Mumbai Day 1 - India Gate, CST, some new friends and DUDE WATCH OUT THAT TAXI ALMOST NAILED YOU!!!

My friends, my colleagues, good evening to you all from Mumbai, Maharashtra, India :-) Yes I finally made it here to the subcontinent - if my travel to, arrival to, and first day in this city are any indication of what's to come on this trip, I am in for a ride! I am writing this blog in my hotel room, watching Indian soap opera, and hearing the incessant blaze of car horns (seriously it does not stop - all night long). I guess I should document how I got here and write down as much as I can remember about it - a LOT went on! And I have to be conservative about pictures that I choose because I only have so much storage on blogger. So here goes...

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Leaving München
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Woke up around 6:30 am (I think) in Munich at Raff and Gab's flat in Ismaning. It was a quiet morning, nothing special planned as I had to get to the airport early because it had snowed the night before (and had continued to snow almost the entire day until I took off - more on that later). I was excited about the snow, too - it was really beautiful:




Also, when I was ready to leave, I went into the bedroom to gather my things and found this sitting on my bag:




Apparently I have been "claimed", or my bags have anyway. I had a good relationship with Raff & Gab's 2 cats, they seemed to purr whenever I sat down next to them. Don't tell my dog, Juey :-)

So - Raff drove to me to the Munich airport and dropped me off. Actually no, he parked and came inside with me, helped me to check in with the airline (since he's very familiar with the way Munich airport operates, etc.) and in general to see me off. He is an amazing guy who, along with the rest of his family, showed me such an incredible time in Germany. I am grateful to them and cannot wait to host them myself in Florida someday soon. I only hope I can organize an itinerary as interesting as we did!! hehe...

So I was checked in, through security and customs and waited at the gate. Still snowing outside - at times it was heavy (well, what do I know about heavy snow? Heavy looking to a Florida boy like ME! :-) ). Apparently, Lufthansa likes to have it's long haul international airplanes parked on the tarmac away from the gates (happened in Frankfurt, too!), so when it was time to board, we did so and got on a bus again that drove us to the plane...

This time we had an A340-300 - quite a nice plane, looks quite new, finally has seat back video. And the flight was like 35% full, so LOTS and LOTS of empty seats to stretch out on! And we needed the stretch because we were delayed for over an hour due to the snow and waiting for connecting passengers. I took some pics outside of the window to show you what it looked like:




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Traveling to Mumbai
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Finally we take off and are in the air. Have a decent vegetarian meal again - better than the Orlando flights but not amazing:



I normally do not sit next to the window because I typically get up and go to the bathroom a lot, especially on long haul flights. But now that I had the seats to myself, I did sit there - and found the views outside to be inspiring, especially watching the sunset over the clouds. I did this while listening to some really good new age music - put in a new thought perspective, about how my life is changing and how far away from "home" (physical and metaphorical sense) that I am going. The pics don't do it justice but give you an idea:







I should also say that, ironically, the movie that I watched while traveling - Eat, Pray, Love!! Actually I already read the book a while ago, and it's the second time I watched the movie, the first being the flight from Orlando to Frankfurt! Corny as it may sound, Liz and I have a lot in common and I identify with her - I'm sure many people do, her feelings and questions about life are common to many, but the difference is she EXECUTES on them, and I think I am doing the same, so that makes me happy.

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Arriving in Mumbai
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Then we landed around 1:15 am Indian Standard Time (IST). I took a video of the landing because I thought it was cool, and I'm a nerd like that. But I cannot for the life of me figure out how to transport video off of my camera and upload it successfully. I can just leave it on the card though - still have LOTS and LOTS of room, I can post videos later when I return to Florida (if?? LOL no, I will... at some point :-) )...

So of course, we got on another bus, so that meant getting out of the plane and hearing the blazing engines in your hear as you board the bus. Most of the bus inhabitants were German or Indian, but I started a conversation with this newlywed couple from Holland. Rather, she is from Holland and he is from South American (Argentina I think). We chatted about our upcoming adventures, where we are going, whether we have been to India before, etc. I basically stuck close by to them all the way through customs and baggage claim...

Customs, by the way, was a breeze and went REALLY fast!! Like I stood in line for 1 minute, then I went to the desk. Got through, got my baggage (after a 15 minute wait), and headed off to the Prepaid taxi stand in the arrivals hall...

It was at this point that my nerves started to get the better of me and I became pretty damn anxious. I was expecting people to bum rush me asking for money, asking to carry my bags, trying to pickpocket me, etc. so I guarded my personal belongings very close to me. But in the end I know I overreacted because there was a HEAVY police presence in the airport - the officers packing some serious heat, so no one was going to try anything, at least not IN the airport. But really, I was in this country very foreign to me, I was tired from the flights and time change, it was (by this time) nearly 2:00 am, and all I wanted was to get to my hotel safely and without problems...

