Mumbai, India

India here we come. At midnight we get picked up by the school bus to take us to the airport. We are 5 travelers who would prefer to be asleep but we chat excitedly as we head to the airport. None of us have taken this route the airport before so it is interesting to see new things.

The talk is mostly about shopping and what we want to bring back from India. Cheryl has some names of good quality items.

We arrive and head into the terminal. They scan our bags here and there and finally ticket us. We head up to Cinnabon and McDonald's for coffees and diet cokes.

As we head up the escalator I see this sign. I see it every time we depart and want to take a photo but never have the time or ambition to dig the camera out of my bag. Today I had both!

Gates left and right, toilets left and right and the prayer area right only.


I always ask for an exit row and never know until we get on the plane if we have actually been given these primes seats. They ticketed Mike and I in B and H. We are trying to figure out how we checked in together but did not get seats next to each other. Maybe the letters are not in order....as we board they direct Mike to the left and me to the right...ok so not together. We figure we will wait to see how the seats arrange themselves when all the people board. So I sit down and CHris sits next to me. This makes it easy and I kick Chris out and he switched with Mike.

We get out the pillows, blankies, and eye mask things we swiped from the last flight. They are GREAT for blocking out the lights. We use them in tents now too so that bright early sun does not wake us up. Not that you are not awake all night sleeping on the ground.

So we sleep through breakfast and wake as we are preparing to land. I am in the window seat so Mike can have more room and look out the window which I never do because it usually makes me sick. As we are coming in I notice that the fringes of the airport are homes...Mumbai homes which are very different from what you are thinking. 95% of the population lives on 5% of the land. Excellent read is Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta.

These are shanty towns. They are cardboard, brick, metal...anything that will make a wall and hold in the kids and animals...and provide some privacy. It was sad to see and I would say almost devastating if I had not been prepared for it. They steal electricity from a city pole and daisy chain into the people and the water is running along pipes that are open and exposed to the environment.


So we arrive safely in Mumbai aka Bombay. The time difference is 3 1/2 hours, who has ever heard of that.

Here we are trying to get Rupees for our Euros. The Euro exchanges much better than the dollar.



We are met by representatives from the Hotel and head to their car to get to the Sahara Star. That is my bag being dragged along...


the others had to drag their own.


Loved the leopard, lion, and zebra prints on the bikes.


So how are the 5 of us plus our luggage going to fit in this vehicle?


Eventually another car shows up to take us.

We pull up along the business man going to work.


Tuk tuk...aka taxi, they over run the streets.







Plenty of cabs queuing for their turn.


Coconuts being delivered


The Sahara Star was a beautiful hotel that was clean, friendly, and environmentally aware. We were welcomed by the orchids and the sand art.


Looking out our balcony...





Cool lobby table made of wood slats.


Driving the 10 miles to the downtown area took 2 hours. Ugh!! I was so motion sick!





Had to take a photo of the church.


Every time we stopped we were asked to buy things. Kids were begging on the streets. Others selling fruits, vegetables, and books.

Mike's hands sit in his lap after he quickly rolled up the window so the child would not come into the car.


The architecture was beautiful. Unfortunately no time to admire the landscape. We were in a car that was finally moving and headed to a shop that closed in an hour.



We make it to the store after getting lost for a while and the store keeper is very excited to see 5 Americans walk into his shop. We have been given his name by Shabbi, the Director of Technology at the American School of Bombay (Mumbai).

I do not make it 2 feet in the door and I know we are going to spend a paycheck. I have started to collect eggs from the places we have been traveling to. He pulled out these beautiful eggs and then other Indian goods.

I told him that we know he closes soon and....no worries he would stay as late as needed....to sell us as much as he could.

We head up stairs to the jewelry and try to tell him no thank you but that takes a 1/2 hour. As we are poking we see some Hindu statues of gods. They pique my interest and he tells us the stories of Shiva and Pavarti.

Excerpt from the web:
Parvati, is the wife of Shiva and the mother of Kartikeya and Ganesha. Shiva and Parvati’s marriage can be traced in historical and religious texts.<br>
Shiva was a Dravidian king who married Sati, a daughter of an Aryan ruler. Sati’s father, Daksha disapproved of their union. After the wedding, at a yagna (sacrifice), being performed by Daksha. Shiva was ignored by his father in law and the guests.
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Sati, who could not bear this humiliation of her husband, jumped into the sacrificial fire and became the first Sati (a tradition where women would burn themselves on their husband's funeral pyres).r>
When Shiva collected her ashes, he could only express his deep pain and grief through a violent dance called the Tandav. Terrifying all creation he danced around the earth seven times. Unable to console Shiva, the Gods resolved they would revive Sati.
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Sati was reborn as Parvati, daughter of King Himavat who lived in the Himalayas.
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Shiva had renounced the world and in Mount Kailash he began a hard penance. Immersed in meditation, Shiva was immune to the presence of Parvati (daughter of the mountains).r>
Parvati asked Madan/Kama the God of love for help. He told her to dance in front of Shiva. While Parvati danced, Madan shot an arrow laced by flowers at Shiva, whose penance broke. When Shiva opened his eyes Parvati was his first vision. Shiva too began to dance with Parvati and as the gods watched the couple in bliss, their fears were laid to rest.
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Lord Shiva represents the life cycle: creation, preservation, dissolution and recreation of the universe.
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The creation sustains itself by a delicate balance between the opposing forces of good and evil. When this balance is disturbed and sustenance of life becomes impossible, Lord Shiva dissolves the universe so that the unliberated souls will have another opportunity to release themselves from bondage with the physical world.
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They believe it is a cycle: Winter is essential for spring to appear and the night is necessary for the morning to follow.
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Lord Shiva is the Lord of mercy and compassion. He protects devotees from evil forces such as lust, greed, and anger.
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We wander down stairs and see this statue of the two of them. r>

It is made of Rosewood and is beautiful carved. We bought it!<br>
Saw this wood carved soon to be made into a mirror and bought that too.
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Still more shopping to be done.



Chris' reaction when we told him! Also bought a chest and some screens. They are being shipped to Boston..hopefully. Dad you will be getting a call when they arrive in July!
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Off to find the silk store to buy some traditional dress and silks.


Crammed into a taxi we drive all over the downtown looking for FabIndia store.




We give up after 2 hours and head to the hotel for supper.

We try again to find this shop and succeed.

This is the highway with stores along both sides.


As we have noticed in a great deal of the cities we have visited, the car, truck, bike, pedestrian and the push cart all share the same streets.



The flowers that bloom were beautiful! Who can tell what is around the corner but who really cares.


The laptop conference was well organized and informative but this is a blog about travel and not work!

Cheers!