21-22/mar mumbai 01
And yes, I was in the train, reading, eating, and after I couple of hours, I saw that girl, indian looking, that was looking for something. She told she had lost her wallet. Five minutes later, she came back, more relaxed, and with the wallet. We started talking, and we did so for 8 hours!! Her name was melisa, and she was English. She had lots of relatives in India, some of them from goa, the others living in Mumbai. She was a very esay going person, and was nice to spend that time with her. After a couple of hours, her friend sarah, also English, came, a little bit worried since she thought she had lost her friend in the train. The journey was nice, and sitting with 2 girls, one of them blond, made me see the attraction that all Indian male have for them. We were most of the time surrounded by Indian, salesmen… Melisa explained me a little bit about her family. A wealthy Indian family, that had good relations with the british, and that had traveled a lot. They are staying at her uncle’s house, just 2 minutes from the taj mahal hotel, with views over the sea. Not bad!!
Once in mumbai, we arrived at the Victoria station, a astonishing building that could be a parlement or the kings palace. Gothic style, made in the british time. And, just by chance, my place, the cheapest one in Mumbai, was 5 minutes far from where they were staying, and 1 minute from the most expensive hotel. So, it wasn’t a bad location at all!! It was the salvation army, a dormitory with room of 12 to 16 beds (bunk beds). Rs 135 with breakfast included. The most expensive place I had been in India so far, but the cheapest one in Mumbai. The rest of ‘cheap’ places were at least 300 – 350Rs, obviously out of my budget! In my room, there were only Indians, even if I was told that that was the backpackers place in Mumbai. No problem. Well, yes, there was a problem. One of them was snoring… but, c’est la vie!
I slept very good, no bed bugs (I was told there were), breakfast till 8:45 am, so I had the chance to wake up early, and I met josu (36), a guy from bilbao, that was working in correos, and had been traveling a lot. The only problem about meeting people while your are traveling, is that sometimes you don’t have too much time to get to know them, and most of the conversations are exactly the same. Anyway, it’s always good to meet someone, since it’s not possible to know if that person will change your life or not!!!
After that, I went to the model agency elite, to show my stuff, and the girl that was there treated me very good, even though she was new there. She told me there was job for foreigners in town, so I was quite excited, even if I was supposed to meet the boss!
There area of the agency, is a part of colaba, south of Mumbai, and where my bed was. And it was another India that I had never seen before; there was lot of life and energy there, but lots of suits and ties, lots of business men, good cars, I was only hearing English, street slightly cleaner, skyscrapers, expensive hotels… A kind of pleasant downtown. After that I went to the embassy. I had questions about the Indian visa, Pakistan, china… and was fun to see that the consul couldn’t even speak Spanish, in the Spanish consulate… I was looking for the catalan consulate, but I couldn’t find it. Well, Mumbai is still growing!! After that, I went to the university building, a very old and elegant gothic building, with a canteen. Thalis 16 rupees!! And the chance to meet students from Mumbai. Everything was nice, the city was treating me very good, and I was feeling very comfortable. After that I startes looking for an cd/mp3 discman, and was a good excuse to start walking. Victoria station, Crawford market, and then south again towards flora fountain, and after that the world trade center, but they were closing. I got an sms from melisa inviting me to have dinner in town with her aunt and cousin, and I was lucky to have an extra t-shirt in my bag, since the place was… I first got scared when I saw all those waiters parking cars, opening doors… and then the restaurant in itself. I asked, and I was told that it was an expensive restaurant. When they came, I just saw 4 young girls, and that because the wife of david, the uncle, was only 28. Anyway, we got in, drunk a couple of bottles of beer, eat the best food I had eaten so far, and pay 700 rs each… (2 days of my budget!!!) I was happy though, I had good time there. After that, we went to a club, Wellington club, where they are members. A very british place, very elegant, a bit old fashioned, and with lots of waiters again. Let’s remember that there is more than one billion people in India, the second highest population right after china. And growing. After the club, the aunt and mekhala, melisa’s cousin, left, and we 3 went to the taj mahal, to check how insomnia was. Supposedly the coolest disco in Mumbai. 1000 Rs the entrance… it was empty, so we could go in without paying, and the place was nice, nice interior design. Something minimalistic with an Indian (geomethry) touch. We were a little bit happy (drunk), so me and melisa went to the reception of this hotel, and asked for the presidential suite, 2300$ per night. After waiting a bit, the girl told us that she was alone in reception, and we should wait till the day after to see it… that was fun!
