Elephanta Island

I took a ferry out to Elephanta Island, it takes about an hour out from Mumbai.

Lonely planet type picture.

Some people build houses, Indians like to carve them.

Cool rock-cut statue.

Julia and Chessy, if you don't go to bed when you're told, this guy will come and get you.

On the boat back with the lovely Mar and Sarah.

Welcome to Bollywood...

The place that breams are made of. Sorry.

So here's a pic of some of my fellow extras, we all had to dress up in natty 70's drug dealer suits.

The old star, Om Puri. The young one was annoying so didn't make the cut.

These guys need a union.

All in all, this pretty much summed up the experience.

Chai tea, ATM machine

Tea in India (well, in Mumbai) is brewed with condensed milk. You might think that ruins the flavour. It doesn't really, the fifteen or so tablespoons of sugar they put in it does.

While we're on the topic, India, I like spices, I really do. But must I have them with every meal?

Letter of complaint to Shhh

Dear Sirs,

I was recently enticed to buy your ear plugs due to their attractive packaging and neat logo. I was shocked and appalled, however, to find that they do not do the job described. I was staying in the Apollo Guest House in Mumbai (perhaps you've heard of it?), with a room facing the street. Only then did I discover that your earplugs expand to their original shape as soon as they are squeezed. Also, if one manages to insert a plug even a small bit into the ear, the shape of the plug soon ensures they are pushed out.

I was due on set at 8am in the morning, and due to your defective product was tired and grumpy throughout the day. If you ever see the movie Lucky Charm, I will be the sleepy, cross looking person in the front row in the courtroom scene.

Needless to say, I will be informing my friends and aquaintances not to buy your product in the future.

Yours Sincerely,

Alexander Pos.

Quick update

Yours truly is going to be in the starring role of "extra" in a Bollywood film tomorrow, if only he can get up at 7am!

For those that want to help, please ring him on 9930773914 (preceded by whatever the international number is for India) around 12.30pm Wednesday your time, he won't pick up promise!

People have asked no paintings or miniatures in the Museum? Yes but for anyone who's ever been in Margaretta Pos' house, meh.

Here's a short vid of the 'view' from my room. Remind me never to get a street-side room again. Indians drive by a kind of echo-location where they all toot their horns at the same time to let everyone else know where they are. Play with sound up for full effect.

Bombay in a few hours

So today I went on a little walking tour, with my camera.

I'll just put the pictures up and describe them.

This is (formerly) Queen Victoria Station, the main rail station in Mumbai. It now has an unpronouncable name. It's actually about 3 times bigger than it looks in this shot, I couldn't fit it all in the camera. It's the biggest train station in Asia, by the way.


Another great colonial era building, formerly the Prince of Wales Museum, now unpronouncable.


Inside the museum: pervy sculptures, as my cousin would accuse me of. A heap of them.



Aargh where's the Buddha's head?


Oh there he is. Stuffed and mounted.


Parsi girl. One of my forbears.


Next stop, the Gateway of India, built by the British just in time to walk out of it.


Just kidding. This is the Gateway of India.


It's just by the In and Out Burger. They make pretty good burgers.


Another one of the big gate, just to provide some local colour (viz. women in sari's. Chessy take note of the current fashions).


Cya all next time!

Sorry...

for not blog posts or pictures recently. It took me a while to get over the overwhelming-ness of it all and didn't know the first thing to write about. Also didn't want to take my camera out because I didn't want to look too much like a tourist until I had at least some clue. More to follow!

Tips on haggling in India No. 1

So I was in an "antiques" store selling very nice replicas of old Indian statues. I liked one that looked like those curvy sexy ladies from Khajuraho, kind of like this:


The shopkeeper told me this was very old, from the 14th Century and worth 35,000 rupees. That's about $1,000 Au. To put that in perspective, you can eat a decent meal for about $1.50 here.

So I told him that I didn't want to take away India's antiques and wasn't interested. He said that it was ok, it wasn't really an antique, it was a replica. So I told him that it couldn't be worth that much, and he dropped it down to 10,000 rupees, which is still a lot but at least not so ridiculous. Checkmate, sucker.

And no, I won't be buying ready-made stone antiques to be lugging around with me.

Mumbai

Well, how do I explain it.

The first few days were spent in a mixture of mortal dread and fear.

Now I love it.

You can buy anything. Literally. Come here with $1,000 spending money. The big thing to get over is that you are rich and they are poor.

Can I stay?

Still in Sydney...

But mother has decided to join us. Walked around today and bought the last few items needed. Who did I see in St Leonards Station?

It's Beal! Hey Beal, big shout out to Beal everyone. She's living and working in Sydney now, and doesn't she look so happy to be blogged? Is this just a coincidence or are there Tasmanians everywhere?

Backtrack a bit, here's a pick of my pack the day I walked out the door. Let's compare and contrast with how it will look in a few months.

Here's an illegal pic of the plane I flew to Sydney on, taken from the tarmac. Someone official came and told me you're not meant to do that.

Walking around today I almost detoured into Gore Hill Cemetary, which was nice in a creepy overgrown cemetary kind of way. Here's what I saw strung across the path:

That's right, it's a giant spider from space coming to eat me. Actually it wasn't that big, here's a look at him in perspective:

They were everywhere. I didn't go in. Later that night I also saw some huge slugs mating and I told them to get a move on because they were pretty sluggish about it.

And yes, I apologise for the formatting of this post.

Sydney

Yes, Alexander's in Sydney. I had to leave Hobart two days early to make sure I got my Visa. Always allow at least a month for Indian beauraucracy.

Added to the pack:

Wet wipes
Duct tape
"Emergency" poncho

Somehow my pack has gained 5 kgs though.

I saw people at the airport checking their Facebooks on internet cafes. Probably updating their status to "at the airport".

All packed up with nowhere to go...

So here's a list of what I'm taking. Any suggestions?

Passport & Visa, other documents (+ photocopies), travellers cheques, money
Pack, sack, locks and cable
Business cards
Plastic zip loc bags
Travel clock
Power adaptor
Cricket coins
Camera
Notebooks, diary, address book & pen
Guide, map, hindi medical & reading books
Sleeping bag liner & pillow case
Inflatable travel pillow
Calculator
Radio & earphones
Sunglasses
Padlock
LED torch
Pocket knife
Sewing kit
Towel
Wash line & pegs
Money belt
Clothes: T-shirt, 2 short sleeved shirt, shirt, micro-fleece jumper, 2 light trousers, shorts/bathers, 4 pairs underwear, 3 pairs socks, sandals, hat, shoes, 2 hankies.
1st Aid Kit Travel Medicine Kit: Malaria pills, stomach pills.
Medicine & Toiletries: toiletries bag, small mirror, cold/flu pills, acid burn pills, panadeine, drinking cup, paraderm, stingose gel, DEET insect repellent, shaving cream, toothbrush & cover, toothpaste, nail scissors, sunscreen, deoderant, razor & blades, laundry detergent, tigerbalm, comb, ear plugs, soap container, anti-bacterial soap, ear buds, shampoo, lip balm, toilet paper.

Here's a photo of what it all looks like packed up:















And in the bag, weighing in at a light 10kg:



















Unfortunately I'm still waiting for my Visa. Since my ticket is for early Friday morning this is making things a little stressful. Edwina, who lives in Sydney, has volunteered to go in to the High Commission on Tuesday to try to sort it out. If not I might have to fly to Sydney early. That's why I'm all packed up now!