Mumbizzle fo Shizzle!

Lifa and I arrived in Mumbai (Bombay, if you will) over exhausted and totally sick of Indian transport. We knew Mumbai was going to be expensive as it is the New York City of India so when we found a room for quadruple what we're used to we agreed to stay. Little did we know, due to delirium, the room came with a rainbow-colour array of moldy walls and ceilings, a toilet that didn't flush, a shower that electrocuted, and a resident pigeon name Jimmy. (The ants, 1.5in mattress's, too short beds, and psychotic florescent lights were all things we were used to). Not to worry though, after complaining to the management (ie. the guy standing on the street) the water started running in the toilet, the bathroom electricity was shut off altogether, and the slats over the bathroom window were closed locking a freaked out pigeon inside. Great. We didn't spend much time in our room.

Instead we marvelled at the wonders of an Indian city without cows, rickshaws, people shitting in the streets (at least in the touristy areas) and the coffee shops and garbage cans! Amazing! (...ok, so I spoke too soon, we found all the garbage and cows shunned to Elephata Island) The street we hung around was comparable to Vancouver's Robson - full of high end shops mixed with street vendors, cafes, and restaurants. Plus all the regular people who can't seem to walk in a straight line or at a consistent pace.

We did all the regular tourist stuff like the Gateway to India, the beaches and markets, and Elephata Island (which paled in comparison to the caves of Ajanta) and also caught ourselves up on some much missed Western stuff like drinking real coffee, eating Italian ice cream, using quick Internet connections and going to see the new James Bond film in English. (Which, by the way, was pretty great, minus the fact that in the Hindi version all the sex scenes are cut out... and everyone knows that's half the reason to go see a Bond flick in the first place). We also saw our second Bollywood feature: Doom:2 - by far the best worst movie I have ever seen in my life. Again, it was all in Hindi so following the story line was slightly challenging but the action scenes were like nothing of this world! Sand boarding, rollerblading, skidooing, scootying, skydiving, things blowing up everywhere, and lots and lots of slow-motion (probably about 30+ minutes at least). The music was worthy of buying the CD (Lifa did) and the dance scenes, well... they involved lots of outfit changes, hand-in-the-air hip gyrating moves, and sexy "look back" looks. So hot. Don't worry, I'll buy the DVD when it comes out. You cannot miss this.

So we give a thumbs-way-up to Mumbai even though we had to live in a pigeon hole for 4 days. But if you think that just visiting Mumbai is visiting India you are sorely mistaken for Mumbai is a little haven of India that I don't think I will lay eyes on again while I'm here. The shopping is great, the food is great, the city is great. Mumbizzle fo Shizzle!