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Journey to Elephanta Island
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Today I woke up around 8:30 or so, did a short yoga practice in my room, and then met up with Verena und Ulla for breakfast here at the hotel. We later ventured out to India Gate again to purchase ferry tickets for the boat ride over to Elephanta Island. What is Elephanta Island, you ask? I think Wikipedia explains it much better than I can:
Elephanta Caves
I credit my friend Matt for insisting that I put it high on my itinerary for Mumbai - Matt was right, it was fascinating! Totally awesome and beautiful sculptures carved into the rock of the island. I took approximately 163 pictures while there, and a bunch of video, but I'll pick and choose only a few photos for you to see here:
The ferry leaves India Gate and takes just about 1 hour to travel there over the Mumbai Harbor. The ride itself is refreshing, feeling the wind of the ocean on your face, hearing the seagulls clamoring around the boat looking for handouts (which they received on the way back, and then we had 50 or so seagulls following us and fighting for the food outside our boat). Once you reach the dock on the island, you are accosted by: Touts (duh!), dogs, cats, chickens, and FINALLY a number of cows! Yes there they are, just hanging out in the middle of the sidewalk. People go up and pet them, take their picture with them, etc...
The path to the Caves themselves is a steep hike up a small mountain, and along the way there are stalls and stalls of people trying to see you crap - mostly souvenirs, but also food (a.k.a. grilled corn on the cob, a popular street food item here in Mumbai, candy, ice cream, berries & nuts, etc.) It ranges from everything you'd expect (beads, necklaces, figureines, little models of the cave sculptures, etc.) to items you would never expect (i.e. the little army toy guys who you wind up and put them on the floor, then they crawl on the ground with their gun. Weird)...
Anyway, the hike is steep, like I said, so you gotta put a lot of energy into the climb. Once you get there, you have to pay Rs. 250 to get in (that's the foreign national price, Indian Citizens pay 10 rupees!! What a difference! You cannot bargain for this, that is set by the government, since the site is a world heritage site). But in the end, it isn't a big deal - we westerners should be lucky to have all that we take for granted, so we can afford it...
So we spent 2 - 3 hours around the caves. It was really amazing - the statues were in pretty good condition considering their age, and there were a number of security guards blowing their whistles all around at the kids who kept jumping around on the rock near the statues. I found it interesting that the security guards mostly yelled at the Indian nationals (i.e. children, teenagers, and moms who told their kids to go up on the statue so they can take a picture), not the foreigners...
In addition to the caves, you can climb further up to the top of the caves and see a fantastic view of Mumbai Harbor and the rest of the island. Yeah a lot of it looks like oil rigs, seeming that they are using the island's natural resources to their best advantage, but it's cool to be up that high none the less. Here are some pics:
Of course, Verena and Ulla, being the fabulous women they are, got a lot of attention from the Indian males wanting to have their picture taken with pretty girls :-) I found it hysterical and teased them about it later - "OH my stars, what SHALL I ever do with all the paparazzi that continually follows me??? Le *Sigh*, the sacrifices of fame and fortune!":
LOL :-D I love them... :-)
THEN - we left the attraction and had lunch at a restaurant right next to the cave entrances. I had my first real Indian Thali for lunch today!!! YUM!! Check it out:
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Cab ride to Chowpatty Beach
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So we took the hour long ferry back across Mumbai Harbor to India Gate and Verena, Ulla and I decided that this time we wanted to go to Chowpatty beach to see the sunset (after all it was already 4:15 pm and the sun sets around 6:00 pm). Verena had heard from another girl on the ferry that you can have the hotels arrange for a prepaid taxi with no haggling about the price (or rejection for a ride, for that matter - see earlier post :-) )...
