wandering newlyweds

We landed in Mumbai and it was an hour drive into Colaba, the main tourist part of the city. It was one in the morning so we couldn't judge what the city would be like but at this point, it looked like it was bordering on apocolyptic. There were so many run down buildings and it was eerily deserted. We were startinf to feel slightly dissappointed that Mumbai wouldn't be anything like we expected. The next morning we hesitantly set off to see the city and to our surprise, everything looked different. The sidewalks (yes, I said sidewalks!) were lined with market stalls and the streets with palm trees. There were high end shops mixed in with local shops and although there were still those decrepit buildings that would have been lovely if they were just restored, there were also some very beautiful ones mixed in there as well.

We walked around the city and ended up at the Gateway of India, an arch by the water, which was right accross from the Taj Hotel where we were planning on having their famous high tea that afternoon. This was perhaps what Janet was looking forward to most throughout the whole trip! And once George heard that it was a buffet, he was also quite excited. We waited inside the Taj Hotel to get away from the sweltering heat. George's signature "I'm too hot", "I need to cool down", "I can't stop sweating" comments came back in full force. Finally it was time for our high tea and boy did it live up to our expectations. The beautiful room was filled with the sound of the piano playing in the background and we got the best seats in the house overlooking the water and the gateway. This spot is notoriously known for the get-together spot of Indian families arranging their childrens' marriages but it didn't look like there was any arranging going on that day. We drank enough tea to last us a lifetime and ate more than enough to last a few days. It was fantastic and we had to pry ourselves away.

High Tea at the Taj Hotel - from backpacker to high society

We did a lot of our shopping in Mumbai since they had some good deals and a great store called FabIndia that we spent a lot of time in. George is insisting on diclosing the fact that I "destroyed" every store I went in because of trying everything on and not being able to make up my mind. Fine, but I just wanted to make the right decision! No wonder the shopkeepers have a special price for westerners that's twice as much. The next day we did our walking tour of the city following our guidebook's suggestions and walked down to the famous Marine Drive, the upscale waterfront section of the city. By the way, we were told that Mumbai is the most expensive city to live in in the world, more than London or Paris but we will have to double check that fact. Nonetheless, real estate along Marine Drive is crazy. On the other end of the spectrum, Mumbai is also known for the biggest slum in Asia, with over 1 million inhabitants. We read up on different slum tours that take you in on foot so you can see what it's like and talk to the people but as interesting as it sounded, it seemed too exploitive to us. Although we didn't necessarily see the slums, we were certainly aware of the many sides of Mumbai, from slums to Bollywood to everything in between.

Marine Drive on a hot day - Can I go for a swim?

Our flight home was scheduled for 3am, the most inconvenient time possible, so we had a late dinner to waste some time before heading to the airport. As usual, the directions given to us by our Indian hotel desk didn't work out ("go left, then another left, and it's right there"...but it never is). Luckily we stumbled upon a place that was packed with mostly locals and a few tourists and decided it must be good. We made the right decision because an hour later we were stuffed with enormous amounts of amazing food all for $6. We're going to miss that.

And so this journey is almost complete as we sit in the Paris airport waiting for our connection home. We had an unbelievable experience in India - it's a country that grows on you and we suspect that its total impact will not make itself fully present until many months, or even years from now when we look at each other and say, "wasn't that incredible?". Yes it was.

We arrived in Goa and the ride from the airport to our beach was an hour long. We got to our hotel and noticed a temperature change right away. It was HOT! We were starting to wonder if we'd be able to handle it on the beach. Our hotel was in a great location and we lounged around the pool for the rest of the day. We took a walk along the street toward the beach and were so surprised to see that it was more developed than we thought it would be. There were restaurants, shops, and even two grocery stores! They were the first grocery stores we had seen in our whole trip. The beach also exceeded our expectations. Spending over two weeks in the country, you begin to accept a certain level of garbage everywhere. Naturally we expected the same on the beach, however, we were happy to find that was not the case. The water was clean and so was the sand for the most part. This would be a relaxing few days in a beach town after all.

Goa is known for fantastic food and our first dinner did not disappoint. It was so good that we thought about getting seconds but decided to control ourselves. Sadly, nothing could compete with that restaurant so we ended up going there for our last meal as well.

Are you getting tired of these beautiful sunsets yet?

Day two was our first full day at the beach. Not too much to report except tanning (burning?) in crazy heat and having tons of fun in crashing waves. It was a great day and we were exhausted by the end of it. The beach is lined with "shacks" that are more like restaurans on the beach, giving it a great atmosphere and a place to cool down out of the sun when you need a break. That night we did some souvenir shopping and went to eat. Typical beach vacation. It seemed like everyone in Russia thinks the same way because the town is FULL of Russians. It seems to be their vacation destination and even the restaurants have menus in Russian. I guess it was fine but let's just say we've had our fill of Russians for a while.

This is the life!

