Blog 10: Ramesh and Ganesh

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  Mumbai (Bombay), Maharashtra, India
Saturday, December 19, 2009

Our first few days in Bombay were a blur: we visited markets, haggled over goods, walked until our feet were blistered, and enjoyed the local fare and people. It was my birthday so we decided to go to a hookah bar.  Hookah is flavored tobacco and is basically smooth tobacco mixed with molasses and a myriad flavors.  We had apple mint and strawberry.  It was a lot of fun.  The bar was located on top of a building and they covered the surface in sand, tents, couches, Arabian drapery, while Indian techno music softly reverberated in the background.  It was pretty sheik and came with a 250 rupee cover, which is $5 cover charge and a lot of money here.  Therefore, we were hanging out with the elite at this place.  Everyone else was dressed to the nines while we loafed about in our sweaty shorts, sandals, and shirts.  I'm sure we were quite the site to see.

            The next day we found a couple of children to act as our guides (they actually found us) and jumped on a boat and went to one of Bombay’s most popular attractions.  It is Elephanta Island and an UNESCO World Heritage Site—basically that means the site is old or the culture that made it are no longer around.  Contrary to what the name implies, there are no elephants on the island.  Instead, the place is the home to the only three headed Shiva in the world.  The shrine is cut directly from the rocks in the cliffs, as is the temple itself.  It has been compared by many as the Petra of India.  Most come here to worship Shiva and it is considered a holy place, but for Annie and me it is another great piece of art and a culture’s proud heritage.

            We spent half of a day touring the island and taking in the spectacular rock carvings and then we returned to Bombay.  Annie and I were wiped because we both picked up colds along the way, so we turned in early.  The extreme temperature difference seems to do it as I rarely ever get colds in the U.S. but usually get one per trip while traveling.  Luckily they last no longer than a few days. 

The nice thing is, I’ve had the local water a few times now and have yet to get sick.  We’ve eaten ice cream, which is a majority/third-world no-no, and we had their yogurt, another no-no in India, and an ice cream shake, a slurpee made with local water/ice, and we’ve eaten whatever our hearts desire.  I think my stomach may have been made for international travel.

            Our next adventure: Slumdoggin-it baby…

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Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Crawford Market	Chad at Crawford Market	Kenton at Crawford Market	Alyssa and Tamara
Spices	Annie	Crawford Market	same
Ramesh, our guide	same	Boat to Elephanta Island	Tayler by dock of India Gate
On Elephanta Island	Ruins	Ruins of Elephanta Island	same
goats on E. Island	cows on E. Island	same	Ganesh
Sunset on smoggy Bombay	India Gate	Prossers, our guest house	View from the Hookah bar
some of the gang	guy smoking the hookah (flavored tobacco)

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