My first email from India...

My first email from India…

This was the first email I sent once arriving in India (I have added and edited as I have remembered new things)

Finally I have found a quiet moment (*and a nice internet cafe) to write to all of you.

I arrived in Mumbai after lots of time flying so I was REALLY excited to see land close up...that I could walk on...then I walked out of the airport terminal to FULL of Indian bodies...I'm not going to lie I was wondering if it wasn't too late to get BACK on the plane and fly home!!!!

Welcome to Mumbai, India

I walked through “customs” which was basically just a line of people walking through the airport, and randomly being put in a separate line to be searched. As I got to the front of the line, the guy smiled at me and asked me where I was from, I flashed my South African passport and he allowed me to walk straight through WITHOUT being searched!  Which was a relieve in itself, then when I saw the “search” line, I was SO glad! They were literally opening people’s bag (in the middle of the airport) and digging through their stuff. Hmmm, if I wanted a bunch of random men touching my personals I would have, wait there is no point in making ANY sort of comparison on that topic, because I would never want that!

One of the most common form of transport in India (Rickshaw...or tut tut)

I got closer to the arrivals exit and I saw Lee, so I figured let's do this thing! Bev was finding a taxi so we all climbed in...I was speechless, believe it or not! (I am basically the person that would be voted “least likely to shut up”, if there was an award for that type of thing)

Driving around Mumbai looking for a decent hotel

The first hotel we went to was something of a dodgy little room with NO windows and a tiny bed (for all 3 of us), um not going to happen!  So we got back in the taxi and explained NO we want to be able to sleep without fear of bed bugs and other gruesome creatures!!!! We left there and when to another hotel...after much bargaining and 'discount discount' we got a good rate! And they had a toilet!!! For those that don't know...you tell the class of an Indian place by its toilet...Eg : lower class has No toilet paper and a hole in the floor which is really tricky to negotiate with, while a middle class has a toilet with no paper...and you're in heaven if you find both!!!! But we have since learnt to ALWAYS carry tissues, just in case! It’s become more of a fashion accessory and you can even get different coloured TP! 

An example of an "Indian Style" toilet, this was taken on our train journey