Back to the beach for day three, this time in the shade. Interestingly enough, George was the one that was more burnt out of the two of us for once. He says he was trying to conserve our limited sunscreen supply but the truth is he thinks he is exempt from burning like the rest of us. Olive skin...ha! We spent the rest of the night jewellery shopping, which for most people would be fun but for us feels like torture since we have no idea what we are doing. We got flustered, gave up and headed for dinner - something we knew a lot about.

We forgot to mention that after the first day, the ocean was absolutely nuts! The current was so strong and the waves were crazy. The most you could do was go in to your waist, even your knees, otherwise you got clobbered. In fact, the lifeguards would blow their whistles and tell people not to go too far. Although it was mostly Indians they were worried about. Apparently they are not the best swimmers in the world. I acted as George's lifeguard since his skills aren't much better than the locals. Although he did manage to float for a few seconds in the pool! We were very excited about this accomplishment.

After our fill of the beach and enough jewellery shopping to last us a lifetime, we headed to the airport for our last stop - Mumbai. We were told we would enjoy this city but a few minutes after our arrival, we weren't so sure...

We took a flight to Udaipur (no more trains for us!) and as we drove into the city we saw that it was much more touristy than anywhere we've been so far. Little shops and cafes lined the streets, which we had seen absolutely none of until then. We walked around for a while, had a snack at a German bakery, then went to a local performance that was recommended to us by our hotel. It was a great dance/song performance done by locals at the open-air museum. A highlight was our dinner on our hotel's rooftop overlooking the lake, the palace, and the lights of the city.

She must have some serious neck strength

The next day we went to see the city palace (now our routine in almost every city we go to), which was impressive but incredibly busy with tour groups. Perhaps the best part was seeing the staff set up for a wedding to be held right in the palace courtyard! It was very elaborate with huge centrepieces, a stage, and massive lighting structures. It was clear that this Indian family was highly well-off, making the weddings we think are elaborate back home seem plain!

After the palace we headed towards the bazaar. On our way there we got back to the real India we were used to with not as many tourists. The bazaar was somewhat disappointing, in fact we didn't even know we were in it until we asked someone where it was. We didn't spend too much time there and started walking back. To George's delight, we found a little shop selling samosas and grabbed a few to eat. They were absolutely fantastic! Now, you have to understand George's excitement with this because one of the things he frequently talked about before our trip was eating samosas all day every day. Unfortunately, Indians don't eat samosas as much as we thought they did. In fact, this was only our second serving of samosas in the whole time we had been there! But they were worth the wait...we even thought about bringing them home and freezing them. And they were a whopping 14 cents each.

I don't care if it burns my tongue off, it's so good!

We did some shopping then went on a boat ride around the lake. It was nice to be on the water away from the streets for a while. We also bought a miniature painting from a local artist who had been painting since he was 8 years old. He was such a nice man and very talented. We are surprised at times with the genuine niceness in the people. Most are so gentle and friendly. This was followed by another lovely dinner on the rooftop.

Sunset on our hotel rooftop

Our last day in Udaipur we walked around a bit and ate some more samosas. Hey, we didn't know when we would come across them again! They seamed spicier than the last batch so our mouths were on fire. George got more than he bargained for since I couldn't finish mine!

We hired a rickshaw to take us to Moutain Ridge, a small guesthouse in the hills outside the city. The ride there was spent talking with our 25 year old driver and gaining some insight into the youth of India. We have found the young people of this country so incredible. It will be interesting to see where India will be in the next 20 years when these young people have more authority. Although it was clear from our driver that they are in a stage between modern and tradition. In some cases they are still very traditional, such as wanting a "fresh village wife".

We arrived in the hillside and it was a perfect place to spend the next two days. George took a nap, I did some reading, we went for a walk (with no horns blaring!) and then went down for dinner which was spent family style eating with the other young couple staying there. They were actually journalists originally from London and Norway who are now living in Delhi.

Finally some peace and quiet!

The next morning the two of us couples woke up early and headed on a 4 hour guided walk through the rural area around us. We saw some villages, a temple, farms, a lake, and just the more natural side of India. Perhaps we ate too many samosas because we felt like the others were sprinting through all of this! We took our time and enjoyed the scenery. The walk/run prompted a long nap and we enjoyed another beautiful sunset from our balcony. We ate a beautiful candlelit dinner and had great conversation with the other couple on the terrace and that was the end of our relaxing days in the hills. That night, however, was less than relaxing as the winds were howling like crazy! George would get up and and try to shut our balcony doors in a way that would stop the rattling but it wouldn't work and all you could hear was swearing in the dark. If it wasn't 3 a.m. it would have been funny.

A far cry from the India that we have come to know so far

At 5:30 that morning we headed to the airport for our flight to Goa - finally some beach! We connected in Mumbai and got a chance to see from the air the craziness we would experience there in a few days. Can't wait! But before that, we are relaxing at Candolim Beach in Goa. We didn't know quite what to expect but we definitely were NOT expecting what we found...