February 27, Monday

February 27, Monday

Check out was at noon, so I was able to have a lazy morning, repacking my suitcase and reading.   The hotel provided free transportation back to the airport, which was very nice.  

My sister Helene commented on the pictures I published from Mumbai saying that the city seemed surprisingly nice and clean.    Amazing what you can do with cropped pictures isn’t it !    Today I will add some pictures of the real Mumbai.   There is trash in all the streets.   If road work has been carried out, the remnants are left on the side of the road. 
 Roadside Florist shop
  Old abandoned building beside new highrises
  City views
  Ladies lining up to purchase fresh produce
  This is on one of the main streets
  Little children playing in the rubble beside the highway/roadway
  Typical street scene
  Typical street corner

 Living beside rubble

Yesterday, I don’t think I mentioned the driving here.   THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY CRAZY !   Some roads have clearly marked lanes, others don’t, so I wasn’t surprised to see cars jamming up against each other on the roads that did not have lanes painted on the roadway, but when we got to the main highways, with clearly marked 4 lanes going in each direction, it made no difference.  There might as well not have been any lines painted at all because everyone ignored them.  My driver liked to keep the line under the middle of the car !   Then I noticed that many other drivers were doing the same thing. Even if it was 4 lanes, if 6 cars could fit across, there would be 6 cars.   Add to that motorcycles and put-put taxis squeezing in between whenever they could and  IT WAS A HAIR RAISING EXPERIENCE.   And to add to my already white knuckle ride, all the drivers only have one hand on the wheel, with their thumb almost constantly on the horn.   There did not appear to be any special reason to honk the horn; it could mean “I’m here”  “I’m moving into your lane so you had better let me in”   “Move”   “Go faster”   “I’m turning here”   etc.    It was the same again today on the way to the airport.

Although I arrived at the International Airport in Mumbai, I was leaving from the Domestic Airport for my flight to New Delhi.  The funny part is that although the two terminals are approximately 4 km apart, they actually share runways and taxi ways !    How did I find out?   Funny you should ask !    I arrived at the Domestic Airport, checked in to the Domestic Airport, got my baggage scanned and loaded at the Domestic Airport,  got into an airport carrier bus at the Domestic Airport,  and was driven across the taxiways and runways over to the International Airport to board our plane !   It took about 20 minutes to get there.   I was joking with a few other ladies, who had perplexed looks on their faces, that it appeared they were going to drive us to New Delhi ! 

The flight went well, although the direct flight turned out to have a stop in Aurangabad where the majority of the passengers disembarked and the plane filled up again.  I guess that’s better than cancelling the flight !    By 7 pm I was in the taxi, by 8 pm I was at the IBIS Hotel in Gurgaon (Suburb of New Delhi).    Love this chain of hotels because all the rooms are exactly the same so you know what to expect.   This one is brand new and the bathrooms are those European units that all come prefabricated and preassembled:  compact and efficient.

Had a nice meal:  buttered chicken Masala, with buttered naan bread !   YUM !