Mumbai - Sunday

Kalie and I slept in a bit and enjoyed breakfast at the Trident before checking out and taking a cab to the Taj to meet up with Jon and Mrs. Bucheri.

She led us through the masses of weekend crowds, past the Gateway of India to a fleet of boats, one of which would take us to Elephanta Island, named for one of the many elephant statues that had been found carved into the rock caves there.

She waved good-bye at the dock, as Jon, Kalie and I settled in for an hour long boat ride to the island. The ocean breeze was especially welcomed, since it was by far the hottest day we have experienced in India. It's at least 95 today and seems hotter!

 

Once we reached the island, we had quite a climb to reach the caves, up a hill with plenty of steps. No wonder Mrs. Bucheri had decided not to come along - a wise woman indeed! Did I mention it was hot out here? We walked along a dirt path, visiting each of the five caves that were carved into the mountain on the island.

 

Some of these caves featured finely detailed sculptures that seemed to climb out from the rocks themselves. We lingered for a while to take some pictures, and managed to steer clear of the many wild monkeys in the area, before descending back down the hill.

Shopping opportunities lined the path back down to the boat. We stopped at several of the stalls and made a few purchases before starting our hour long ride back to Mumbai.

On returning to the Taj Hotel, we "soaked" in the air conditioning, while we waited for Mrs. Bucheri, who took us back to her flat for a home cooked lunch. It was delicious and was a great change from what has become a tired routine - lunches of cafeteria food and take-out dinners from restaurants.

After some tea and cookies, we packed up our things and got a cab to take us back to the airport. The trip turned out to be a more little harrowing than we planned. A wrong turn by our driver put us in the way of an armed motorcade of some sort and necessitated another drive through a massive Mumbai slum. Aside from these unscheduled "heart-pounders," our short flight home was uneventful and we returned to he Lemon Tree at a reasonable hour.

It was another successful weekend for us, due in no small part to new friends Mrs. Bucheri and Tamal. Thanks so much for your hospitality.

I can hardly believe that we only have two more weekends in India! Where has the time gone?