So I get to the prepaid taxi stand, tell them where I want to go, and pay him 550 rupees for an A/C cab to that destination. He then gives me a number: "2360 sir. Thank you". Ummm.... ok.... what do I do with that. He hands me the receipt. What's a 2360? Is that a number that represents me in a queue? No, apparently, "2360" is the last 4 digits of a license plate for the exact cab that I am supposed to get into. Interesting, no? That way, you have less of a chance of being scammed by someone claiming to be your driver. I was totally expecting scams the minute I walked towards the taxis. Yes people watched me, it seemed like some were following me, but there were so MANY people that again, I think I was overreacting (not think, I WAS)...

So I realized that 2360 was attached to other alphanumeric combinations which represented the entire license plate, and I went on a hunt for that taxi. There were some 30 taxis with guys standing at them, waving to you to come to their cab. No No No No No..... 2360, that's the one for me! I realized they had stands to separate the taxis into categories like "1", "2", "3", etc. I think I was in "2" not because of 2360 but because of some other letters prior to that were the same for a group of cabs....

ANYWAY - I found the taxi and I decided in that moment that I was in charge, I had the money, and no one was going to FUCK with me, Dammit!!! LOL no I wasn't that bad, I'm exaggerating, but I was assertive and direct, and I don't think I'm normally that way in typical, everyday life - at least, I was MORE assertive now than normal...

Me: "2360. Is this you, sir??"
Taxi Driver (TD): "Hello sir... a taxi for you?"
Me: "2360. You take me to Colaba?"

---edit: Colaba is a section of Mumbai, it is the southernmost point of the city, perhaps the most famous, and it is not only the busiest but also the one where most tourists hang out, so it is well known to all taxi drivers, actually to anyone in Mumbai.---

TD: "Ummm yes, but, sir, ok, for you, wait..." (SHOUTS something in Hindi, another guy runs up to the cab)
New guy TD: "Yes ok. Um sir you want to go where?"
Me: "Colaba. Garden Road? You know it?"
TD: "Yes ok. Please sir..." (Gesturing to get in the cab with my bags)

I get in, and I close the door and put on my seat belt. I re-inform him of my intended destination, ask if he REALLY knows where it is, and he says yes. I had read somewhere that you don't give them your prepaid taxi receipt until you arrive at your destination, so he kept reading it and I kept sticking my hand out to him for him to give it back!! He gives it back, then we start the engine and leave the airport (finally)...

As we exit the airport, there are a few checkpoints you have to go through (security I guess, as there has been terrorism in Mumbai after all). But then he pulls over, asks for the receipt again, and gets out of the car, keeping the car running with me in it! He goes over to some stand and talks with a guy, and I'm like "umm WTF??" Then I realize there are 4 to 5 other cabs ahead of me doing the same thing, each with their passenger left in the cab, so I conclude that this is standard procedure...

While I'm waiting, keep in mind this is my FIRST time in India, and not only being nervous as I'm completely alone, but I don't understand that in this city (at least) there are just hoards of people everywhere at all times, even at this point in time. Tons and tons of people just walking by, staring into the glass of the cab, but not doing anything, just watching and walking. Men, Women, Children, Teenagers, Elderly women, disabled people, dogs, cats, chickens, no cows (I have not seen ONE cow as of this writing!! I think it's too busy in Mumbai, they would be killed) - you see everyone and everything with no filter. That part of India is the TRUTH. Nevertheless, being in the freaked out state I was, I locked my door. I laugh at it now after spending a day in the city...

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The ride to the Hotel
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The cab driver returns and then we're off. He doesn't say a single word to me on the entire journey (about 45 minutes door to door), but that's ok as I wasn't really in the talking mood. But I did watch in awe of the scenery that passed me by at 5,000 miles an hour. So much pollution here, so much trash lying about, and people lying about! Just lying there on the street - since it was so late I wasn't sure if they were sleeping, disabled, or dead. Probably sleeping, but I couldn't observe for too long as we were going to so damn fast...

So everything that everyone tells you about driving in India - consider ALL of it the Truth with a capital "T"! That driver was fucking insane - I would have surely hit all the pedestrians he managed to avoid, hit all of the cars that he managed to squeeze by (I didn't think it was possible) not to mention that he ran every SINGLE red light, did not stop for one, even when there were cars coming in the opposite direction!! Traffic signals are merely a suggestion, and it's the truth...

