Final Day in India

Kash Cooks

Who is that woman in a Sari

The ferry made it

Hot Building Inspectors

 Bombay at Night from Kashmera's Condo Terrace

We are now in Singapore.

We thought today would be an uneventful last day in India, but like all of the trip, it surprised us. We checked out of the hotel about noon and our driver drove us to Kashmera’s Condo in Andheri. That is north Mumbai, near the movie studios. This is an area of the city we are not familiar with. On the way to Kashmera’s our driver drove us through many seaside towns and villages where many of the Bollywood film stars live. He pointed out their mansions (called bungalows in India).

We arrived at Kashmera’s condo located on the 10^th floor of very modern highrise complex. The rest of the day we spent with her, her driver and her cook, her two dogs and two cats. We were served a delicious lunch prepared by kashmera’s cook and experienced a real Mumbai at home experience. No silverware, you eat with your fingers, you sit on the floor. It was all very “real” after the unreal opulence at the Taj.

Kash played dress up with Cathy and she looked ever so Indian!

We then drove to a landing to catch the most primitive ferry you can imagine. The ferry took us to Madh Island, one of the seven islands that compose the original Mumbai. The island is separated from the mainland by maybe 500 yards. The ferry ride takes about 5 minutes. The ferry cost 3 rupees (about 6 cents). The old rickety ferry, was jammed to the gills with school kids, workers, people returning to the island, men with their motor bikes and 2 white Americans that everyone stared at. The kids are all adorable in their matching uniforms. We both independently had thoughts of ferry going down with massive loss of life, but the ferry chugged across, and we walked down the 1 foot wide narrow planks to the landing. From there we rented a tuk-tuk and drove into the island proper. It was like going back in time to Mumbai of 60 years ago. It had a total village feeling, dirt road one lane wide, narrow open shops, people walking everywhere. On the island rich Mumbaikers have built mansions and a few massive condo complexes. We were investigating the construction of one where Kashmera and Krushna have bought 2 condos. It was fun walking thru the construction zone and of course all of the workers recognized Kasmera, wanted their picture taken with her and we very nice to us.

On the way back the Kash wanted to change some money, so the tuk-tuk stopped and Kash and the driver got out to go to a small store. Meanwhile a truck backed directly into the side of the tuk-tuk, damaging the tuk tuk, scaring the hell out of everyone. The driver clearly didn’t know how to drive. The truck struck the vehicle directly next to where I was sitting and I was very lucky my arm was not sticking out of the tuk-tuk.

We returned to Kashmera’s and the feast continued, Bombay Duck (really a fish), shrimp, rice, daal, it went on and on. No airplane food for us tonight. We finally said our goodbye (Namaste) and have now checked into our 25 hour flight, Mumbai to Singapore to Tokyo and finally home. No more incidents please.

Kash and Bargaining

Tomorrow night at Midnight we leave Bombay for Singapore and our flight back to the US. It has been an incredible trip more than we could have ever wished for. Today we hung around the Taj pool. We had a great lunch of oysters and caviar and seafood complements of the hotel.

We did go out for one more shopping expedition. Once again we learned that the national sport of India is bargaining not cricket. Cathy saw a bracelet yesterday, that she like but didn’t buy. The price was $ 450. We talked about it, today and decided to go buy it. I told her, I would offer $ 350 and we would bargain and I would get it for $ 400. I walked into the shop and said to the merchant, “I will give you $ 350 for the bracelet”. I was ready to be a keen shopper. He said “ok”. So I got the bracelet for $ 350. Now I will always wonder, what if I said $ 250? I think he got the better of me, but Cathy got a nice bracelet.

Our favorite Bollywood actress, Kashmera Shah, came to the Taj to join us for drinks around the pool and then dinner, once again at Trishna. God we love that place. The food is exceptional. It is fun being with Kash, she is full of life and zest and everywhere we go people recognize her.

Tomorrow we check out at of the Taj at noon, and our driver will take us to Kashmera’s home for lunch. We will play with her in the afternoon and evening and then catch a flight at midnight to Singapore and on to Los Angeles. This will end the blog unless something exciting happens between now and our return to LA.

Memorable Anniversary

Calamari

Pomfret

Didn't Buy Here - but lots of Gold

Crab in Chili Pepper Butter Sauce

Clever Use of Re-Cycled Bottles at Art Show

Yesterday was spent traveling from Devi Gahr to Udaipur so there was really nothing to Blog about. It is a short ride less than an hour. Before we left, we met Ahktar our guide. He gave us some gifts (Shumon will be glad to hear he gave us a turban, you can show us how to wind it). Nancie had asked me to pick up some toe rings, so Ahktar and I hopped on a motorcycle and drove to the silversmith. We drove back thru the village and then sadly Cathy and I left our Palace and adjacent village. I can’t image a more perfect way to really experience India, or at least experience it the way we like to – then to stay in Palace and be able to walk to a real Indian village. It comes with a sense of obligation to assist the people of the village. We made a generous contribution their school, and will continue to help them. They all were wonderful.

We drove to Udaipur, we were too early to catch our plane, so we did some shopping. Finally we arrived at the airport, cleared security and waited for our flight. And then we waited for our flight some more. And then we continued to wait, as the flight kept getting delayed, due to fog in Delhi.

Eventually we arrived at Mumbai Airport and the chaos ensued. It was a sea of humanity. There are lots of young men, pushing and shoving trying to get you a taxi or load your luggage, even when we don’t want them to. Our driver stopped, and one of the guys started loading someone else’s luggage in to the trunk of our car. We finally exited the airport and headed for the Taj Palace. This is the height of wedding season in India, and everywhere there are huge wedding celebrations. To avoid the congestion on Marine Drive, our driver drove thru the back streets of Bombay. It is amazing. After 11pm, no one obeys red lights, and everyone just drives madly everywhere, horns blazing.

We finally arrived at the Taj 5 hours late, at midnight. We were supposed to have the same fabulous suite that we had last year when we stayed at the Taj. When they showed us the suite, we were to stay in, it was then 1pm. It wasn’t the same suite and although it was very nice indeed, it wasn’t the same. I stated to the receptionist that we were supposed to have the other room, but to no avail. We were hot, sticky, hungry, tired, exhausted and not up for a fight, so we accepted the suite, ordered some Thai food and wine and finally went to sleep.

When I awoke in the morning, the more I thought about it, the more upset I got. I guess the lessons of the previous week with the Dali Lama, hadn’t quite set in. But he did say you should try to work things out before accepting them. So in the morning, I went down and talked to the people at registration. The apologized and said I was correct, we shouldn’t have been given the room we were in. They would move our bags to a better room at noon. I felt vindicated, soon to feel, elated. When we retuned to the hotel after, some shopping and a great lunch at Indigo (the food was as good as Lucque), they said our room was ready.

The butler took us to our suite. They put us in the Bell Tower Suite (which is also used for heads of state)!  They knew it was our anniversary and decorated it with hearts. This is a huge suite, the dining room  and living room are bigger then ours at home. It covers two floors, rather like a house. It is the only suite in the hotel that has been restored to exactly the way it was before the terrorists took over and the subsequent fire. Take a look at the two videos below.

1st Floor

2cd Floor

We are completely blown away. It is so expansive and over the top (for example it has 7 phones in it), that we were literally giggling.

Some more shopping in the afternoon, followed by a drink poolside. We then read, and finally went out for a late dinner at Trishna, our favorite restaurant in Mumbai. The seafood there is fantastic, Crab, Calamari, Pomfret all delicious. We walked thru an art fair, then returned to the Taj, for a nightcap, then headed up to bed. It was a memorable anniversary.