So, as we sit here in a very hot Indian internet cafe, careful to choose a time when there power wasn't cut off, we begin our tale... so far.
1. BA Bonanza
After an awesome day and night in London with the gang down there, we headed to Heathrow on the evening of Monday 4th June to fly to Mumbai, still feeling a little worse for wear. Calum, Calum and Sarah about to start their epic adventure. We get to the first check-in desk, giddy with excitement, only to be met with a strange message. Apparently... we did not have allocated seats on the plane. As we booked them 8 months prior, we were a bit perplexed. Off we trot to the BA Flight Management desk, only to have this news confirmed (as they had overbooked the flight - silly BA!). The news was however softened somewhat by the offer to fly in the morning. Provided with over night accommodation. And 500GBP. Each. Ca-ching!! Not bad we thought. So we thought we'd see how far we could push this... and see if we could go on "stand by" for the morning flight as well, therefore arriving in Mumbai 24 hours later than planned. Turns out we could, and would receive another 500GBP each if this was also overbooked.
So, we went to the hotel with our 500GBP cards, had some kip, and headed back to the airport in the morning to see what twist the story would take next. And guess what - overbooked again. A further 500GBP each. And suddenly our travelling budget had an extra shot in the arm.
So after a lunch with friends in London, we headed back to Heathrow on Tuesday 5th June, to finally set off - with upgraded seats to boot. Not much more to report other than nearly missing the flight as we lost Cal E in the airport as he made last minute phone calls to his nearest and dearest.
Moral of the story - find overbooked flights and make a living off of BA - also - keep your eye on Calum E in airports!
2. Arrival in Mumbai (not for the faint hearted)
Mumbai was smaller and calmer than we expected.....NOT!!!!!!!!!
The chaos began with a 1 and 1/2 hour taxi trip to our hotel. We passed many interesting things along the way - farm animals, shanty towns - some with multi story lodgings, millions of people and of course hundreds of cars and tuk tuks attempting to navigate their way in the traffic with no lanes and no order or indicators - only the peep peep peep of the horns could be heard above the din of the traffic.
The banter started slowly - the 3 of us sat in silence during the entire trip - taking in what was going on around us. Cal Y was dozing in and out, Sarah passed out early, Cal E sat in wide eyed shock trying to comprehend what we had got ourselves into........
After helping the taxi man to find our hotel with the help of our bible - lonely planet - we found Hotel Lawrence - which from the outside looked like a dilapidated shack - but appearances can be deceptive and it was basic but did the job. We spent the first day wandering about and went to the Gate Way to India and tried to find our bearings in the madness. We thought we would treat ourselves on the first night and found a lovely restaurant to ease our way into the local cuisine. After that - bed to re-charge and get ready for exploring some more.
Over the next couple of days we ventured further afield and became more comfortable with our surroundings - even with all the dodgy looks we were still getting despite Sarah buying a new wardrobe to cover up.
A memorable moment from Hotel Lawrence was Cal E attempting to brush his teeth in one of the bathrooms only to find the sink on the floor.... he reported this one probably best avoided for now!
3. Udaipur - this is more like it!
And relax..............
Our next stop is Udaipur via Ahmadabad. This may sound a simple journey but we managed to get lost in a slum in "Bandra" (small town in Mumbai) and only just made it out in time to catch the train thanks to a handy tuk tuk. Then if we thought Mumbai was mental wait till we got out the station at Ahmadabad - wow! Thankfully we only had 3 hours to wait for our train to tranquil Udaipur so a quick bite and we were back on the sleeper train.
Upon our arrival we were met by a very kind tuk tuk driver named Jamil who treated us to our first chai and delivered us to our hotel. He was a very useful find as he then offered to take us around Udaipur and show us the sights including palaces, art schools, monuments, street markets ending with a view to die for from the top of the cable car and a sunset boat trip on the beautiful lake Pichola, the setting of the bond classic "Octopussy". We also saw some amazing, absolutely massive, birds feeding in the lake...........only on closer inspection to discover they were in fact huge fruit bats!!
Udaipur was an amazing, relaxing and friendly place and a great place to chill after crazy Mumbai. The highlights here included Sarah getting an arm length Henna, the boys getting some Indian shirts tailored for them and drinking beer from a tea pot (as nowhere really has an alcohol license - but this is India "where anything is possible")
We met some great local people and finished our stay with a rooftop swim (as in fairness the lake looked a bit too toxic for a dip!!)
