Before we left for Mumbai, we visited the Ellora Caves. The oldest cave dates from the 6th century and was a Buddhist monestary. It's pretty plain compared to the Hindu temples.
The visit to these caves was by far my favorite part of the trip.
(Gid: Mine as well. It it sobering, but important, to remember that while many of our ancestors were struggling with the collapse of Rome and running around in animal skins, others were building incredible monuments to God and, indirectly, the human endeavor. For some, the Dark Ages weren't that dark. )
One of the caves had the most amazing ceiling:
(Gid: The ceiling is simply amazing--- stone carved as wood. I've never seen anything like it--- probably never will at another site.)
We haphazardly wandered up to the second floor of this cave where Gideon pointed to the open door noting that the door wasn't usually open to the public so we should take advantage of the opportunity.
Eventually, we realized that some tourist had paid the staff to unlock door let him in. Well... when in Rome... Gid tipped the staff and he let us in, too.(Gid: Baksheesh can be a beautiful thing.)
Our only goals while in Mumbai were to visit Elephanta Island and do a little shopping. When we got into Mumbai, I was about ready to write it off as another pit, much like Delhi. Upon arriving in the city we passed one of the biggest slums in Southeast Asia -- a very sobering sight. However, as I soon discovered, the central area of the city, Colaba, is beautiful. There's a bunch of old colonial architecture, but what makes it so interesting is its juxtaposition with the native flora and fauna which is so exotic looking.
(Gid: Mumbai, previously known as Bombay, is an incredible mix of everything. As "Slumdog Millionaire" accurately depicted, Mumbai is currently as sight of incredible growth and wealth, but also of incredible poverty. It can be jarring to see some of the richest individuals in the world sharing a city with some of the poorest. 100,000 people arrive in Mumbai per month, or the addition of a city the size of Sacramento every 4-5 months. Mostly, these are rural folks in search of a better life--- much like NYC in the early Twentieth Century.)
We left ourselves a little more than eight hours to get everything done, but the traffic in Mumbai is worse than LA. It took nearly an hour and a half to travel 20 km to the ferries that would take us to Elephanta Island. (Gid: No joke. And no exageration. That's an average of 8 miles/hour.) In addition to that, we told our driver to meet us at the ferry station three hours after he dropped us off. He looked a little confused and we found out why: the ferry ride takes another hour and 15 minutes. Long story short: we got to the island only to turn right around and hop on another ferry heading back. I'd have been more upset if the situation weren't so ridiculous. I mean, who doesn't appreciate two and a half hours on a ferry?
(Gid: Limca--- the world's greatest soda. Owned by Coke.)
(Gateway to India)
India was definitely a hard place to travel. It calls for major cooperation between travelers and eventually, we had to designate Gideon as the leader of the trip. One, he's done it before, and two, Indians respond way better to a man than a woman. That was probably the hardest part for me, taking a backseat when it came to some of the haggling and telling the touts to piss off.
(Gid: This was the hardest part for me as well. I've talked with folks who have been to China and other large Asian nations, but India takes the cake in lacking mercy and being brutal on its visitors--- not to mention its citizens. India can be a richly rewarding experience, but it comes with sweat and great difficulty. Match that with the general indifference of officialdom in India as to whether a tourist enjoys his or her experience/lives or dies generally, and you have the makings of an adventure.)
If I could do any of this differently, I would have liked to have spent little more time in Mumbai. Although, that could have been easily accomplished if we'd been able to book a hotel in the Colaba area (apparently, November is the busy season). And, I think I'd have liked to stop in Singapore for a day or two. Getting to Singapore after India was SO nice. Their airport must be the cleanest place on Earth. (Gid: Singapore in general is amazing. Historically, politically, socially--- a strange mix of a benevolent democratically elected dictatorship, with a dash of free trade and socialism, plus modern tech hub bound up in the only remaining true City-State.) Other than that, I wouldn't change anything. India was so rewarding, if only for this huge sense of appreciation I feel now that I'm home.
(Gid: I second that. After coming back from India each and every time, I have a renewed and deepened appreciation of what America is and the economic and social freedoms we can take for granted--- as well as an appreciation of what India bring in cultural and spiritual richness, which America can sometimes lack. But it's always good to be home.)
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