Mumbai (Bombay) and Elephanta Island [Sorry. This one has been in Draft for AGES...]

I can only dream of the day I have such a magnificent 'stache.

After a drive back to Delhi, we flew down to Mumbai with the hopes of seeing a Bollywood movie, or maybe being picked up off the street to play a western extra. I want to dance and do a little head shake shoulder move. After a little scuffle with our cabbie, we left our night 1 hotel and hit the street for a market.

This was what I'd been waiting for since I got to this country. A real market, real people shopping for vegetables, fruit, fish (covered in flies) and best of all, REAL STREET FOOD! I ate my first of many 3 rupee Samosas (about 8 cents) and it was amazing. After we wandered a bit longer, we came across some kids playing soccer, who we joined. After I embarrassed myself and fell on the ground trying to kick the ball (It was really, dusty! Another kid did it too I swear!) I just talked to the older kids about America, India, and Japan while the girls talked to the younger kids. It was one of several interactions we had in India where money was never mentioned. There were lots of spectators as we talked and messed around with the kids, but it was a lot of fun.

Me playing soccer with the older kids & Laura messing with the younger ones.

The next day, we saw the kids again, and then transitioned to a different, cheaper hotel. On the way I did my first Yoga. I tried Yoga breathing in College once, but this was the first time I'd been put in front of a teacher (at the Yoga Institute no less) and made to feel completely inadequate with my flexibility. Awesome.

A perspective on sleeper cars... not sure why I look so damn serious... & Cristina pointing out a somewhat important sign.

Eventually we caught a boat to Elephanta island. It's a cool network of caves on an Island off the coast of Mumbai that have lots of statues, many of which are dedicated to telling the story of the Hindu god, Shiva. The first cave was amazing and had all the pictures you see... the rest, should you ever visit, are skippable. It's a World Heritage site though, and def. was one of the coolest things we saw on the trip. Lots of picture from that on the albums. It's the really cool statues in the caves.

Shiva and Krishna's creation story in the caves of Elephanta Island.

Then, we caught a train down to Goa. I will not be discussing Goa except to describe it as like a British Key West. Lots of older folks and a certain Hedonistic vibe. The beach was great though. The following are are links to Cristina and Laura's web albums. They have a few new pictures over mine, so if you're interested, give 'em a look. Maybe one more India update... maybe not. I'm falling behind (by about 3 months) and I have a huge festival in 2 weeks. Send me emails and say hi!

Goa. Me with one of the cows wandering the beach.

Laura's Photos

Cristina's Photos