Next stops Jodhpur, Pushkar and Jaipur..........
1. BA Bonanza
After an awesome day and night in London with the gang down there, we headed to Heathrow on the evening of Monday 4th June to fly to Mumbai, still feeling a little worse for wear. Calum, Calum and Sarah about to start their epic adventure. We get to the first check-in desk, giddy with excitement, only to be met with a strange message. Apparently... we did not have allocated seats on the plane. As we booked them 8 months prior, we were a bit perplexed. Off we trot to the BA Flight Management desk, only to have this news confirmed (as they had overbooked the flight - silly BA!). The news was however softened somewhat by the offer to fly in the morning. Provided with over night accommodation. And 500GBP. Each. Ca-ching!! Not bad we thought. So we thought we'd see how far we could push this... and see if we could go on "stand by" for the morning flight as well, therefore arriving in Mumbai 24 hours later than planned. Turns out we could, and would receive another 500GBP each if this was also overbooked.
So, we went to the hotel with our 500GBP cards, had some kip, and headed back to the airport in the morning to see what twist the story would take next. And guess what - overbooked again. A further 500GBP each. And suddenly our travelling budget had an extra shot in the arm.
So after a lunch with friends in London, we headed back to Heathrow on Tuesday 5th June, to finally set off - with upgraded seats to boot. Not much more to report other than nearly missing the flight as we lost Cal E in the airport as he made last minute phone calls to his nearest and dearest.
Moral of the story - find overbooked flights and make a living off of BA - also - keep your eye on Calum E in airports!
2. Arrival in Mumbai (not for the faint hearted)
Mumbai was smaller and calmer than we expected.....NOT!!!!!!!!!
The chaos began with a 1 and 1/2 hour taxi trip to our hotel. We passed many interesting things along the way - farm animals, shanty towns - some with multi story lodgings, millions of people and of course hundreds of cars and tuk tuks attempting to navigate their way in the traffic with no lanes and no order or indicators - only the peep peep peep of the horns could be heard above the din of the traffic.
The banter started slowly - the 3 of us sat in silence during the entire trip - taking in what was going on around us. Cal Y was dozing in and out, Sarah passed out early, Cal E sat in wide eyed shock trying to comprehend what we had got ourselves into........
After helping the taxi man to find our hotel with the help of our bible - lonely planet - we found Hotel Lawrence - which from the outside looked like a dilapidated shack - but appearances can be deceptive and it was basic but did the job. We spent the first day wandering about and went to the Gate Way to India and tried to find our bearings in the madness. We thought we would treat ourselves on the first night and found a lovely restaurant to ease our way into the local cuisine. After that - bed to re-charge and get ready for exploring some more.
Over the next couple of days we ventured further afield and became more comfortable with our surroundings - even with all the dodgy looks we were still getting despite Sarah buying a new wardrobe to cover up.
A memorable moment from Hotel Lawrence was Cal E attempting to brush his teeth in one of the bathrooms only to find the sink on the floor.... he reported this one probably best avoided for now!
3. Udaipur - this is more like it!
And relax..............
Our next stop is Udaipur via Ahmadabad. This may sound a simple journey but we managed to get lost in a slum in "Bandra" (small town in Mumbai) and only just made it out in time to catch the train thanks to a handy tuk tuk. Then if we thought Mumbai was mental wait till we got out the station at Ahmadabad - wow! Thankfully we only had 3 hours to wait for our train to tranquil Udaipur so a quick bite and we were back on the sleeper train.
Upon our arrival we were met by a very kind tuk tuk driver named Jamil who treated us to our first chai and delivered us to our hotel. He was a very useful find as he then offered to take us around Udaipur and show us the sights including palaces, art schools, monuments, street markets ending with a view to die for from the top of the cable car and a sunset boat trip on the beautiful lake Pichola, the setting of the bond classic "Octopussy". We also saw some amazing, absolutely massive, birds feeding in the lake...........only on closer inspection to discover they were in fact huge fruit bats!!
Udaipur was an amazing, relaxing and friendly place and a great place to chill after crazy Mumbai. The highlights here included Sarah getting an arm length Henna, the boys getting some Indian shirts tailored for them and drinking beer from a tea pot (as nowhere really has an alcohol license - but this is India "where anything is possible")
We met some great local people and finished our stay with a rooftop swim (as in fairness the lake looked a bit too toxic for a dip!!)
Next stops Jodhpur, Pushkar and Jaipur..........
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