The taxi from Mumbai Int. to Colaba was pretty uneventfull, it was kind of nice actually, as it was a night time landing there were no beggars at the traffic lights knocking on the window asking for money or food, no one at the lights selling maps, cd's, VHS's and flags!
It was also nice, not landing in the midday sun, stuck in a traffic jam, in a cramped 1950's car with no aircon!
It was totally different though driving past hundreds of people asleep on the road, paths and on cars. There were beds dragged outside onto the streets with four people piled onto a metal framed, army style single bed.
Strange, but really didn't surprise me, being India and all.
It was still absoulutely blistering hot and humid, it still smelt like a thousand festival toilets driving past the slums surrounding the airport and it was still awesome being back to my second home!
It was about 3am when I jumped out of the taxi at the Gateway to India monument in Colaba, I walked up to Aurther Blunder road where I normally find a cheep room to sleep for a couple of nights but the only two places open were full.
As I came out the second place a kid ran up to me with a guesthouse business card in his hand and told me "Single rooms this way", so I followed him round the corner to a door with a lift behind it that had a sign saying delight guest house.
He was obviously a lower caste Indian looking at his clothes and feet so I got out my wallet to give him some ruppees for taking me to the guesthouse when another kid ran up to him and just laid into him, hitting and slapping him and shouting at him. I got in the lift, the newer kid came in too and tried to take me up but I kept the door open for the first kid.
Once I'd got checked in, I gave the lower caste kid 20 rupees and the second higer caste kid I told he could have nothing so he sat in the guesthouse communial area sulking as I went off to get some kip for the night.
From my on/off travelling journal October 30th 2010
Mumbai, India
It was also nice, not landing in the midday sun, stuck in a traffic jam, in a cramped 1950's car with no aircon!
It was totally different though driving past hundreds of people asleep on the road, paths and on cars. There were beds dragged outside onto the streets with four people piled onto a metal framed, army style single bed.
Strange, but really didn't surprise me, being India and all.
It was still absoulutely blistering hot and humid, it still smelt like a thousand festival toilets driving past the slums surrounding the airport and it was still awesome being back to my second home!
It was about 3am when I jumped out of the taxi at the Gateway to India monument in Colaba, I walked up to Aurther Blunder road where I normally find a cheep room to sleep for a couple of nights but the only two places open were full.
As I came out the second place a kid ran up to me with a guesthouse business card in his hand and told me "Single rooms this way", so I followed him round the corner to a door with a lift behind it that had a sign saying delight guest house.
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| Damn, no parrots? |
Once I'd got checked in, I gave the lower caste kid 20 rupees and the second higer caste kid I told he could have nothing so he sat in the guesthouse communial area sulking as I went off to get some kip for the night.
From my on/off travelling journal October 30th 2010
Mumbai, India
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