Getting off the plane feeling pretty knackered and out into the hot bustle (28 degrees midnight, 4am Adl time) while queuing to get a ticket to go into a queue to get a prepaid taxi voucher I saw Sunil again. He gave me his card and very nicely said to give him a call if I ran into trouble while in Mumbai. I headed to a cab, little black thing, maybe 60s Austin. I had to hold my door handle to stop it falling in my lap all the time and we stopped every few minutes while the driver jumped out, opened my door, grabbed the water bottle under my seat and refilled the radiator. (can you believe it) I had google earthed the hotel I had booked and thought it near the airport, maybe 10 min. I was wrong. We drove and drove. I was feeling pretty sick. I didn’t mention but my beautiful son had been home sick from school coughing his guts up all over the house for the past week. I had asked him to try not coughing on me to no avail. I knew it was coming on the evening before I left, and felt pretty bad on the plane. Now I was aching and coughing and very tired... The incredible crowds on the road, seeming lack of any road rules and constant beeping and dodging of all except the unconcerned cows and dogs everywhere; sickness and fatigue all contributed to an overwhelming feeling of OMG what the hell have I got myself into...
I have travelled a fair bit in some pretty rough places, but a long time ago. I really wasn’t expecting the degree of culture shock and had made some wrong assumptions about the wealthy side to Mumbai I had read about. I did know 60% of the population live in slums, but I didn’t realise how pervasive the crowding, and poverty would be.. getting finally to my hotel in the middle of the busiest most cluttered narrow streets filled with dogs people sleeping and begging on broken footpaths, piled with rubble and rotting stuff.. i finally crashed into my room feeling very insecure and wondering how the hell I would last months here..
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