Week 39, Pune, India

Dear Ethel, Family and Friends,
We very much enjoyed Varanasi, we filled in our 5 days quite comfortably. It was pleasant to sit on the balcony of our hotel and watch the holy men and pilgrims doing their thing along the Ganges. It was nice about the Ghats along the river as there are no cars, rickshaws, bicycles or any other transport apart from pedestrian traffic. We also explored the ally ways and bazaars as well, keeping us occupied.

We left on Wednesday on the train, a massive 36 hour journey dumping us in Mumbai at 2am at a station on the outskirts of the city. Then our cab got a flat on the way into town...to be expected really. The tyers were balder than anything ive ever seen, but you should have seen the spare! Well at least it had air in it and got us to our destination. However once again we were forgotten by our hotel and we were given a room in an abandoned apartment upstairs. The room itself was reasonable, but it was a bit like a construction zone to get there.

So we ended up with only 24 hours in Mumbai. It seemed quite safe as the police presence was huge. The famous Gateway to India landmark and the Taj Hotel were still roped off and there were machine gun nests on every street corner... bit over the top but we did feel safe. (see photo, submarine on patrol in Mumbai harbor) We did a boat trip out to Elephanta Island, a world heritage site with temples built into the caves on the Island. We wandered the streets around our hotel, market stalls lining every street. We had dinner at Leopold’s, a landmark restaurant in Mumbai. There are some great colonial style buildings, churches and government buildings, we didn’t really have enough time to explore it properly. It’s a nicer city than Delhi, but we were glad to leave.

We left yesterday on the train, this time only a 4 hour trip up to Pune (Poona). We meet up with hosts, Melinda and Brian, they had another couple staying last night as well as a family visiting, so it was a great party atmosphere. Melinda and Brian are very gracious hosts to put us all up at the same time. We start our teaching on Monday for 4 weeks, so we are looking forward to it. First impressions of Pune are good, a lot greener that further to the north. I will report more about Pune next week.

All the best Ric & Louise