First days in the Land of the Holy Cow

Hello my dear english-speaking friends – here is a short summary of our experiences in the maximum city of Mumbai – especially for you! :-)

Yesterday we went to Victoria Terminus to get out train tickets to Goa... something not quite as difficult and timeconsuming as I expected it to be... even though I would not have minded to spent some more time in the great athmosphere of the old magnificent building. Yet there we were, all set, ticket in hand and off we went to explore the city by foot, which is quite a challenge considering the heat and polution... let allone the masses of people which crowd the streets. Well, we didnt mind (or thought we didn`t, but i very much minded the smell of the various piles of trash littering the sidewalks...) and so we walked and walked, and ended up in a rather non touristy area habitated by metal merchants only. I guess everybody noticed us

(especially Andy with is blonde hair) but at first this didn't bother us too much. what did bother us however, was that when we had lunch a group of people gathered around us to watch us eat (I still wonder how offen I slipped and used the wrong hand to eat?!?). When we reached Chowpatti beach we decided it was time to head back to the hotel. So we strolled along Marine Drive, admiring the astonishing (yet a little misty) view of the skyline of Mumbay and smiling at the many couples that walked by us (I guess there are quite a few marriage proposals made on that street).

Elephanta Island (or rather Monkey Island??)

Today we took a boat trip to see the many caes of the Island in the Bay of Mumbai. The walls of the caves are decorated with ancient stone skulptures of shiva and other hindu gods and godesses. The faces and postures of these statues are so delicate. Its amazing that they are carved from something as crude as basalt. after we had walked through all the temples and caves, we thought it a good idea to have a little picknick in the shade of the rocks. however, we were suprised by a horde o monkeys who attacked us from left and right simultaneously and stole all our food (despite our best efforts to yell them away...). Well, we got something to eat on the way back to the ferry and we had something to tell the Indians we met on the boat and the British couple who had dinner with us. so much for now... my next report will come from Goa!