet, involving his hands and a bucket! Later relaying this to me as he was scooping his curry onto his chappati using the same hand - the look on his face was priceless!

And on that bombshell, we'll draw this entry to a close. As a place Mumbai is truly fascinating to visit, it seems to tick on its own clock and nowhere else like it have we felt so safe walking past people that own nothing and people that own everything. It would take years off your life living here as you just cannot get away from the madness. If you want to sit down on Chowpatti beach you will stilll see people washing clothes in questionable water and hear the surrounding hustle and bustle.

And so next on to Singapore where we are sure the experience will be a lot less frantic!