Mumbai (Bombay)

The Gateway of India

Louis Vuitton at the Taj (Open Open Open!)

Cabbing our way to the shops

The crew at Insomnia (Club at the Taj)

Stacy, Anna, Me at the Dome (Lounge on top of our hotel)

Cute girl posing for the camera

Me and Anna at the Gateway of India

Mumbai was SUPER fun! A short weekend packed with lots of activities, shopping and good eats. Friday night 12 of us headed to HYD airport and flew to Mumbai via SpiceJet. Not the most luxurious plane ride, but they did have some cookies to tie us over. Anna said she saw hair all over the bathroom in the plane, gross! At the Mumbai airport, we had to take cabs to the hotel. It's tricky getting around in cabs because a lot of times they rip you off and they don't speak English. You have to make sure you ask for the meter to be ON, and for a rate card to check your tab at the end of the trip. The cab ride on the way home and it was the scariest cab ride ever. The little car was going so fast I thought the car was going to break! We made it to the hotel in one piece, but you can tell from the pictures that we were literally blown away.

We stayed at Intercontinental Hotel Marine Drive, a chain of classy hotels worldwide. Here is a link to the hotel: click here. It was nice going into a luxury hotel after the experience in the cab. Saturday morning we walked to a Tea Centre that had a wide variety of aromatic teas with brunch. I ate eggs (because that was all they really had.) Walking outside was definitely a treat, since we don't get to do much of it in HYD. After that the group headed to the Gateway of India. The Gateway is the first thing boaters see as they come in through water, such a beautiful monument. Everyone headed to the Elephanta Islands to view caves but I stayed back because it was an hour ferry ride there and back (I didn't want to risk getting boat sick, especially on those bum boats.) So I stayed back and shopped on Colaba Drive. There were rows and rows of street vendors selling jewelry, handbags and crafts. They even had a Lacoste store (which was totally legit!) I got everyone hooked on the store and picked up a few things :) There is a pattern in all my trips: good food, shopping, nice hotels. Can't really complain!

After everyone came back we showered at the hotel and had dinner at this restaurant called Indigo. It's ranked in the top 60 worldwide and we all attested to that! There, we tickled our tongues with lobster bisque, steak, tuna and more! A savory feast we all will remember til we get back to the States, very similar to some of the best restaurants in SF. After face stuffing, we headed to this club called Insomnia at the Taj Mahal hotel (The Taj is a chain of 5+ star restaurants across India.) On the way to Insomnia we walked by many designer stores including Louis Vuitton!! How I wish I could have gone in. Insomnia had your typical club ambiance, no famous people but Anna met some Austrailian cricket players. Indians LOVE trance music, they played it all night but nothing I cared to get up and dance to.

Sunday I got the chance to work out and lay by the pool while Stacy and Anna enjoyed a complimentary half hour massage in our hotel room. We all had brunch at the Taj which was delicious! I tell you, I never thought I would be having real, GOOD food in India. They had fresh fruit, fish, oysters and champagne! They also brought out these Dosas that taste like pancakes and are shaped like a cone (there is a picture in my album.) After brunch I'm sure you can guess what we did? SHOP AGAIN! There was this place Matt raved about called Clothes Rack which apparently had stacks and stacks of designer clothes. We searched and searched finally found it although it wasn't all that I imagined it would be. You have to be in a certain mood to look through piles, and I was too hot and sweaty to do that. After Clothes Rack however, we headed back to Colaba Drive (where I shopped on Saturday) for an hour and then made our way back to HYD.

Mumbai is the most cosmopolitan area in India, I heard that real estate along the main coast is similar to Manhattan, NY. It's the city of Bollywood so lots of famous people always trickle in and out. We had the pleasure of meeting some Australian cricket players and saw the South African team at the Taj when we were eating brunch. Mumbai is a BIG city -- there is a huge disparity between rich and poor and much more pollution in the air, but on the upside it's developed and lively. I would love to go back, but this time land a role in a Bollywood movie :)

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