You are coming from

a travel blog by reedkr29

Read about the adventures of Kristen, Katie and Genevieve as we travel for the next couple of months across Southern India and Sri Lanka. We will be adding pictures regularly to our Flickr Account.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22625655@N07/sets/72157608350583086/

Mumbai, India

We arrived in Bombay the night before last. Traveling here was somewhat unusual because of my medical condition... See I had been staying in New York on the upper west side in my cousin Georgia's beautiful apartment for a few days before we were scheduled to leave. It was a wonderful place to get my head and belongings together, hardwood floors, lots of afternoon sun, an overstuffed couch, and a comfy loft bed. I do two things when I am stressed out 1. Grinding my teeth in my sleep, and 2. Go walking in my sleep. I never felt like the sleepwalking could be a serious threat to my health, the worst things that ever happened usually involved waking up in an odd place, like under the coffee table, or in the bathroom. Well, at about 4 AM, on the morning before we were scheduled to fly to India, I ended up walking off of Georgia's 10 foot loft and landing with a crash on my right ankle. Being awoken in this manner was terrifying. I was completely confused and disoriented, and I tried to stand up but found I couldn't. My right ankle was in a lot of pain and I wasn't sure whether I was having a nightmare or not. So I crawled back to up the stairs bed and went back to sleep. I woke up at 7, assured that my injury was not a dream, and promptly began to lose it. There was lots of crying and phone calls to family. After a lot of agonizing, I decided that I had to go on with the trip, with or without the ability to walk. So Katie came over and dressed my ankle, Kristen came over and helped me pack, and then Jerry took us all out to eat and acquire crutches, and then dropped us off at the airport. And I got to ride. In a wheelchair. All the way through security and to the gate. It was honestly the most pleasant experience I've ever had at the airport. The flight was relatively painless, and when we landed I got to ride in another wheelchair all the way out to the parking lot. It was a surreal way to arrive in India people moved out of the way for me, there was much less jostling and shoving then usual.

Our driver decided to take the scenic route to our hotel--through the slums. The whole way he was winding us up in classic Indian taxi-cab driver fashion with the old "You can't trust anyone in India, everyone in India is out to get you, everyone will pretend to be your friend, but they are not your friend, everyone wants your money, you cannot under any circumstances trust anyone in India, except me." I am familiar with this particular song and dance, and while it may become exhaustively annoying after a month or so in country, I actually found it sort of nostalgic and amusing in my jet-lagged state, so i sat in the back of the car and didn't say much.

The slums can be shocking to someone who has never experienced them, especially with western eyes. miles and miles of jumbled-together structures and lean-tos made of materials ranging from tarp and corrugated iron, to cement. Open sewers lined good portions of the road. People slept on the median. This was India at it's most difficult and visceral. I was a little confused as to why our driver would take this particular route to Colaba, Every other time I'd taken a ride to or from the airport we went along marine drive which is actually quite beautiful. At first I thought it was maybe a short cut. Then our driver stopped at a wine shop to get some whiskey, "for after", he assured us. It took us much longer than it should have to get to our hotel--well over an hour, but we finally made it. Poor Kristen was shell-shocked. She had been sitting up front the whole time as we raced through narrow slum-lined streets at 100 km per hour. She'd born the brunt of our driver's paranoia-inducing pitch. She was understandibly frightened and ungrounded. It was an unfortunate intruduction to one of my favorite cities in India--I tried to reassure Kristen and Katie that Bombay was actually an amazing multi-faceted city, that we had only seen one of it's realities. I think they believed me. We tried to sleep at a 10 hr. time difference. We were all exhausted. by genevieve

written by

reedkr29 on October 24, 2008 from Mumbai, India

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Mumbai, India

Well...Where do I begin... I would like to start by saying big props to Air India. I may never fly anywhere domestic ever again. If Air India doesn't go there I probably won't either. The stewardesses were amazing. I look for that sort of thing. A Bumpy flight - not a problem, people being sucked out of the plane - who's keeping track, but a stuck-up, and clumsy stewardess - all bets are off , you can let me off at the next country. The one in our aisle was especailly beautiful, friendly and extraordinary dressed.

I also felt very free on the plane. I like to push the envelope on the use of electronic devices as long as I can and I noticed I didn't need quite the same strategies. I was able to call everyone I wanted, literally until the plane left the air without one raised eyebrow. The meals and drink service on our flight were above my expectations (for which I have many). I am so very pleased with Air India. Thank you for making my first International flight a safe, relaxing and pleasurable experience.

India hits you in the nose first.

written by

reedkr29 on October 24, 2008 from Mumbai, India

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Mumbai, India

This evening we had our driver take us down to Chowpatty Beach to watch the sunset. We had a snack of Bhel Puri and then strolled down to the waterfront to see all of the families sitting on mats, swimming and eating roasted corn. It was a beautiful, hazy sunset.

Mumbai, India

Alagar is the Indian gentleman who met us at the airport and brought us to our hotel. We started laughing together instantly. Once we arrived at his vehicle in the airport parking lot, I proceeded to enter his car on the right side - US passenger side - India's driver side. A friendship was born. He has been an exceptional tour guide, chauffeur and guiding light. He is very loyal. As we walk down Mumbai's congested streets we are bombarded with other men trying to drive us places and offer city tours. Now when they ask us to take a ride we tell them, "Okay, in 2010". We have taken a couple of other rides from other drivers and they have all been a mistake. Other taxi drivers don't know where our destination is and they over charge. Alagar insists that we set the price and pay him according to what makes us happy. Happy people tip more, they also buy you lunch and dinner. Several times we have ordered him a meal to go. Now he calls me "sister." Alagar is very friendly and honest.

Every ride I take in his car I learn a new lesson about India. I had been quick to give money to the women that hold their infant on one hip and beg. He explained that most of the time this is a scam. Women and children are sent onto the street to beg for food and money, and are expected to bring it back to their "whoever." So I have stopped giving money, but I still buy them food when I can. Just last night when went out tea and coffee after dinner and I saw a hungry little girl and her brother and I ran through all these possible equations about whether to buy them food or not and once I ran the equation through my heart it said "yes, absolutely." So I did. I took the little girls hand and led her into the bistro. All the employees in the bistro were laughing, speaking their tongue and then finally asked if she was with me. I told them "yes, she is my friend" and then I refocused the young teenage boys and asked them '"what was taking so long"? I also asked them"if it was their first day on the job" because how long does it really take to get soup, bread and water. They got the picture. I saw the little girl later that evening sitting on a blanket content and playing with her spoons. Mother Teresa once said "if you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one." The voice of your heart is your true guide.

Alagar has also been a wonderful filter. He tells us everywhere good to go and where not to. Apparently he has been driving for over 30 years and this is no lie. Driving in Mumbai is VERY different then driving in the states. Stop lights, traffic lanes and speed signs are mere suggestion. Cars beep at each other to communicate since they try and fit 5 cars in the span of what we would consider for 2 in the US. They drive UNBELIEVABLY close to each other, it's remarkable there are not more accidents. Good thing too, because a tow truck is 4 of your friends.

And best of all he doesn't mind waiting... which we have had him do alot. So now he's going to wait 2 months for us to come back to Mumbai, since we're going to have him pick us up from the airport.

We leave for Goa tomorrow by bus (12 hrs).

written by

reedkr29 on October 27, 2008 from Mumbai, India

from the travel blog: You are coming from

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You are coming from

a travel blog by reedkr29

The Journey to Bombay

Mumbai, India

India hits you in the nose first.

Mumbai, India

Sunset at Chowpatty Beach

Mumbai, India

My new friend Alagar

Mumbai, India