So we exit India Gate controlled area, and Verena decides to go back into the Taj Palace Hotel to ask if they can arrange a taxi. Truthfully I know she wants to be fabulous in the ritzy hotel and use their uber clean restrooms (as did I, thank you!). But when we asked the concierge at the front desk, he could only provide us with a paper that gives estimates on distance, mileage and cost for negotiating a fair price with a cab. UGH - now we have to go and do the cab thing again??? Really??? Ok screw this - those cabbies are WORKING for us this time around! None of the foolishness we experienced yesterday...
So we get out of the hotel and are on a mission - there are 10,000 cabs near India Gate anyway, since it's so touristy. This time, we couldn't shake them off with a stick - there were so many asking us to give them a ride. Finally, I found one, and this is what happened:
Taxi Driver (TD): Sir you taxi today? Where you going?
Me: Chowpatty beach - how much?
TD: Oh for you sir 250 Rupees, best price.
---edit: The Taj Concierge told us it should not cost more than 100 rupees AT THE MOST!! So this was in mind at the time...---
Me: Noooooo cannot do. Sorry not 250 Rupees. 50 Rupees!
TD: Nooo sorry sir, cannot. 250 rupees best price...
*Pause*
TD: Sir for you sir best price 250 Rupees ok yeah ok yeah?
*Pause* *I start to look frustrated*
Me: There are 10,000 other cabs around here that will do it for less. How about 100?
TD: Cannot sir - 250 Rupees, best price for you today, no others will match
*My brain: HA!!!!!! Bullshit :-) *
Me: Ok no thanks - bye!!
Then I LEAVE! All of a sudden 2 other taxi drivers run up to us.
New TD: Sir 150 Rupees round trip?
Me: Oh ok. 150 Rupees round trip. Go to Chowpatty, Wait, Bring back, 150 Rupees?
TD: Yes sir.
Me: Ok. Girls get in!
Now in reflection, I realized that once I got to Chowpatty Beach, the place was so overrun with taxis that I wouldn't have needed this guy, but I saved us the hassle of negotiation again by making him wait. Full round trip 150 Rupees. Ok that was fair...
Do you know how proud of myself I was for negotiating a deal? How lame am I? LOL No seriously, I was awesome :-) LOL Easily amused, remember? The title truly fits...
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Chowpatty Beach Sunset
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So we make it to Chowpatty Beach - basically overrun with mostly Indians and very few tourists. People get into the water with all their clothes on, similar to what the women did in Malaysia (at least, the Muslim women). The sunset was beautiful - lots of commotion, guys selling stuff of course. Not really touts cuz they don't hassle you like in Colaba - you say no, that's it they walk away...
Some of them were really amusing too. They often sell Chai Tea in a tin canister with little tiny cups, and these guys wander around the beach yelling something that I think is like "CHAI CHAI *something in Hindi* CHAI CHAI" Then they shove the canister in your face (as we're sitting down on the beach by this point) and they say "CHAI CHAI FOR YOU???" "No thanks" Then they walk away. Grilled corn on the cob, again, is another popular option, and chips, cotton candy, etc. Basically think of a state fair but on the beach...
I took some photos which I think turned out really great (I LOVE this new camera!) - maybe even artistic! You be the judge:
So now, I have to mention something about this guy:
We'll call him "Crazy" for ease of reference. Basically, we're sitting down minding our own business and this CRAZY Indian young man comes up to me and starts blathering in a language which I cannot for the life of me recognize at ALL! It doesn't even sound like the typical Hindi or Mumbai-flavored dialects I have been used to hearing thus far. I think he is high, too. So he comes down and something like this:
Crazy: HI YOU MY BROTHER YOU FROM YES?
Me: Hi there.
Crazy: HI MY BROTHER OK FLAH LLLAHAA BBEEEKAAAA MOOONNNDDDDAAAAA
Me: *In my brain - ummm.... hi crazy*
Crazy: SO YOU TAKE PICTURE CAMERA YA?
Me: Um ok.
Then he does this crazy dance - I should have video'd it but I forgot I was in shock. It was weird. He was rolling around on the sand and jumping up and down for me. The pic is of him doing some sort of dance...
