Mumbai

After a short diversion back to the UK I have missed out a huge section of travel by getting a flight; Chennai – London – Mumbai via Dubai, original plan was 30hr train ride to get to Sasan Gir & the Asiatic Lions. Mumbai much closer, 1.30min flight & 5 hr taxi.

Flew the largest passenger plane from London to Dubai, the Airbus A380, fantastic machine, huge, 399 seats in cattle class another 150 upper deck posh travel, bar, showers & suites!! I was told it could carry 600 if configured solely for cattle class, the iconic 747 “Jumbo Jet” 380 passengers, this plane is huge, spacious & very comfortable, and I had a superb seat, 81K all the legroom I could have wanted.

Flying at 30,000ft in a clear sky you see some fascinating wonders of nature, snow capped mountains, vast red dusty deserts, oceans coloured by sediments; even with clouds the formations and weather systems are beautiful.

Mumbai, traffic in from airport….horrendous! However the rest of my excursions into the centre of Mumbai surprised me at how little traffic there actually is, Chennai was quiet, Mumbai quieter. The area around the “Taj Hotel” are closed to the public after the atrocious terrorist attacks last month, Gateway to India, covered as it is cleaned and/or restored. Makes for easy walking tour as I wander around. Not that many western faces around either saw a few in Cafe Leopold.

I am staying 3km north of the central point of “Gateway of India” in the Crawford Market area, 2* (According to Lastminute.com) hotel, ‘New Bengal Hotel’ Not bad for £15 B&B with A/c, smallest room I have ever been in outside of London! The area itself is a tide of people going about their daily lives, food choice aplenty.

A number of things have surprised me; travelled the last 19yrs with a ‘Lonely Planet’ guide, great for getting you into the right place with a certain amount of confidence. Travel guides have never really been known for accuracy given they can only be researched months before you get to use the information, it even warns you that “things change” that taken my September 2008 copy has been as much as 400% out on hotel prices in Chennai & Mumbai, worth double checking in the internet before booking.

Ah the internet again, yep booked plane to UK over the internet, booked this hotel over the internet, got the details on 747/A380 over the internet, tried to book train to Sasan Gir over the internet (all wait listed), booked the flight I am taking tomorrow to Rajkot, nearest airport, over the internet, tried to book hotel but all full or outside of my budget; LP to the rescue, once I got the correct dialling code, I actually phoned a ‘guesthouse’ arranged a weeks accommodation, taxi from Rajkot, (150km £30), all confirmed by SMS; wonders of modern technology.

Booking ahead mobile phones and the internet are not what I am used to or remember, this no doubt will be a recurring theme as I move across India, Lions, Tigers, Rhino are my goals but I have planned very little, I know where I want to go and will get there to see what happens, well that was the past, today it is I know where I want to go and will get there, let’s see what I can book over the internet? Not sure yet if this will add or take away from the “Travelling” experience, less to the unexpected, less frustrating interaction with touts & taxi drivers “my brother/uncle/mother/friend/wife/parole officer has a place, I take you there, if you not like I no charge”. I am skipping all that with a simple retort “Its OK already booked a place” over the internet!?

Sasan Gir tomorrow the beginning of the “Claws, Fangs & Horn” tour, (Lions, Tigers & Rhino) really looking forward to spending Christmas searching for the last wild Asiatic Lions, sad that they are the last, they are the Lion that the Christians were thrown too, that Russell Crowe fought, that roamed all over Europe in days gone by, their ancestors that is, these guys have never been out of Sasan Gir, perhaps I should introduce them to the internet and a good travel guide!?

Happy Christmas

Steve