MUMBAI .
11 January 2008 Temp: 78 deg. F
Dear Friends and Family
The morning of January 7, my son Robert took me to Spokane International Airport for a 5:00 am flight to Seattle. The second leg would take me to Newark were I would border an airplane for a 14 hr 30 minutes flight to Mumbai. I lined up at the Alaska/Horizon counter at 4:30 am with my boarding pass when I noticed a sign that said “ Flight to Seattle delayed to 8:30 am” with the flight to Newark schedule for 7:50 am I was not going to make it. Fortunately they rebooked me on a 6:00 am Alaska airline flight. I figured that at best I would have about 40 minutes to make the flight to Newark. Arriving in Seattle I took the shuttle to the Continental gate B only to be told that this particular Continental flight would depart from the S gate! I made it with 10 minutes to spare. In Newark I had about 4;00 hour to the next flight. Plenty of time for pizza and beer
Each seat in the Continental airplane had his own entertainment center from which one can choose movies, music, games, and some TV stations. I eventually looked thru the movie list and found the movie ‘Gandhi’ which I found very appropriate to watch on my way to India. This is an extraordinary movie about an extraordinary man who had to somehow convince the British to leave India but also had to convince his own people that this could be done without using violence. He was willing to die for this lofty goal, and almost did during his hunger strike designed to stop retaliation against the British’s violence. The British eventually gave up and, in typical British fashion, made their leaving on organized public ceremony. On February 28, 1948, the last detachment of troops remaining in India slowly marched thru the Gate of India to board their ship back to Tilburry.
After completing my 26 ½ hour journey I arrived in Mumbai the 8 th of January at 9:45 pm (India’s time). The hotel’s taxi driver took me to the Bentley’s hotel in the touristy in the Colaba area of Mumbai. A 30 minutes ride in heavy traffic, accompanied by the constant blaring of horns and total ignorance of traffic lanes and traffic lights while barely avoiding the other cars and the battle scarred motorized rickshaws. My driver told me that at night the traffic cops are no longer on duty and the traffic lights (while still working) become totally usless. Welcome to Mumbai!
After I settled in my room I needed to go out for a walk. The hotel is in a quiet area of one of the main street. I walked to the busy street lined up with stores, restaurants, and portable stalls selling everything you can imagine. I found a large restaurant open to the street. A very busy place obviously popular with the locals and with the tourists. The Leopold’s has an extensive menu and cold beer, exactly what I needed. I shared my table with a couple of travelers from Germany. They own a restaurant south of Munich that has been in the man’s family for over 150 years. The woman’s brother is a brewmaster and we had a good discussion about the best and worst beer. The man, Frantz, thinks that the Indian beer Kingfisher is the worst he ever tasted.They closed the place a little after 1:00 am and I went back to my hotel. All the stalls are gone and many people are sleeping on the sidewalk. (homeless).
I am still adjusting to the change in time (I am sleepy during the day and wake up during the night!)
Love and peace - henri
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