Bombay! or, Mumbai!

What up from Mumbai (aka Bombay as the British might call it).

We arrived here last night after a 24 hour train ride from Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal- pretty nice. I was hoping not to be underwhelmed by it after all the lifelong buildup, and it was just the opposite. It was amazing. Breathtaking. Not as big as I would have thought, but more beautiful in person. We only spent one day there, but I could have spent more. I'm a big fan.
The train ride was very... long. Very burpy and farty on the part of the other travelers, and generally stinky. At night I was rocked to sleep by the violent jerks of the train and soothed by a chorus of juicy snores. As usual, there was a lot of staring. Actually, I make it sound a lot worse than it was. It didn't seem like 24 hours, and it wasn't that bad. All the same, we were really really happy to be in Mumbai by the time we got here.

I've been warned a lot about the place, and I was expecting Mumbai to be like a hyped-up, more crowded Delhi, but we've actually found it to be relaxing. The air is a lot cleaner here and the neighborhood that we're staying in, Colaba, reminds me of London or maybe D.C. Very British indeed. It gets compared a lot to New York City, which I think is pretty fair. It's the technological center and a lot more modern than Delhi, but it's also home to Asia's largest slums. We'll be here for a little less than a week, then it's off to check out some cave temples. Better updates and pictures to come when I find a USB port.

Erica Out