Welcome to Bombay- Bring it home and in your face.
They say there is a head count of 18 million in Bombay. I would guess this speculative count is estimated low and there would never be any way of truly knowing.
We landed and got a cab to take us to our hotel which is named Hotel Broadway. We got a friendly head jiggle and yes I know where it is, or so we thought.
To get to Bombay from the airport takes an hour, to get to your hotel from Bombay takes 2 more and practically the entire other 17 million living with your cab driver in the city. At one point our driver on his 6th or 7th attempt took Ema`s diary with the address and began showing it around to the crowd who had gathered to help find this illusive hotel. Seeing them all chatting away hands flying with Ema`s diary did have us laughing only we were to jet lagged at this point to really enjoy it as well as we should have. Finally we found the Hotel and I am certain we spent those 2 hours passing it 100 times.
Indian`s are fascinating people, they have always had a large population and they seem completely unphased by what would cause war in a country like the US or any of of western cultures. Indian`s drive with no stress, people are crossing the street in a manner that seems hap hazard but is not at all, drivers pass all over the road and there is a constant sharp honk happening, yet the honk is never aggressive, it is friendly it says, I am here, go ahead, look behind you, you go, or I am going. They communicate they do not offend, they are peaceful although the city could easily be misinterpreted for aggressive the nature is gentle. There are few (I saw none) accidents because every single Indian in Bombay is considering his 17 other million neighbors that he has never been without.
We went to Leopolds for dinner, the restaurant in Shantaram that began it all and had our first meal.
Bombay rests roughly at midnight until 7am when slowly it begins it`s new day. We of course woke at 5am and had the last of the Johnny Walker and sunflower seeds from the plane and tried to go back to sleep.
Bombay has a spirit, the people may be poor, the children may run in the streets, the traffic swerving around them with out a single regard or curse because Bombay has become the population that it has, the city nor the people could exist separately and it is a city I could adapt to in the beat of the heart that holds it.
They say there is a head count of 18 million in Bombay. I would guess this speculative count is estimated low and there would never be any way of truly knowing.
We landed and got a cab to take us to our hotel which is named Hotel Broadway. We got a friendly head jiggle and yes I know where it is, or so we thought.
To get to Bombay from the airport takes an hour, to get to your hotel from Bombay takes 2 more and practically the entire other 17 million living with your cab driver in the city. At one point our driver on his 6th or 7th attempt took Ema`s diary with the address and began showing it around to the crowd who had gathered to help find this illusive hotel. Seeing them all chatting away hands flying with Ema`s diary did have us laughing only we were to jet lagged at this point to really enjoy it as well as we should have. Finally we found the Hotel and I am certain we spent those 2 hours passing it 100 times.
Indian`s are fascinating people, they have always had a large population and they seem completely unphased by what would cause war in a country like the US or any of of western cultures. Indian`s drive with no stress, people are crossing the street in a manner that seems hap hazard but is not at all, drivers pass all over the road and there is a constant sharp honk happening, yet the honk is never aggressive, it is friendly it says, I am here, go ahead, look behind you, you go, or I am going. They communicate they do not offend, they are peaceful although the city could easily be misinterpreted for aggressive the nature is gentle. There are few (I saw none) accidents because every single Indian in Bombay is considering his 17 other million neighbors that he has never been without.
We went to Leopolds for dinner, the restaurant in Shantaram that began it all and had our first meal.
Bombay rests roughly at midnight until 7am when slowly it begins it`s new day. We of course woke at 5am and had the last of the Johnny Walker and sunflower seeds from the plane and tried to go back to sleep.
Bombay has a spirit, the people may be poor, the children may run in the streets, the traffic swerving around them with out a single regard or curse because Bombay has become the population that it has, the city nor the people could exist separately and it is a city I could adapt to in the beat of the heart that holds it.
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