Gateway to India

I'm in Mumbai and I can't help but think that it's been exaggerated somewhat. From what everyone had told me I was expecting full on crazy and it's only delivered common or garden crazy. Like an old man with a big moustache driving a herd of buffalo down the freeway.

I'd been told too expect traffic like nowhere else and so far it's been very busy but not anarchic. Everyone seems to follow some kind of system (even if I don't understand it) and there's not the same sense of peril when crossing roads that I've had elsewhere. Or maybe that's because I'm basing this whole paragraph on a Sunday afternoon.

I'd been expecting it to be Hot.  That's capital H Hot. And it's pretty far from cold but doesn't feel sweltering. In fact it feels pretty amazing, bot least because I know it's 37 degrees colder back home.

There are people. Lots of people. But the crowd seems less oppressive because there aren't that many tall people about and in just about every crowd there's someone selling enormous balloons. It's hard to find anything intimidating if it's punctuated by enormous balloons.

The one thing that I had been told which was proved bang right is that I would be a hit down at the Gateway to India. I reckon that more selfies have been taken of me by randoms in the initial ten minute period than I've taken ever. Although admittedly I have set the bar rather low.

I had a bit of a wonder round downtown, the whole area is chock full of massive Indian-tinged Victorian buildings and looks really rather impressive. I aimed at Leopold's, but it turns out it's a trendy coffee shop full of fat westerners eating red velvet cake - that's not where I'm going to become a Mumbai gangster. Surely Shantaram wouldn't lie to me...