A City Tour in Bombay

Luckily, our room doesn’t face the street, so we can sleep peacefully without all the noise. There is one thing we can’t quite escape, though... around 8 in the morning, it seems to be feeding time for the pigeons. They go absolutely wild, flying against the window multiple times, which sounds a bit intense! :) Yesterday, when we were down by the Gateway of India, we met a man who offered a reasonably priced city tour, so we decided to head back there again. We hadn’t walked far before he appeared again. A three-hour car tour with an English-speaking driver cost a total of 800 rs. It was really exciting because we finally had the chance to ask all sorts of questions. We saw an Indian laundry. Only the wealthiest in India have washing machines, so the middle class, hotels, restaurants, etc., bring their laundry here to the laundromat. There are large, walled-off basins lined up in long rows where men—only men—stand soaping clothes, scrubbing, rinsing, and wringing the water out again. It’s hard work, and for eight hours every day, they stand under the blazing sun washing clothes. On our city tour, we also passed by a Jain temple, a branch of Buddhism that is especially prevalent among the more affluent in India. We also saw the hanging gardens, a small fishing village nestled within Bombay, Gandhi’s house, and the Towers of Silence, where the Parsis lay their dead to rest. According to their beliefs, they cannot bury or burn the dead, as it would pollute the earth, water, or fire. Instead, the deceased are placed in the Towers of Silence, which can hold two bodies at a time. The bodies remain there until they have decayed or been eaten by the vultures that swarm around the towers. Quite a sight! :) Now that we had a good English-speaking Indian on hand, we also took the opportunity to book some flight tickets to Udaipur in Rajasthan, which we’ll be flying to on Tuesday. It’s too far to take the train, and a domestic flight ticket isn’t too expensive... $110 per person. The only downside is that the flight leaves early in the morning at 5:50 AM. Back in our little backpacker neighborhood, Colaba, where we’re staying, an Indian man from a casting agency approached us. They often need European extras for commercials or films, which is why scouts from various casting agencies roam the backpacker area looking for tourists. This man needed a European girl for a commercial and was willing to pay 1000 rs. We thought it could be a fun experience, so we agreed to meet him later. We had about half an hour to kill before meeting the Indian casting scout, Winston, so we wandered around the neighborhood to pass the time. However, we hadn’t walked more than two minutes before a French girl stopped us and said she was looking for European girls to host an Indian wedding. Unfortunately, we had just agreed to meet the other scout, so we had to decline. When the half hour was up, we met Winston again, who told us that the casting would take place at the other end of the city, so we needed to take the train. Unfortunately, men and women can’t travel together, so we were put in separate compartments. It was a very interesting journey, as we had even more opportunities to see more of the country whizzing by outside the windows. Finally, upon arriving at the meeting spot with the casting agency, we were directed to a café where another girl, from Russia, was also waiting. Winston had found her in Colaba, too. We had to wait a long time before they decided who they wanted to use. The Russian girl was chosen for the commercial, but they told me they had another ad where they also needed a light-skinned girl, so I was to call the next day. On our way back to the hotel, we passed by Fashion Street, where we stopped to shop. It’s about a kilometer long, filled with clothes, shoes, and jewelry. After some tough bargaining, we left with T-shirts, tops, shirts, pants, and a pair of shoes. The cheapest item cost around 60 rs, while the most expensive was about 240 rs. Finally, we were back at our hotel, where we took a quick shower before heading out for dinner. We wanted to celebrate our 50-month anniversary (4 years and 2 months)! :) We chose to eat at Mondegar Cafe. There was only space in the air-conditioned section, which cost an extra 10%, but we took the table. Even though everything is supposed to be more expensive in Bombay than the rest of the country, we still thought the bill was small. One appetizer, two main courses, one water, one small beer, one large beer, and three Bacardi Breezers only came to about 800 rs. Afterward, we went down to a bar where we struck up a conversation with a German/Italian girl and a Canadian guy. She lived in Bombay while finishing her studies in journalism. He was a fisherman, catching everything he was allowed to for six months, after which he used the money to travel for the rest of the year.