8/4/05
Once in mumbai, we arrived at the Victoria station, a astonishing building that could be a parlement or the kings palace. Gothic style, made in the british time. And, just by chance, my place, the cheapest one in Mumbai, was 5 minutes far from where they were staying, and 1 minute from the most expensive hotel. So, it wasn’t a bad location at all!! It was the salvation army, a dormitory with room of 12 to 16 beds (bunk beds). Rs 135 with breakfast included. The most expensive place I had been in India so far, but the cheapest one in Mumbai. The rest of ‘cheap’ places were at least 300 – 350Rs, obviously out of my budget! In my room, there were only Indians, even if I was told that that was the backpackers place in Mumbai. No problem. Well, yes, there was a problem. One of them was snoring… but, c’est la vie!
I slept very good, no bed bugs (I was told there were), breakfast till 8:45 am, so I had the chance to wake up early, and I met josu (36), a guy from bilbao, that was working in correos, and had been traveling a lot. The only problem about meeting people while your are traveling, is that sometimes you don’t have too much time to get to know them, and most of the conversations are exactly the same. Anyway, it’s always good to meet someone, since it’s not possible to know if that person will change your life or not!!!
After that, I went to the model agency elite, to show my stuff, and the girl that was there treated me very good, even though she was new there. She told me there was job for foreigners in town, so I was quite excited, even if I was supposed to meet the boss!
There area of the agency, is a part of colaba, south of Mumbai, and where my bed was. And it was another India that I had never seen before; there was lot of life and energy there, but lots of suits and ties, lots of business men, good cars, I was only hearing English, street slightly cleaner, skyscrapers, expensive hotels… A kind of pleasant downtown. After that I went to the embassy. I had questions about the Indian visa, Pakistan, china… and was fun to see that the consul couldn’t even speak Spanish, in the Spanish consulate… I was looking for the catalan consulate, but I couldn’t find it. Well, Mumbai is still growing!! After that, I went to the university building, a very old and elegant gothic building, with a canteen. Thalis 16 rupees!! And the chance to meet students from Mumbai. Everything was nice, the city was treating me very good, and I was feeling very comfortable. After that I startes looking for an cd/mp3 discman, and was a good excuse to start walking. Victoria station, Crawford market, and then south again towards flora fountain, and after that the world trade center, but they were closing. I got an sms from melisa inviting me to have dinner in town with her aunt and cousin, and I was lucky to have an extra t-shirt in my bag, since the place was… I first got scared when I saw all those waiters parking cars, opening doors… and then the restaurant in itself. I asked, and I was told that it was an expensive restaurant. When they came, I just saw 4 young girls, and that because the wife of david, the uncle, was only 28. Anyway, we got in, drunk a couple of bottles of beer, eat the best food I had eaten so far, and pay 700 rs each… (2 days of my budget!!!) I was happy though, I had good time there. After that, we went to a club, Wellington club, where they are members. A very british place, very elegant, a bit old fashioned, and with lots of waiters again. Let’s remember that there is more than one billion people in India, the second highest population right after china. And growing. After the club, the aunt and mekhala, melisa’s cousin, left, and we 3 went to the taj mahal, to check how insomnia was. Supposedly the coolest disco in Mumbai. 1000 Rs the entrance… it was empty, so we could go in without paying, and the place was nice, nice interior design. Something minimalistic with an Indian (geomethry) touch. We were a little bit happy (drunk), so me and melisa went to the reception of this hotel, and asked for the presidential suite, 2300$ per night. After waiting a bit, the girl told us that she was alone in reception, and we should wait till the day after to see it… that was fun!
8/4/05
posted by Unknown at 09:17
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