Last days of the Rage......

The last two months have been sat in the office waiting none too patiently for my next trip, looking out into onto the grey sky and reminding myself you don't come to England for the weather. Luckily, the time has come and I am hitting the road again. Big cheers all round.


Mumbai was calling my name. Time to get reintoroduced to dosa. Yum. This time I didn't pack my naivety and wasn't going to ask what kind of animal I had just passed on the road when it was clearly a cow. I thought I was all set as I was armed with my rain coat, wellies and wits this time. My ignorance gets the better of me everytime. Mumbai in monsoon season and going to a hospital in a developing country is something else! 

A lot can be said about the NHS and how blessed we are but this lab have a chai wallah. So I think that could be one-nil to TATA Memorial but I do have have to say that there seems to be more limbless and dwarves in India.

So I get off the plane expecting downpours but there was nothing more than humidity. Where were the rains I had been forewarned about?  So those bloody monsoon rains did hit but the Marc Jacobs umbrella (I hasten to add that it was a gift) came in very handy. After flying 9K miles, a 4.5 hour time difference and a nine hour working day, Marc Jacobs or not, my body just gave up. The 28" legs just couldn't carry me fast enough and I was left stranded in a puddle in the middle of a crazy intersection. The locals were still getting on with their everyday life protecting themselves from the rain with their handkerchiefs and a smile. 

There wasn't much, in fact there was nothing going on in the hotel so I thought I would go for a little adventure and hired a driver for the day. I didn't have a clue what he was saying and I know the feeling was mutual. So in true Geordie style I went to a shopping mall on a Sunday which has a Marks and Spencers cicra Blue Harbour days. Had myself a £3  fish pedi. Hope they enjoyed snacking on my hard skin and hair on my toes - hobbit no more!  I sampled a thali. Delicious but I had no clue what I was eating except for the cauliflower and lentils. The waiters were fearful that it was too spicy for me but in actual fact there was just too much of it. Did a little bit of shopping and I was so proud of my self because I haggled for the first time ever and after the purchase I realised I didn't get a bargain at all but I do now have a beautiful pashmina!

So Parker took me around the sites of Mumbai. The biggest slum in those parts and not just in India but Sri Lanka too and said with such pride. I went to Juhu beach. The beach was right down my street as everyone was fully clothed. I have always been tickled by the film Bhaji on the Beach but in actual fact it's more like chana masala on the beach.

 Did the monkey entertainer know me because when he said Cuddles would dance for me as he knows how to break dance and had some MJ's moves too.Wish I had paid my rupees just to see that. Missed a great photo opportunity. Passed the slum that Slumdog was based around. Parker just kept trying to throw me out the car and go and see things but it was just too damn humid. and the fact I was the only non Indian person around in a miles radius. Again, why did I think people weren't going to stare at me. Felt like Topeka all over again.  Parker insisted I see a particular temple. I had to go through airport security to get in there and then I got thrown out because I had a camera. Who gets thrown out of a temple? I was being discrete this time too. So Parker drove and drove for my 80km allocation. It was just amazing to see things so different to what I know. I am so lucky!

If you can get over the poverty and the begging then Mumbai is a must. The locals are faced with adversity but it doesn't stop them smiling. It certainly teach us a lesson in life

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/wlpwong/Mumbai?locked=true#

 

Next stop Moscow  but after a little holiday in Chicago!