Then unexpectedly, Crazy starts to scream at the top of his lungs:
Crazy: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Everyone stops and looks at him...
Crazy: BULLAAHAHAKAKAKAKAAA YUES YOU BROTHA MAN!!!!
Me: I'm... umm.... ok.
Then I think it would be cool to fist bump him, so I do. And he tries back and grabs my whole arm and starts shaking it. Oh shit - bad move, now he wants my camera. NO!!!! BAD CRAZY!!!! YOU CANNOT HAVE IT!!!!!
Crazy: I AM LOVEING COUNTRY AND I AM FROM HONG KOONNNGGGG
Me: Hong Kong eh? So you're not Indian?
Crazy: NO WAY HONG KONG YOU KNOW BBAAAKAKAKAAAAAA
Can I leave now? Seriously this guy is starting to freak me out. Verena and Ulla are busy taking pictures for another family, c'mon guys don't leave me along with this wacko...
Eventually Crazy jumps and hollers and screams off into the sunset. I grab Verena and Ulla: "Ladies, let's go NOW!" So we leave back for the cabbie, who is faithfully waiting for us just as he said he would. I figured I'd honor my obligation with him, and I felt good about it. We ended up giving him 200 Rupees for the trip anyway, just because he is a nice guy and has a cool Om sticker on his dashboard. This is in spite of the door not having a handle, no seat belts, using a car that is from 1947, and speedometers / gas level indicators that do not work. However, I must say - he was a good driver. He still navigated WAY too close, but he didn't drive like he was on the Daytona 500 circuit. I think that's because his car was so old...
Finally dropped off in our hotel neighborhood, we decide to grab dinner at a posh little western eatery. Was a nice change of pace. Yes I took a picture of the food but figured you didn't care so much about it, so I won't post it... :-)
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Miscellaneous Observations
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Now before I leave you today, two additional things I would like to talk about that has been on my mind - concerning what I observe in Indian culture. One really annoys me, the other I find endearing and fascinating.
Annoying observation - why the HELL do Mumbaikers dump their garbage into the ocean and on the street? It's not even subtle, it's obvious. They bring the garbage to the harbor, open the bag, and dump it all out! OMG!!!!!!! I was shocked!! How can you do this??? On the ferry back from the caves, a women (not a teenager, not a child, a 50 year old woman in a sari) has a bag of chips, throws all the chips overboard for the seagulls, and then blatantly throws the bag overboard too. I don't know if they are just not educated on the topic, or if they just don't care. Another guy I saw just throw his garbage onto the street - no trash can, nothing - just dump it out on the street. Seriously, why do you have trash problems? That's why. It disturbs me...
Endearing observation - I've been told that Indian boys have a different way of displaying affection for one another that some westerners find odd. They basically hold hands, hold arms around each other, etc. On the ferry, at one point, their legs were even crossed - I was waiting for them to kiss, it wasn't just a simple hold hand, they were like all over each other in an embrace. At the same time, it never has any sexual innuendos - and I'm a gay man, I can tell if something like that has a sexual overtone. It's purely platonic and I find it sweet and endearing. I can't stop thinking about it for some reason - not the obvious reason... I don't think.... I don't know.... But here are some pics that I took anyway to show you the culture difference:
One more miscellaneous thing - this is for my friend Lauren who told me about the book Shantaram. Basically the book is about a convict from Australia who escapes to Mumbai and becomes integrated with the culture, living there for many years. It's a plethora of information about Mumbai, and includes some very real and well known landmarks. Perhaps the most famous is "Leopold's Cafe", and it so happens to be located only a few blocks from my hotel. So this is for Lauren:
Ok that's all for now. More about Dharavi Slum tour tomorrow - but don't expect pictures of it, as I'm not allowed to take them out of respect (so I've read on the tour website)...
Namaste :-)
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