I got to the hotel in one piece and checked in. It's quite a nice place, I gotta say!! The outside isn't that great but inside is well appointed. Here are a few pics:






I got in, called my family to let them know I arrived safely, showered and then crashed. Yet, as tired as I was, I had trouble sleeping. I was still reeling from all the excitement, having expectations of myself about what the next day would bring. Then, I started to ask myself:

"Jeff, why are you nervous about this trip? You are meant to have a heart opening experience, remember? Everything is going exactly as it should be. You are right where you are meant to be, when you are meant to be, how you are meant to be, experiencing the progression of life as it is meant to unfold. Just relax and let it go..."

I tried, I really did. I did some inhales and exhales lying in my bed, I tried to shut off the monkey mind, it was really hard that night. Finally, around 5am IST I think I did fall asleep, but woke up around 9:30. It's ok, Just go with it and don't have expectations about what you HAVE to do on your first day - just do what flows...

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Mumbai First Day - Breakfast
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So I woke up, showered, got ready and realized that the hotel free breakfast was only being served until 11am, and it was already nearly 10:30am! I wondered if it mattered and I should just go out and find something else to eat, but something inside me said "No go get dressed and go eat breakfast - you need to get out there". So I dragged myself out and sat down...

Next to me were 2 lovely ladies who already ordered and were waiting for their food. I took out my notebook and started to journal (as that helps me to have something to do when eating by myself, I usually do it while traveling along and eating in restaurants). But I decided to start a conversation with them...

Verena and Ulla are 2 girls hailing from Nürenburg, Germany and have just arrived in Mumbai themselves. Of course, Germany!! I meet so many awesome Germans when traveling abroad, I have some kind of connection with that country! You guys rock! :-D Verena is a software engineer (LOL! 2 Software Engineers I have met on this trip!!) and Ulla is a social case worker who helps people with disabilities, problems, etc. find work (really rewarding, I imagine). Anyway they were both very sweet and shared with me that they, too will be traveling to Goa later this week! I don't think for a yoga retreat though, just to visit and have some beach / sun time, and Goa is a fantastic place to do it. They have not been to Mumbai before (but have been to Goa last year), and weren't totally sure what to do today. I told them I would probably head over to the India Gate (it's within walking distance of my hotel) and check that out, but no real plans - just see what comes up. They were looking to do the same thing...

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Mumbai First Day - India Gate
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So they finished breakfast and headed off, and I finished mine, brushed my teeth, took care of last minute stuff in the hotel room and headed off separately on my own. Before leaving my room I looked at myself in the mirror and said "Ok this is it - let's DO this!". LOL you guys must think I'm so corny, I'm bearing my soul on the internet to you all with no filter... Oh well, c'est la vie...

I exit the hotel and start walking north along the Colaba Causeway. It's certainly a LOT busier now than last night, lots of hawkers in stalls trying to sell you stuff. On the way to the India Gate I had 2 people grab my arm, 1 of them a child holding a baby (was expecting that), 1 guy offering to sell me Weed, and lots of this:

"Sir, please be coming to see my shop, special price sir!"
"Sir, you buy now?"
"Sir come and buy I give you Indian price not American Price!"

LOL all my friends who have themselves been to India are currently shaking their head up and down, nodding in agreement to their same experiences. Am I right??? :-D Oh - and for some reason, near the India gate, the new thing they are trying to see you is this GIGANTIC balloon. Seriously, what do I want with a gigantic balloon - one that *almost* looks like a phallic symbol at that?? It has happened all day long...

So I arrive at the India gate, and there is security posts set up all around the area. They screen everyone's bags before you can enter the area. I guess this is a result from the terrorism they had near there a few years ago - it was an explosion near India Gate, was it not? I believe so...

So I enter India Gate area, and HERE is the place where you get the most intense pressure from touts (for those not familiar with the term, basically someone who is trying to sell you something, and they can be VERY pushy). I had more children come up to me, had a lady walk with me all the way to the gate itself, indicating she was not trying to get me to buy something but wanted to practice her English. Uh-huh. So I test the waters - I indulge her a little bit with light conversation:

"Sir Hello where are you from?"
"Europe."
"Oh very nice. Europeans are nice. How long Mumbai you stay for?"
"A couple of days."
"Oh very nice..."

It goes on for a minute or so. Then...

"Sir you would be kind enough to buy a garland from me please?"
"No."

I thought she said she was practicing her English??? LOL But I learned from that moment on, I have an amazing capacity to completely ignore people. I didn't think I had it in me prior to visiting India, but on day one, I found that I can totally ignore someone. People were literally speaking directly in my face, sometimes grabbing my arm, and I didn't even hear them or flinch. It was weird and funny at the same time. The touts were something I was afraid of, to be honest, that it would get to me and I would snap. But quite the opposite, somehow. Here are some pics from India Gate...






