Sunday 8th February
Today we decided to hire a taxi for the day, to see the sights of Mumbai. The journey did not get off to a good start as the taxi kept stalling and the driver had great problems getting it started again. We got to the gateway of India and the Taj hotel and the taxi refused to start again so Robin and a couple of other taxi drivers ended up pushing the taxi to try and bump start it, it failed miserably so we ditched the driver and his taxi and found another one.

The Taj hotel was still boarded up following the bombings, but it looked a beautiful building from the outside, its a shame so much damage was done to it. We went and had a look at the famous Chow patty beach which was not the disgusting mess we had read about before visiting it, in fact it was full of people enjoying the sun and playing cricket and other games. We visited a temple belonging to the Jain religion which was very ornate and there was a service going on which they allowed visitors to watch and photograph. There were a few strange rules that visitors had to adhere to though before entering the temple some of which we are not sure they would be able to enforce!! We went to have a look at the laundry, an area where laundry is sent for washing in big open tubs and then hung out to dry right next to a dusty railway line. It was colourful though with all the lines of laundry drying. We also saw the house where Gandhi lived and organised the non violent uprising against the British. He had a huge Library in the house which is still there today, kept as it was.

Mumbai was more cosmopolitan than Delhi or other city's we had visited, There was less traffic and it was calmer, there were proper pavements we could walk on. There was still a lot of poverty and beggars about though.

Monday 9th February

Today was our last day in India and although we have really enjoyed it we were glad to be moving on. India is a very noisy, very busy country where the males appear to out number the females by a lot. It is like going back in time where manual labour is every where and automation hasn't even been thought of, because there are so many people. When you go to the petrol station there are two men there to fill up you car!
We read in the Lonely Planet guide that after your first visit to India you cant wait to leave, but after about 4-5 months you have a strange urge to go back and visit again. We will have to see if this is true.