I had intended to type up another post sometime towards the end of last week or at the very latest, early this week but as I've learnt, if you have time on your hands it just slips through your fingers! We've been tourists over the past two weekends and I've mainly hung around at the hotel (outside the hotel grounds is not the place to go wondering about on your own) during the week whilst Andrew has been at the office {having Delhi Belly doesn't allow for much freedom either!}
a place to hang-out & cool off
A couple of Thursday evenings ago we managed to get tickets to watch an IPL cricket match at Mahindra Stadium in Mumbai. What a fantastic unexpected experience we had watching the Mumbai Indians beat (only just) the Kolkata Knight Riders. The have since qualified for the final and we will be having another late night this *Sunday watching them play! We got four tickets so our then driver (we have a new one called George) Sasanka could watch the match with us as we needed him to take us there and then take us back to the hotel afterwards. It was the first time he's been to a live cricket match and he had a great evening too!
The noise the crowd makes is insane. I don't think anything could have prepared us for the racket! It didn't take long for us to get swept up in the excitement of the Mumbai supporters and soon we too were joining in the cheering! The Mumbai Indians are co-owned by Sachin Tendulkar and when this cricket legend was spotted the crown went ballistic! "Sachin Sashin Sashin Sachin" was all you could hear for a while. Fans of the Mumbai Indians sitting next to us said Sachin is the god of cricket! There were a few Bollywood actors around too. The devotion to them is just as big! The king of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan was interviewed in front of us (just 6 rows) along with Sachin and when the interview was broadcast onto the big screens around the stadium, almost everyone seemed to have forgotten there was an exciting, live cricket match on the go! One of our (SA) own legends, Johnty Rhodes was there too, he is the Mumbai Indian's fielding coach. Ricky Ponting from 'down under' was also there,as he's the head coach of the Mumbai Indians. Morne Morkel was on the filed as he is the fast bowler for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Another one of the Indian greats was spotted in the crowd, Mohammed Azharuddin. I have never experienced anything like we did that evening at the cricket; it was such an unexpected delight and it was so worth it! {sorry about the video, I'm struggling to upload it}
IPL experience
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| not a clear pic but we were there! that's Nick on the right. |
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| Johnty the fielding coach on the right with the bat. |
The Saturday before last {16th} we headed back to downtown Mumbai in search of the famous Crawford Market. We stopped along the way to watch {and photograph} washers {locally known as "Dhobis"}at the well-known Dhobi Ghat where the city's clothing, laundry from hotels and hospitals is laundered. It wasn't as busy as we thought it would be but that was probably because we got there later than we intended. There were a couple of washers {all men as far as we could see} hanging up wet sheets, a couple of others taking down dry washing, a chap washing blue items and then there was an elderly gent having bath no doubt it the very water he had probably used for washing laundry in. As I watched him {no 'bits' on display!} I wondered to myself 'how many times has he bathed in that very wash pen'? Probably ever since he started washing laundry there which could vey well be decades was my guess….
We were dropped-off just around the corner from Crawford Market by our trusty driver George and all we really had to do was follow our noses {literally!} We entered the Gothic building via a narrow passageway turning right as soon as possible which was in the opposite direction the foul smell seemed to be coming from. We wondered around past men selling their wares {well only some of them as others were found napping in the heat of the day}; there was fruit in season, spices, vegetables, a variety of cosmetics & toiletries and 'goodies' from The West. It appears that these stall holders have figured out that food from The West sells! Protein such as meat {no beef - it has been banned form the province since February this year} fish, poultry and live animals such as chickens and birds as far as we could tell are also sold in the market. I hasten to add that we didn't venture into this part of the market as the 'aroma' drifting from that area was more than we could stomach!
