Around the world in 80 days...almost!!!

Namaskar from India,

The next two cities we visited were Cochin and Mumbai in India. I took a tour called "Local Life". It gave me an insight into the rural heartland near Cochin, where life has remained largely unchanged for centuries. It gave me a glimpse at the unhurried lifestyle of the locals, their simple homes and small workshops. In the village center I saw how the local people earned their livelihoods. I watched how the ladies used dried coconut husks to weave coir ropes, straw mats being woven out of wild pineapple leaves and watched the local potter create a range of pots and vases, depicting ethnic designs in clay. It was quite a surprise to see how many uses they derived from a coconut...six different liquids from the juice, rope from the husks and then bowls from the outer layer among other uses, including curry from the peel. They are such resourceful people which was so good to see. What was so sad to see was the poverty, the trash and the slums. If you have seen the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" you will see what I mean. They even showed the movie before our visit!!

Mumbai, formerly Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. With an estimated population of thirteen million, it is the most populous city in India. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 transformed Bombay into one of the largest seaports on the Arabian Sea. It is built on a series of seven islands that form the city districts. A series of reclaimed projects linked the archipelago into a peninsula. India is only about 1/3 the size of Europe, yet its population is one billion people-fully 1/6 of the world's population. More religions are practiced on a larger scale in India than any other nation. Hinduism is the main faith, but there are also many others. Mumbai is the birthplace of Indian cinema with the oldest film broadcast here in the early 20th century . Bollywood produces more than 800 films a year, twice as many as Hollywood. It has an audience of 3.6 million

We toured many places including St. Thomas Cathedral where the have burial sites inside the church...as you walk around the church you are walking over the graves!!! There are many street vendors and once again where ever you go they are trying to sell to you. We went to the Gateway of India and a little girl kept wanting to put a flower bracelet on my wrist...I kept telling her "no money" yet she insisted...once she put it on, she would not let me out of her sight so of course I gave her money...before I knew it, I was being plagued by locals trying to sell to me. It was so sad...even a mother with a baby saying "food to feed the baby". Later I found out this was just a way to get to your heart!!! It works!! Ken even saw a little boy that he said could not have been more than 5 carrying his baby brother on his hip begging for money.

It's not unlikely to see a cow tied up in front of a temple with a basket of grass next to it. To go into the temple, you give money for the grass, the grass is fed to the cow, the cow is happy, the money goes to support the temple so everyone is happy!!
There are 14 McDonald's and they are the only one in the world that doesn't serve beef burgers...they use turkey, chicken or veggies.

The streets are full of vendors. If you stroke it, smoke it or eat it you find it at the markets!!! It's an assault on your senses and you either love it or hate it but you can't ignore it.

If you remember the Taj hotel was bombed in 2008 and it only took one year to rebuilt it. We were able to go in and it is a beautiful building with Rolls Royce, Mercedes and Porsche sitting in front. Our handbags had to go through a x-ray to enter the building.

I took a great tour with a brilliant guide. She gave us so much information and I'd love to share it all but I won't bore you any longer..here's the Reader's Digest of some of the interesting facts she shared with us. Cricket is their religion...the biggest sport. The dress here is very conservative , it should not show any curves so the men wear their shirts hanging out and the women are covered in their long dresses (saris) and many cover their faces also. They have many religious practices, like putting a pepper, lime and charcoal outside their businesses, cars, and homes for good luck and to keep evil spirits away. They replace these every Saturday. There is a group of 500 "business men" that deliver hot lunches from the men's homes to their work places on bikes. Then they go back, pick up the container and return it to the home. Four hundred thousand are delivered daily...yep 400,000 and they are known for their accuracy to the extent of being written up in the Guinness record Book!! Just an interesting factoid I will leave you with. This city, I must say was not as slummy as Cochin but that may because I was in a business area. It was a perfect way to get the feel for the architecture and heritage of this historic city.

Phir milenge,

janet and ken

qv@cunard.co.uk#4152