I'm Alive!

With much to tell, as soon as I get some sleep. That's all for now.

Say Goodbye to the Jhabvalas

...for now.

That's Hoshang on the right, Deenaz in the middle and Rayo on the left. He's going to America to study soon.

They were very nice to me while I was in Bombay and invited me up to dinner a lot and also to go swimming, dancing etc... I'll see them pretty soon though I hope. I think if Deenaz has her way Chessie and Julia could be very happy little girls (though not on elephants).

Also said goodbye to Auri and all the various friends I met in Mumbai :(

That was that, now Gujurat.

Someday, Bombay.

Well the monsoon has come to Mumbai and it's time to leave. I'm heading up to Gujurat for various reasons to be blogged about later, then on through Rajasthan (again) to Delhi. I'll be back, Mumbai, I'll be back...

Here are some last random pics of Bombay.

Awesome motorbike, well worth zooming in on.


Peter Pan and Wendy, as we call them, local ashram refugees from the rains.


Just sweeping in the rain... what a wonderful feeling... If you had 4 months of torrential rain you wouldn't care if you got wet either.

When the rain comes down...

It just started raining in Mumbai. Pics to come.


"Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets." - Travis Bickle

Incidentally, Leigh and I once caught a taxi in Sydney and the guy said pretty much the same thing.

People Carrying Things On Their Heads, ep. 1

As promised.

Having just seen the final in a seedy, raucus pub, I can only say...

Yeahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

(F yeah for non family members).

We never would have lost the Ashes if Warnie was captain.

Added: This pub (Gokuls):

Someone kept doing the Aussie Aussie Aussie chant but didn't know exactly how it went, so it would go:

Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi

Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi

Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi

Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi

Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi

Small General Update

No, not a little Army man called Update.

Nice photo of a guy selling roasted nuts etc... a pretty common snack sight in Mumbai. They have a little bowl full of embers that they place on top of the nuts to slowly roast them.

Sign in my hotel. Good advice, that.

P.E.R. update: The current rate for Rupees to Aussie Dollars is 4:1, as in, for a $10 item in Australia you should pay 40 rupees in India. However, for any item that is intrinsically foreign or not common-place (such as toilet paper, beer, dvd's) the rate goes up to 10:1.

I Fought the Law, and the Law Won.

The other day some friends and I decided to go swimming in the Taj (blogged about here and here) pool. I had it on good advice that it was easy-ish to do - my Mum had told me that she used to dress up as a guest and go do it, and one of the people I went with had done it a few times before. Anyway, on the way out we got asked for our room number... ruh roh.

Here's what we ended up with:

That's a thousand rupees each (only $25 au, but enough to eat for a week cheaply). Hmpph, never going back there again.

The policeman (yes policeman) who came took a liking to me though, he gave me his number in case I ever get into any trouble. Who says every cloud doesn't have a silver lining, every rose doesn't have it's thorn etc...

Indian Idol, final episode

Due to popular demand, this will be the last episode of Indian Idol. Don't forget to vote.

Contestant One, another tree shrine:

Contestant Two, an entry in the sub-category "idol's with people looking at them strangely"

Contestant Three, a nice Sai Baba shrine that glows lovely-ly in the dark.

Next week, "People Carrying Things on Their Heads".