Arrived at our last city and final destination in India. We think we may have saved the best city for last as Bombay was far nicer and far more westernised than we imagined it would be. We stayed in Colaba (general bacpackers area), but the streets were big leafy boulevards - felt more like a New York suburb. We were also only a 5 minute walk from the bay, which gives a lovely setting and a panorama which we imagine Rio to feel like (we shall check this theory out next year).
But you only have to scratch the surface to find a darker side - in general the Indians here were more aggressive than elsewhere, and as you know there are a lot of slums, apparently 55% of its population live in poverty. At night this was very obvious as there were folk sleeping on the streets all over the place - we saw one woman with 4 children lying on the ground, and the kids didn't even have clothes they were just sleeping in their own pee - awful (and they were only a few feet away from a giant rat).
But there is also definitely money in Bombay and we found some at the 5* Taj Mahal Hotel. We had a burger here for lunch, which was amazing, but set us back 2,000rps (£30) - don't worry we're not eating at these establishments every day, this was a one off treat - honest! But being at the hotel could only remind us of the terrorist attacks 6 months ago and how terrifying it must have been. They are still repairing some of the hotel and there is a memorial to those who were killed. Another terrorist attack took place at Leopold's Cafe - this is a real backpacker haunt - and they still have the scars, or actual bullet holes in the glass and walls, although we think they have opted to keep them as a badge of honour.
We did also have a bit of time to take in other (non-terrorist) sites and took the boat trip to Elephanta Island and strolled along Chowpatty Beach (but resisted the really manky water). And we did go in search of a Bollywood film, with subtitles, but this was to no avail so we went to see Tom Hanks & Ewan McGregor in "Angels & Demons" instead. Now, while the film was pretty cheesy, we did experience a night at the pictures - India style. They love it - the cinema was packed and we had to stand for the national anthem before we could see the film, and we also enjoyed a nice interval and appreciated the warning which came up on screen right at the end of the film to remind us that "it was not real" - good to hear that no popes were injured in the making of the film! - thank God.
Bangkok next stop......
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