little bit, the ride gets even more crazy, as you whiz through the city at breakneck speeds, just trying to stay inside the cart and arrive in one piece. By the time you get to where you are going, you are thoroughly jostled. However, it’s probably the cheapest way to travel, costing only about $1 (US) for a 30 minute drive.
One interesting thing about all of these cab drivers and auto rickshaw drivers is that they seem to love to ‘pimp their rides’. But not in a Western sense. They mostly seem to adorn their cars with stickers of gods and goddesses, or with the actual god figurines themselves, affixed to the dash- complete with a scarf to cover over them. I’ve also seen a lot of pin striping...mainly on taxis and auto rickshaws, but also on larger cargo trucks. The larger cargo trucks have words written on them. One thing they write a lot is “HORN OK PLEASE”. Which I guess means that they give permission to other drivers to honk at them when they are going to pass....which the other driver would do with or without their permission, so it’s really irrelevant.
We had a delicious breakfast, made by Aai and Usha Maushi, and then our pre-arranged Meru Cab came to pick us up. The Meru driver took us to the Gateway of India, which took about an hour (SERIOUSLY!), where we got out and took a few pictures, got harassed by a few touts, and then went across the street to the Taj Hotel, which as you probably remember is the location of the terrorist bombing in 2008. It was a sad to see it going through changes...it’s not fair that a building like that
should be altered in any way. I was starting to get hungry, so we looked into the Sea Lounge, where we had previously had a bite to eat with my brother-in-law, but it doesn’t serve any Glutern-Free fare, so that was out. We would have to find something somewhere else.
We left the Taj and walked up the D n Road toward VT Station. (VT=Victoria Terminus) As we walked, I think Abby got a taste of India that she was really looking for. There were all manner of things going on on that street yesterday. As we were walking we came upon the Prince of Wales Museum. Let me tell you, I was so not into going in there. First of all, you have to leave your bags at the door. I don’t want to leave my bag with ANYONE. Second of all, I’m NO GOOD at Museums. This is a well-known fact. A classic case is when I had a melt-down at the Louvre. But Abby is really into packing activities into this trip, and she pretty much wants to take a day off if there’s shopping involved, so I guess I was in for it. The museum’s first floor was a snooze fest. Everything there was like my Asian Art class all over again. But the second floor was pretty cool. For those of you who have been to my house, the second floor was filled with those Miniature Paintings that we have in our living room, and the
displays explained that the subject matter was the Indian Ragas and Raginis (music makers and their wives, as well as their sons, the Raga Putras), and that was something I never knew about my miniature paintings, so I was really excited to learn something, and I can’t wait to go home and look at them with fresh eyes. Third floor, snooze fest. But by the time we finished at the museum, Abby was also hungry, which accelerated the need to find a restaurant to eat in.
We walked a little further down the road and found a restaurant called Khyber Pass. We stepped in and checked out the menu...it sounded great, so we made it unanimous. We ordered Reshmi Chicken Kebab (which is pieces of white meat
chicken in a creamy red sauce, kinda spicy), Bhindi Masala (Spicy Okra), and Aloo Gobi (Potatoes and Cauliflower). Abby and my husband had some rotis as well.
From the Khyber Pass we took a right (HA!) and we were looking for either the Bombay Store or a store called Chimanlal’s.
You may remember that the Bombay Store is pretty much a gift shop filled with Indian gifts. Chimanlal’s is a paper store that I heard about on India Mike. (TIP! If you’re planning a trip to India, and you don’t know about India Mike, get yourself acquainted. You need India Mike!) Eventually, after much pavement-pounding, we found the Bombay Store. It really is a wonderful store. I found a lot of handmade paper in there, and it only cost a buck. My husband found a wallet in there for $3 (US) that he’s seen for up to $190. Of course he bought it! We left the lovely Bombay Store and asked many, many people (Indian Mapquest) for the whereabouts of Chimanlal’s. We finally found it, and it was well worth the walk. Handmade paper all over the place. Gorgeous. There’s only one sheet of paper that I regret not buying. I can see it now in my mind. It’s haunting me.
We went out on the street and walked back to VT station where we found a cab to take us back to Vikhroli*. Aai and Usha Maushi had made us another LOVELY dinner. This time it was Dosas, Gajar Halwa (Carrot Dessert), Peas, Potatoes and Cauliflower, Fried Potatoes, and Dal. They SPOIL us. They’re trying to fatten us up. Some of us don’t need any more fattening, thank you very much.
Anyway. After dinner, my husband was tired, so he wanted to take us back to our hotel right away. We went out onto the road and found an auto rickshaw and climbed in & held on for dear life. What a ride.
Today, plans are up in the air. Of course, I’m hoping for at least a few shopping stops. I don’t plan on leaving this country with a 2 half empty suitcases.
(*Many cabs will flat out refuse to take you to a place like Vikhroli, either because they don’t have enough gas to drive that far away, or because they don’t think they will get a fare to drive them back to the main part of the city once they get there, or even because it’s really not a desireable place to go.)
BTW--The Clarke Quay video is now up on "The Fam" post. It was pretty easy to edit that video so you can look forward to more videos in the coming days! :)
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