The Sunday {17th} before last we headed up to one of the 'hill stations' - Lonavla which is about two hours out of Mumbai. Hill stations are settlements that were established in the late 19th century in the lower hill ranges. They soon became summer retreats for the burgeoning expatriate population {almost all English} keen to escape the intense heat of the plains. We found a couple of pottery stalls {sadly the pottery is made in China} along the road heading up to one of the view points which we stopped at on the way back down. We bought our crockery here {we'll use it in our apartment and give it to our driver when we leave} It's a six-place set {dinner plates/side plates/bowls} plus extra large and small bowls {think cereal}, three different sized serving dishes with lids, salt & pepper pots and a large serving platter. It's not really us {as in the design/pattern} but for £34, we think it's a winner!
Pottery Stalls
We spotted a group of Bonnet Macaque monkeys. They live in groups and are let by a dominant male. Andrew and I hopped out of the car to take their photos and they willingly posed for the camera; some of them showing us their pouches {mouth} full of berries!
Bonnet Macaque Monkeys
Along the way up to one of the look-out points, we came across a 'caravan' of horses being lead by their owners. The poor horses had what appeared to be their owners worldly possessions bundled on their backs. We passed them heading up the steep hills and again after lunch when we started our journey home. Yet again {there have been many moments during the past two weeks} I was reminded of the privileged life we live!
A caravan of horses
I have to say, we were disappointed when we reached our destination which was one of the look-out points. Any one of the views that may warrant the caption 'stunning view' certainly wasn't coming from us! {I took photos of the views but since deleted them as they were pretty rubbish - you can't see anything!} The haze from the heat and the dust from the dry and thirsty land makes for almost zero visibility! Apparently in January and in February, visibility is so poor you have to drive with your head lights on in broad daylight! Up at one of the view points you can go camel riding {if that's something you fancy for 5 minutes in your 'Sunday Best'} and you have a 'choice' of restaurants to eat from {none of which we were willing to sample!} We hope we'll return after the rains when the air has been cleared, the grass is greener and the hillsides are said to be adorned with waterfalls.
At a view point {sorry no view}
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| the camel |
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| one of the restaurants |
We have spent the past two weeks 'living' at the Hyatt. Breakfast at the Hyatt was the meal I looked forward to the most! Alfonso Mangos are in season {May/June/July} and OH MY WORD how delicious are they?! VERY is what I'd say. Sadly, I think I have to admit that I probably ate the equivalent of two and half mangos {possibly a little more} each morning for breakfast….deep orange {like wedding dress orange} flesh melts in your mouth {seriously} causing it to disappear far too quickly is my 'stab' as to why I seemed to put as much of it on my plate as I did 'causing' me to eat so much of this yummy fruit….other mangos {in my humble opinion} pale in comparison! Alfonso mangos are temptingly sold by the boxes at Crawford Market {& by food vendors on the streets} and staying in a hotel is not too helpful when the hotel supplies it for breakfast in abundance and then some…..
Alphonso Mangos
Last Saturday we moved from the Hyatt to the JW Marriott - it's only two minutes down the road from the Hyatt & the JW Marriott hotel is only three months old; they're keen to get the business the Hyatt has. The move happened after re-visiting the apartment we'll be moving into at the end of June {the one with the cool view} to take an inventory of the household contents. We also 'checked out' the local shops and I'm sure I'm going enjoy shopping in Powai! But more on the hotels, shops and the apartment in Powai in another post. And food; I need to blog about food!
I'm so enjoying my time in Mumbai {I seriously think I'm going to miss it when we head back to the UK for three weeks on Friday} I'm loving the heat, the food, the craziness of traffic on the roads….and I find myself thinking that there is something/someone missing…and that would be Charlotte! We
so can't wait to show her around when she comes out in the summer….we're missing her loads….but we won't have to wait that long 'till we see her as we'll be driving up to Welbeck to take her out to lunch her in a couple of weekends time when we're back in the UK!
As seen from the car
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| on the way to the cricket |
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| love this billboard! |
* The Mumbai Indians won the IPL comfortably last night
Till the next time….
