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Hong Kong by birth,
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Friday, November 19, 2004
Im melting under the Bombay sun. It is definitely hotter than in the North. I arrived this morning after an 18 hour train journey. It didnt feel long at all. In fact, it went by rather quickly. Im glad I chose a 3-tier class than a 2-tier because I met different people on the train. I met an Indian family on the platform who was more than happy to engage in conversation with a foreigner. One of the daughters gave me a peacock feather. On the train I sat next to a younger brother and sister travelling to Mumbai for start of school term, a British backpacker who was travelling around the world for a year (Australia being one of his later destinations) and four Indian armymen. It was difficult communicating, especially with the men so we ended up pointing to the map and photos in the Lonely Planet book! One of the men was from Jaiselmer (very West of Rajesthan) where I reallyy want to go on a camel safari. The men got off at Kota after 3 hours and a young Indian family hopped on for the remainder of the journey. Their kids were entertaining! I had a surprising good sleep on the train, although I kept hitting the roof of the train each time I sat up (I had the top bunk!). One of the reasons why I slept well was because I had no mosquito bites! (would you believe the previous night, I woke up with a mosquito bite on my eyelid!!). Im so prone to them :(
Mumbai in terms of accommodation is rightfully the most expensive. Im paying nearly double to three times the amount Ive been paying since the beginning of the trip. Im glad Im only here for a night otherwise Im going to be broke pretty soon. At a glace, Mumbai is more developed, and you can see this by the transport (gone are the tuks tuks, rickshaws, bicycles) buildings, general infrastructure. I saw proper traffic lights for the first time. But at its heart, it is still a poor city. Up till now I got the occassional mother carrying a baby tapping you and asking you for money, but in Mumbai it has been more frequent. Today at the market I saw a line of beggers with their arms outstretched, with one crippled on the floor. It was disheartening seeing them. In sharp contrast when I made a strip to the Southern tip of Mumbai to see the Gateway of India a huge arch facing the Mumbai harbour, I could see the wealthy milling around the nearby Taj Mahal Hotel.
As I was walking away from the Gateway, I felt something sticky between my toes and my sandels. I bent down and saw chewed gum at the tip of my sandels. So I knelt down and got out a tissue and water to scrape it off. As I was doing this a young local girl crouched down opposite me and said, "No No, water cannot". I looked up and she was gesturing with her hand and pointing to her mouth. Then abruptly she started spitting saliva. hmm...I couldnt make out what she was doing. I was more or less fixated on the residue which was now drooling from her mouth. Then it dawned on me that she was suggesting me to use saliva and not water to get the gum off! I was worried she would start spitting her saliva on my feet and sandels. So before she had the chance to generate enough saliva to do that I quickly got up and signaled with my hand that I was fine. :P she was a sweet girl. We started talking about the strings of flowers on her hand. She tied a string around my wrist as a bracelet. In exchange, I gave her a sheet of stickers (which I had got earlier in the market...you are probably wondering why I need stickers..I brought them to take to Bangalore for the kids. I should have brought all the stickers here! its a lot cheaper).
Oh, remember how I purchased a polaroid camera from K-mart before I left Australia. Well I brought it along with me and its been a hit success. Ive used it on many occassions already and desperately running out of film. In Jaipur, I was riding on the rickshaw with Ashok and we noticed a couple on a motorcycle smiling at us. The woman had the widest smile Ive seen which I really wanted to capture on my camera. I held my camera up as though to ask her if its okay. She nodded and smiled and I snapped. Then I remembered I had my polaroid on me! So I signalled again with the second camera and took another one. You should have seen the expression of her face when Ashok pulled out the photo out and handed it over. she was so suprised that it was 'instant'. Then Ashok explained in Hindi that she needed to wait a while before the photo will show :) Oh, another time we used it was while visiting the Amber Fort. We were walking along the garden and we met the female gardener with a girl (presumably her daughter). She asked us to take a photo of them and to pay them rupees! hehe I took it as sort of like paying them so that we can have a photo of them?! we decided to use my polaroid again! and instead of paying them we handed them a photo of them. They were taken of guard and delightfully suprised ! I am now down to one film !! ahhhh everytime I pass a camera/film shop, Ill pop in to ask if they have the type of film I need. No where seems to stock them :( Im thinking of asking my brother to buy some and sending it by post to Bangalore. hMm..
