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True to form and against my better judgement I stumble into the airport; stomach a curdling concoction of jäger, lager and cider - I will never learn! After a quick coffee with the parents I said my goodbyes and meandered through the checkin fumbling my papers at each checkpoint and speaking excessively polite as if not to arouse suspicion of my imaginary terrorsome past
After pre-booking an emergency exit seat I sat there watching everybody get on the plane with a smug look on my face, proud as punch, needlessly stretching my legs out for no other reason than I could.
It was about then it dawned on me I was for the first time in my life an extreme minority, a tiny English speaking white boy walking through the hustle and bustle of Bombay and I start to wonder will I get whistled and pointed at in the same way a Muslim wearing a Niqab or a gay couple might do in England? There would be no casual racism about turbans in India, I am in their house now!
The flight itself was blooming marvellous, helped by the legroom but the entertainment system was brilliant, wolf of Wall Street, the new 300 film loads of great music and games too. The time flew by, no pun intended.
After getting frustrated at the guy sat next to me for his lack of English I gave my ignorant self a good slap and got off the plane.
HEAT! Stifling indeed. This is going to take some serious acclimatising. Starting to regret booking that non-air conditioned 17hr train journey now.
Sat in the back of a taxi looking at the stark contrast of shanti huts, homeless people lying in the road and huge 5star hotels towering above, it became apparent very quickly I'm going to have to get a thicker skin, this place is not for the faint hearted. We roll down a backstreet and I have arrived, I'm sent up a dark flight of steps casually stepping over a homeless woman and her son who squint at my iPhone torch as I clamber over! Hotel Lawrence, what a dream.
Which brings me to now, sat in a pool of my own sweat, a fan circulating the increasingly hot air, no fluffy towels and complimentary toiletries here. But I won't complain, I passed about 700 people sleeping on the side of the road who would undoubtably love a good nights kip in this palace of mine.
On that note I'm going to try get some sleep, can't wait to walk around the streets in the morning like a rabbit in the headlights, I need to get a plan together otherwise I get the feeling I will be engulfed by Mumbai's madness
Tarar for now
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