We had 5 nights of our trip left in Mumbai so we decided to get a cheap hostel in the centre for 2 nights while we saw the city and a fancy one in the suburbs for the last 3 nights for a relax at the end of the trip.
We arrived to our hotel in the centre at 1am after driving past lots of people and children sleeping in the streets and on parked cars. We were shattered from the day of travelling and ready for bed when we arrived but unfortunately our bed resembled more of a sauna than a bedroom and we were both sweltering instead of sleeping.
We spent the next day seeing the sights of the city centre including plenty of colonial buildings and the Prince of Wales museum which was very interesting but also very busy as we happened to coincide our visit with National Museum Day! We sat and watched some cricket in the oval park which was a nice relax for a few minutes until someone wanted our spot to set up a match! That evening we went for a drink at the very posh Taj Mahal hotel, which understandably now the security to enter is of airport standard.
After another sweltering nights sleep (during which Ben took 2 cold showers to cool down) we had booked to stay in a fancy hotel in an area north of the city at Juhu beach. Our hostel arranged a taxi for us and though he assured the hostel staff that he knew exactly where he was going this soon turned out to most definitely not be the case! The first thing he did when he was around the corner from the hostel was to stop and ask some other taxi drivers for directions. We can only assume that he was confused at why two dishevelled westerners were checking out of one of the cheapest hotels in town for one of the most expensive. He kept asking for directions from other taxi drivers the entire journey and seemed to be very pleased with himself when he finally found the place and seemed to find it hilarious that his beat up old taxi with no windows was pulling up to the security checks at the posh hotel!
We checked in and made immediate use of the facilities with a visit to the gym and the pool before heading out to the local town for some dinner.
We spent the next two days hanging out at the pool playing with our bat and ball, going to the gym, heading out for food and making the most of the happy hour at the hotel which was free drinks! We were both getting slightly more nervous as the 22nd May approached but were determined to make the most of our last few days and probation the last bit of sun that we will see in a while!
As it turned out a 16 hour delay to the flight gave us an extra day at the pool to relax before our return to the UK.