Oh! a good thing is my seat is confirmed for my train ride tomorrow from Mumbai to Bangalore. This time 24 and a half hours! I hope I meet interesting people on the trip.
Im off now! shall write soon
*lots of love
Mumbai in terms of accommodation is rightfully the most expensive. Im paying nearly double to three times the amount Ive been paying since the beginning of the trip. Im glad Im only here for a night otherwise Im going to be broke pretty soon. At a glace, Mumbai is more developed, and you can see this by the transport (gone are the tuks tuks, rickshaws, bicycles) buildings, general infrastructure. I saw proper traffic lights for the first time. But at its heart, it is still a poor city. Up till now I got the occassional mother carrying a baby tapping you and asking you for money, but in Mumbai it has been more frequent. Today at the market I saw a line of beggers with their arms outstretched, with one crippled on the floor. It was disheartening seeing them. In sharp contrast when I made a strip to the Southern tip of Mumbai to see the Gateway of India a huge arch facing the Mumbai harbour, I could see the wealthy milling around the nearby Taj Mahal Hotel.
As I was walking away from the Gateway, I felt something sticky between my toes and my sandels. I bent down and saw chewed gum at the tip of my sandels. So I knelt down and got out a tissue and water to scrape it off. As I was doing this a young local girl crouched down opposite me and said, "No No, water cannot". I looked up and she was gesturing with her hand and pointing to her mouth. Then abruptly she started spitting saliva. hmm...I couldnt make out what she was doing. I was more or less fixated on the residue which was now drooling from her mouth. Then it dawned on me that she was suggesting me to use saliva and not water to get the gum off! I was worried she would start spitting her saliva on my feet and sandels. So before she had the chance to generate enough saliva to do that I quickly got up and signaled with my hand that I was fine. :P she was a sweet girl. We started talking about the strings of flowers on her hand. She tied a string around my wrist as a bracelet. In exchange, I gave her a sheet of stickers (which I had got earlier in the market...you are probably wondering why I need stickers..I brought them to take to Bangalore for the kids. I should have brought all the stickers here! its a lot cheaper).
Oh, remember how I purchased a polaroid camera from K-mart before I left Australia. Well I brought it along with me and its been a hit success. Ive used it on many occassions already and desperately running out of film. In Jaipur, I was riding on the rickshaw with Ashok and we noticed a couple on a motorcycle smiling at us. The woman had the widest smile Ive seen which I really wanted to capture on my camera. I held my camera up as though to ask her if its okay. She nodded and smiled and I snapped. Then I remembered I had my polaroid on me! So I signalled again with the second camera and took another one. You should have seen the expression of her face when Ashok pulled out the photo out and handed it over. she was so suprised that it was 'instant'. Then Ashok explained in Hindi that she needed to wait a while before the photo will show :) Oh, another time we used it was while visiting the Amber Fort. We were walking along the garden and we met the female gardener with a girl (presumably her daughter). She asked us to take a photo of them and to pay them rupees! hehe I took it as sort of like paying them so that we can have a photo of them?! we decided to use my polaroid again! and instead of paying them we handed them a photo of them. They were taken of guard and delightfully suprised ! I am now down to one film !! ahhhh everytime I pass a camera/film shop, Ill pop in to ask if they have the type of film I need. No where seems to stock them :( Im thinking of asking my brother to buy some and sending it by post to Bangalore. hMm..
Oh! a good thing is my seat is confirmed for my train ride tomorrow from Mumbai to Bangalore. This time 24 and a half hours! I hope I meet interesting people on the trip.
Im off now! shall write soon
*lots of love