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| India Gate |
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.
The place where we smoked the hookah 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.
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| Ganesh and Ramesh |
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.
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