Travel!

That's right, that's what we ex-pats do. I had a great long weekend to explore Hyderabad, most of the rest of my weekends will be spent exploring other parts of India and even Asia.

This past weekend me and five of the new ex-pats headed to Mumbai. Arrived Friday evening, negotiated a cab or two, and ended up in our cozy hotel in the shadow of the Taj--now that is a hotel.

We decided we were too tired to do too much, so we'd just head to the poshest restaurant in town (or so we were told) for a nice meal. STEAK! Indigo was beautiful, we sat outside and it was so pleasant. We were all so hungry we devoured the bread they put in front of us (no, not naan) and cleaned our plates.

Next day was BUSY. We crammed as much as we could into a day--Elephanta Island where there are temples in caves and MONKEYS--one of them almost attacked me for getting to close to her baby while taking pics. Near miss with a visit to an Indian hospital, she got my skirt and not me.

After the island we decided to have a meal at a place that was the polar oposite of Indigo. National Hindu Hotel. We wanted authentic Thalis. Mom, if you're reading this, stop now. We walked into the restaurant, realized it broke the only eat in places with a/c rule, and proceeded to walk past the rows of men staring at our white faces. Banana leaves for plates, and men wearing no shoes who come by and serve you chabatis (tortilla like bread for scooping) and the day's thalis. We also got rice--which skilled hand eaters can roll into a little ball and pop right in their mouth, and some yogurt sauce. Despite being a bit nervous we would all have 'a party in the bathroom' as Diane said, the meal was quite enjoyable--and all but Viktor escaped unharmed--and I still think he had heat issues more than he had a tummy bug.
I didn't take good pics in here, but Alon did:


We also visited the Haji Ali Mosque--this beautiful Mosque set out in the water with a shallow walkway to get to it. Apparently at high tide the mosque is on an island--although I am not sure I believe that, b/c where would the beggars that sit on the walkway go when the water came up?

Mumbai is a city of contrasts--beggers on the side of the street, slums on every corner, and the next corner a fancy restaurant or hotel. But as soon as you walk out of the hotel, a small child walks up to you and asks for money. On the street shopping for scarves and jewelery I got followed by a mother, her baby and her pet monkey on a leash.

It makes me sad, but you can't give rupees to all, and a few rupees will not solve their problem.

It's also apparently a city of glitz and glamour-We didn't see much of Bollywood though, mostly we saw dirt. We did see where they get their clothes clean! Dhoby Ghats are the oldest and largest human washing area in the city--pretty cool.



Anyway, I've rambled on enough--if you want to see my pics from the trip, see Picassa!
http://picasaweb.google.com/asudow/Mumbai180108951PM