Day 65 to 68: Goodbye India

Mumbai was our final destination and like much of India, it surprised us. We roughly expected it to be a steamier, bigger, dirtier and more polluted version of Delhi. Central Mumbai was in fact very clean, with wide streets and a lovely waterfront along Marine Drive. Around the Fort area the buildings from British-rule days made the city feel similar to London or European cities. At times we did come across choking rotting fish smells which reoriented us, but most of the time there was no rubbish or unpleasant smells. We were in town for Republic Day, celebrating independance from British rule and we enjoyed seeing dozens of holiday cricket games in play at the Maidan Oval park. We joined tons of locals and Indian tourists to see temple cave carvings at Elephanta Island and spent our last evening in India strolling along Chowpatty Beach, where families enjoyed the holiday with toss-the-hoop games and snacks from street vendors.

Leaving India after 4 weeks is strange and a little sad. Random things we'll miss include:

Constant attention

Everyone wanted to welcome us to India and although the fact that we stood out made us uncomfortable initially, we came to realise that 99% of people stared at us because they were curious and interested, and if you are curious and interested in something why wouldn't you stare? We've visited monuments where other Indian tourist seem more interested in us than the sight they've come to see, so we've granted requests and posed in many holiday pictures. We've been filmed walking along the beach and the most memorable question would have to be "why is your skin pink and white?" asked of myself and Laurain, the Dutch girl on our Kathmandu to Delhi tour.

Dated Celine Dion sounds

After hearing the Titanic themesong play in a number of restaurants/cafes and even have someone walk along singing it behind us, we may not exactly pine for "My Heart Will Go On" but it was an amusing blast from the past that seemed to follow us around

Chai wallahs and masala chai

By far our favourite drink was masala tea and it was available absolutely everywhere..many a train journey was made more enjoyable by a cup (or few!) of cardamom-spiced chai

Friendly people

We met some wonderful people who helped make our time in India outstanding. Our driver Vidu in Kerala and Bhupendra, our tour leader for Kathmandu to Delhi humbled us by the gentle way they served us and made our enjoyment their priority. So many people just wanted to greet us and find out how we were enjoying our time in their country. In our last week in India I realised how often I smiled with my whole face in response to those who smiled at me and how welcomed I felt.

From Mumbai we fly to Dubai, where we'll spend the weekend in and around Abu Dhabi visiting our friend Teresa.