To be fair, when I was on my own, I felt more timid and "on alert". But as you can probably allude from the tone of the rest of this blog entry, I was NOT alone for very long. After 10 minutes watching the crowd from a corner, whom did I see at India Gate but Verena and Ulla! I went up immediately and greeted them, we all took some pictures, etc. Verena is like a movie star to Indians - everyone wants their picture taken with her, seriously. She was holding babies, standing with children, sometimes entire families. I was in one of those pictures myself, you can see in a tag from Facebook. So I must say, the rest of the day was SO much better because I got to spend it with Verena and Ulla. I really enjoyed it...

After India Gate, Verena, Ulla and I went to The Taj Hotel for tea and drinks, which is conveniently located right next to India Gate:

The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai

For those who are not aware of the Taj, this is the mega, überluxury hotel - one of the most luxurious in the world, I believe. We went for drinks in one of the restaurants that had a small covered terrace overlooking Marine Drive and India Gate. Was quite a nice view, shown here:






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Mumbai First Day - CST Train Station
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After our drink, we decided to walk over to the CST, the main train station in Mumbai that is so famous for its architecture that I believe it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site:

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai

Along the way, we snapped up some pictures of the craziness that makes up Mumbai. I took some video but again, cannot seem to get it out of my camera and uploaded into something usable that you could see on Youtube or something. I think that will wait until I return to FL. But the pics help explain that you take your life into your own hands when crossing the street. You have to move with the rest of the crowd - the crowd moving is the only thing that stops the cars' momentum! Not your personal self, no way!...





Then we end up in CST and take some nice photos. Was pretty busy, but I don't think it was AS busy as it can be during rush hour (it was 2:30pm or so). Just as the Lonely Planet guide says, there is a separate berth for women only. Also I didn't see people hanging out on the tops of the roof of trains, but some were hanging out on the sides. Also, there were 2 buildings, and I'm not entirely sure we saw the main departure building (as I think that is 2 stories high (at least - remember Slumdog Millionaire?) and the one we visited was not like that. Here are some pics of CST:

















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Mumbai First Day - Lost in Fort
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Anyway, after CST we decided to go look for some lunch, and Verena had an idea to try this Vegetarian restaurant that seemed like it was close by. We didn't figure it out though, and eventually solicited the help of a nice Indian man who walked nearly half the way with us. We got to talk to him about life in Mumbai along the way - he has lived here his whole life, and I asked him "How much has the city changed since you were a boy?" "Immensely," he said. "Ever since the terrorism, at that instant, life was never the same." I suspect the same is true for our American counterparts who experienced 9-11 (or another act of terrorism) - life was and will never be the same...

So at our parting point, he told us to turn down this one street and keep heading in a particular direction. Well, we tried that, and ended up getting lost. We kept trying to find "Mint Road" (I suspect where the Mint was, clever eh?) but couldn't seem to get it right. Moreover, it felt like we were getting more and more out of our comfort zone, there were almost no tourists anywhere, and we were thirsty, tired, hungry, and frustrated...

So we tried asking some cab drivers if they knew where this restaurant was, but had the hardest time getting the plan to work. Sometimes we couldn't actually find a driver who was willing to take us, like he was going on break or something, and we picked the one area of town where they don't want to drive anyone. Other times, we found someone who would consider taking us, but had such a problem with language barrier that it became even MORE confusing! I wasn't confident at all that we would truly get to our destination, he didn't convince me that he understood the directions. Thus, I didn't want to chance the idea of being lost even FURTHER away...

Eventually we found another Veg restaurant that ended up being just a good (if not better and better located). Funny - the name is "Chetena", the same name of a friend of mine who is originally from India but has a different spelling to the name! So these pictures are for her:




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Mumbai First Day - Return to India Gate
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Then after eating, we debated on whether we should go to Chowpatty Beach to see the sunset, but figured it would take just as long to find a cab, get him to take us there (with traffic) and make the 6pm sunset. So we instead walked back to India Gate, as it wasn't that far from the restaurant. So glad we made that choice, too - the breeze was nice and we got some really good shots along the water:












Then we walked back to the hotel (as it is close by at that point) and retired to our rooms. And here I am updating Facebook and just having finished dinner:



Ok I'm tired - took me almost 2 hours to do this entire blog post, it is a lot of work!! But I figured everyone would enjoy it...

Tomorrow - Verena, Ulla and I are going to the Elephanta Caves. Will write more about those as time permits...

So far - India has been amazing, especially when spent with friends. Can't wait to see what else lies in store...

Namaste :-)