Goodbye Mumbai....

Mumbai McDonalds- no cheeseburgers here!
In a black cab in Mumbai traffic
Got the leavin' India blues baby
But looking forward to Europe!!

Thursday 4 June 2009
Bye Mumbai......

On our last day in Mumbai we did like all good Mumbaikers do and went to see a Bollywood hit. '99' is about the cricket match fixing scandals in 1999, but mostly its a caper film. Adorable small time crooks getting themselves in hot water + bigger time crooks after them + a love interest = pretty entertaining film. Of course it was in Hindi but hey, we got the gist. We also had our first McDonalds since we left Australia... I'm standing there looking at the menu asking the staff where the cheeseburgers are while nick got more and more annoyed... then it clicks... no beef! Of course! I had forgotten there wouldn't be much on the menu since they don't eat beef.

We headed to Mumbai airport a little early and as a result we couldn't check in yet, but don't worry, we had plenty to entertain us as Mumbai airport officials did their absolute best to catch Israeli's leaving the country with drugs. The Israeli airline (can't say it, it was in hebrew I think) had its own cordened off area with every drug testing facility known to man (well to Mumbai) and they weren't letting those damned hippies through too easy :) We watched many a long-haired, guitar-toting, rainbow-beanie wearing passenger being grilled. It was quite the spectacle. Eventually the fun ended and we could check in.


Things we loved about India....
*Rickshaws: abundant and cheap transport.... whats not to love?
*The people: bestfriend or bully there was always someone on hand in India, and usually they were the good kind.
*The smiles
*The education: everyone spoke English or knew a person in a 5 m radius who did
*The trains: really quite straightforward, cheap and usually on time...
*The Kashmiris: Ashiq and co!

What we did not love so much...
*The Faeces smeared footpaths: thats what happens when theres too many animals and nowhere else to go...
*Taking Malaria tablets: still hate em
*The hard sell: No means No people!
*Hello! ten rupees ten rupees ten rupees ten rupees... Hello! ten rupees ten rupees ten rupees ten rupees Hello! ten rupees ten rupees ten rupees ten rupees Hello! ten rupees ten rupees ten rupees ten rupees Hello! ten rupees ten rupees ten rupees ten rupees Hello! ten rupees ten rupees ten rupees ten rupees

In the end if we had to sum up India we would have to stay that it showed each of us that even in extreme situations its not what you have but who you have

We also met this really cool deaf and mute nepali kid we met that had been abandoned by both his parents when they remarried that showed us sometimes its not even who you have but your perspective on life that determines how happy you, he was like the happiest, smartest kid i met and had big plans to become a waiter.