Before embarking on this journey I was somewhat apprehensive about our stop in Mumbai, a city with a population equivalent to the whole of Australia. So many stories about the heat and traffic and beggars, dead bodies and cows ...

Well my brief story is all about the positives I experienced. A tour guide full of passion and enthusiasm for his home, being politely greeted by the schoolchildren also visiting The Hanging Gardens when we were there, the respect for tradition evident in The Tower of Silence, locals happy to pose and smile for the camera, and the organised chaos of the traffic.

I would happily prefer a return visit to Mumbai over Bali anyday, so to anyone considering a visit but put off by the stories ... go, because you want to.