The flight to Mumbai was uneventful, thank the Lord, and as soon as we stepped off the plane we were hit with the heat………at least I was!   34 degrees and we’re grateful that our Hotel Emerald was just around the corner from this fabulous beach with a great breeze.   We weren’t walking for long when we came upon many people enjoying the sand and the water which our guidebook described as toxic and our cab driver told us not to go into because of skin disease – needless to say we didn’t!  The beach was fairly clean and went on for 7km so we walked a couple and then returned via a very busy street – back to the city and the honking horns!    Mumbai, known as Bombay until 1995, is India’s largest city with  a population of over 18 million,  is the entertainment capital of India as well as the financial and commercial capital.  It is also reported to be the wealthiest city in India and has the highest number of billionaires and millionaires and yet by some estimates 40% of its population live in slums……..mind you some of those slums have satellite dishes.   While walking along the beach we were approached by several little children about 3-4 years old who seemed to be on their own.  They would run up to us, tag on our clothes, hold their hands out and be very persistent – very difficult to ignore but if you didn’t you would be bombarded by many and the government asks you not to give money so as to discourage begging.   No child protection services here it seems!   Right, I was working on leaving those NAVs behind………pretty difficult at times like these.

Our hotel is in north Mumbai so we decided to take a taxi into south Mumbai as that’s where the historical sites are and I guess where all the tourists hang out.   We didn’t really want to hang with the tourists but we didn’t want to miss anything either.  While in India we have mainly used tuktuks to get around the city as they are so cheap and convenient.  However when I heard it was going to be 35degrees and about an hour and a half drive to India Gate that threw the tuktuk idea out the window and an air conditioned taxi it was………no one argued!   We spent about four hours wandering the sites with Jim as our tour guide or as our absent travelling companion, Marilyn, calls him ‘mapman’.  We couldn’t find a map of the area so he used Yves Lonely Planet guide and sketched a rough draft of where we were hoping to go.    Overall it worked out pretty good with him and Yves consulting with each other and the guidebook, asking people on the street and getting many bobble-head answers.   We spent a little while chatting it up with a 77 year old woman who was on her way to catch the bus to visit her 92 year old sister.   She was delightful, had been to Montreal, Toronto and the USA and still had family in Florida but was hoping they’d leave due to the new US president.   She was pretty sharp, was a volunteer with the police department and warned us to keep our belongings close to us at all times.  When I asked her what she did to keep herself so spry she said yoga, tai chi, helping others and eating right – too bad she had to take off for the bus because I am sure she would have added chocolate and red wine!  Anyway here’s a few pictures of our ‘taste of Mumbai’.

India Gate, Mumbai

The last three pictures are of the old railway station – what a beautiful building!  Time to say good-bye to Mumbai, which we totally enjoyed, and that was quite a pleasant surprise.  On the way to the airport there was a lot of traffic and we noticed that there was a backpack in the middle of the road that everyone was swerving around but no one was stopping  to pick it up and move it.  Someone said out loud “Oh no, must have fell out of a tuktuk” to which our driver responded “dangerous to pick it up” because in the very same area a while back a bomb was planted by terrorists and killed many people so no one ever picks up packages, or stray knapsacks, that are not theirs.  He said since then security has tightened up everywhere and not to worry, so I won’t but we’re outta here and looking forward to our next stop, Kochi/Cochin which is a 2 1/2 plane ride away.

KOCHI, or Cochin, is in the state of Kerala and has a population of around 600,000.   It is known as the Queen of the Arabian Sea because of its history of spice trading so hoping to update my spice cabinet while we’re here.  We actually stayed in Fort Kochi(Ballard Bungalows) which was very close to the Chinese fishing nets which are a real draw for tourists…….that’s us!

They invite you to try to pull the nets – it took two of them but four of us and NO fish

Once you get past the activity around the fishing nets there’s a great beach walk with a wonderful breeze and I truly wanted to hang out here all day as it is terribly hot, 35 degrees, which Jim loves but not this old Newfie broad  who’s used to the breeze with no heat.   Anyway I think of the snow and know I’ll be OK.  After a wonderful day touring around we decided to attend a cultural event which was called Kathakali – traditional Indian art form.  It began at 5pm and for an hour we watched the three main characters put on their makeup, then another character explained to us in hard to understand English about how the communication would be non-verbal using mainly eye movements and facial expressions.   It was basically a romantic tale – bad guy, good guy and the girl!   Like everything in India timing was an issue – we were told it started at 5pm and would be over around 6:30.    Not the case, however, and it didn’t end until 7:30 so it was a little long but overall quite enjoyable.  As you can see the make up was fabulous and apparently only coconut oil and vegetable/fruit products were used.

The good guy who saved the day

 The bad guy and the princess

I work daily to leave those old NAVs behind but with regard to yoga this has been very difficult……..but I shake it off quickly and remind myself where we are.  As I mentioned earlier in the blog one of the reasons we booked accommodation in Varanasi at the Yoga House was because they had daily yoga.  However due to a festival and horrendously loud music playing right outside from 7am to 11pm it was cancelled while we were there.  Disappointed, yes, but no big deal as there would be loads of other opportunities.   Another of our hotels also offered daily yoga so thought I would wait until then rather than trying to find yoga classes down long, dark allies.   But guess what?  As soon as we arrived I asked what time yoga was only to be told that the yoga teacher’s visa expired and she had to leave the country to renew it.   Interesting to note she was from Canada and had come to India 20 years ago, fell in love with it and decided to stay but always has to leave India and go to another country for visa renewal.  She was to return the day after we left!  No worries, next stop, although there was no yoga offered at this hotel but there was down the street so off I go but nope teacher not available, not sure why!  Now I am beginning to think yoga classes in India, for me at least, might not happen.   While we’re in India my sister, Wilhelmina, and her husband Michael are in South Africa on a safari hunting wild animals(with their eyes, not guns) and I feel as if I’m in India on a yoga class hunt.  But wait, next stop there’s private yoga lessons offered at the fancy hotel about a block away and I am in luck.   I walk over, sign up, have to pay in advance and am told that the only time available is 6:30am – not to worry, I pay my money and before bed set the alarm for 6am just to ensure I don’t miss it.   Next morning at 6:15 I walk to the fancy hotel in the dark, sit there all alone waiting and then the young man on the desk comes over to me and says “You here for yoga mam”.  I smile and say “Yes” at which time he smiles wider and says “Sorry mam, no yoga today mam”.   But I registered yesterday and paid my money I tell him.   “Yes, sorry mam, I give you money back mam.”  Why, I asked?  “Master’s lady sick mam, he no come”.   So I took my money and walked home as the sun came up and thought, maybe tomorrow.  And guess what!  Later that day I found another place, the cultural center, where Hatha yoga is offered daily from 8-9am.      But we’re leaving tomorrow with breakfast at 8, checkout at 9 and are being picked up for the next leg of our journey at 9:30.  To hell with breakfast I think, it’s not that great anyway so I paid my money in advance again and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.  So this is India………and the yoga hunt continues!