Mumbai & Bollywood
We left Delhi early enough for our SpiceJet flight to Mumbai. Fortunately there are now many cheap airlines in India (Goair, Kingfisher, Spicejet, Decan Air), offering no-frills flights at 25% of the normal price. Our type of travel.
TV crews were lining the road as we arrived at the airport - not just to film us, but also to broadcast the delays because of the fog. The previous day was especially bad. Only 1 airline's pilots are trained to use CATIII auto landing equipment designed for poor visibility. Our airport bus transferred us to the wrong plane, but we were quickly whisked off to the right plane - and then we were delayed for another 1.5hours, while sitting in the plane!
We eventually made it to Mumbai and Joe, our friend Peter Carswell's driver, was there to pick us up in a brand new blue car (sorry forgot the make). Peter and Bryce (his flatmate) are working as actuaries in Dubai on long-term contracts. They live on the 29th floor of a great apartment block with views over Mumbai.
Our time in Mumbai exceeded our expectations - Peter and Bryce were amazing and treated us non-stop. We had a driver at our convenience; fantastic food and drinks in some of the most famous and upmarket spots in Mumbai (frequented by Bollywood actors!) - Peter even arranged a massage for Johan!
Mumbai, the 4th largest city in the world with 19 million inhabitants, is very different from Delhi - very cosmopolitan, more expensive, much warmer at this time of the year, next to the ocean, less pollution, and surprisingly no cows in the streets!
We decided not to do much sightseeing, but rather spend the time just enjoying being treated! We also sent yet another parcel home and even watched a great Bollywood movie called Lagaan.
Culture shock: sending a parcel is quite a process - first pack in a box, then go to a few stalls outside the post office to get it sown up in cheap linen, then to the customs office who opens it again and inspects everything, then resown at the customs office, then weight, paid for and sent - all in all about an hour's outing with various people along the way demanding money for their services!
TV crews were lining the road as we arrived at the airport - not just to film us, but also to broadcast the delays because of the fog. The previous day was especially bad. Only 1 airline's pilots are trained to use CATIII auto landing equipment designed for poor visibility. Our airport bus transferred us to the wrong plane, but we were quickly whisked off to the right plane - and then we were delayed for another 1.5hours, while sitting in the plane!
We eventually made it to Mumbai and Joe, our friend Peter Carswell's driver, was there to pick us up in a brand new blue car (sorry forgot the make). Peter and Bryce (his flatmate) are working as actuaries in Dubai on long-term contracts. They live on the 29th floor of a great apartment block with views over Mumbai.
Our time in Mumbai exceeded our expectations - Peter and Bryce were amazing and treated us non-stop. We had a driver at our convenience; fantastic food and drinks in some of the most famous and upmarket spots in Mumbai (frequented by Bollywood actors!) - Peter even arranged a massage for Johan!
Mumbai, the 4th largest city in the world with 19 million inhabitants, is very different from Delhi - very cosmopolitan, more expensive, much warmer at this time of the year, next to the ocean, less pollution, and surprisingly no cows in the streets!
We decided not to do much sightseeing, but rather spend the time just enjoying being treated! We also sent yet another parcel home and even watched a great Bollywood movie called Lagaan.
Culture shock: sending a parcel is quite a process - first pack in a box, then go to a few stalls outside the post office to get it sown up in cheap linen, then to the customs office who opens it again and inspects everything, then resown at the customs office, then weight, paid for and sent - all in all about an hour's outing with various people along the way demanding money for their services!
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