We’re all going on a (Indian) Summer Holiday

The phrase Indian Summer always means to me the lovely weather which we sometimes get in Wales during September and October, bringing a late summer experience. Well now I see why, Mumbai this morning (its just after 8.30 a.m. as I type this, though through lack of web access at the hotel it may be sometime later before I post it to the blog) is glorious, bright, warm. A little of the City smog, but apparently compared to the Monsoon season which so recently ended it is like the coming of summer.

So to yesterday’s log. We had World Traveller Plus seats on the plane, meaning we had a lot more leg room than the people further back in the plane, which was a real boon. The plane was not very full and 80% of those flying seem to be heading for the same cruise we were.
Immediately in front of us were a Welsh couple, Leighton and Lillian, who originate from Cwnlynfell, but have lived in the Midlands for many years. They are now living in Droitwich. Unlike Drew and I, who are cruise virgins, this is their 26th cruise, so they were sharing tips with us.

The flight was really pleasant, and time went quickly, it is not often you can say that for a 8 and a half hour flight. Drew watched Mission Impossible 3 and some comedy programmes. I read, finishing one of my books and getting 100 pages into the next one - Having bought some new Anne McCaffery books earlier this year I decided to re-read the earlier ones to set the scene, it was 1979 when I read the first five books in the series, so it has been fun revisiting them as an older person to see how much my reactions to the story has changed as I have got older. Drew started reading them, for the first time, last Easter in Nerja, so I followed being two books behind him and are soon about to start on the new ones.

Janet, my sister, will remember the last time I logged a holiday this way. When, before the age of blogs, she was the only recipient of daily e-mail accounts of my Christmas 1999/New Year 2000 trip to New York and San Francisco – I was travelling on my own and it was a great way of reflecting on the day. Given our common interest in food these accounts always included details of what I’d eaten, not to bore the non-foodies among you the food details come at the end of this blog post.

Having passed swiftly, incredibly swiftly, through customs we had 30 minutes to wait for out baggage, time to meet more Welsh people, Ron and Joyce from Bridgend. They saw Leighton’s welsh rugby shirt, so came and talked to him. He was waiting at the carousel beside us. At least the luggage had got here (given my record for lost luggage this in itself is a sort of miracle).
We then had to walk out of the airport, unlike most airports I have been to, Mumbai airport does not lead to an inside waiting area, but directly outside where a crowd of about 200 people were waiting for various people. After standing around for a little someone started to call out 'Princess passengers over here' and we went to a large van onto which our luggage was loaded (will we see it again!! - we did) and then on to a bus which looked as if it was older than me. (For readers who don’t know me, I am quite a bit nearer 50 that I am near 40).

The bus moved out into the road, having been to India before (for a charity I worked for in 1990) I was not surprised by the road and vehicle condition, but Drew was astounded. The taxis with no lights and big dents, the use of the horn as a ‘get out of the way' message was a big surprise to him.

But more than this, the absolute astonishment on Drew’s face when we saw people sleeping in rolled-up blankets under the fly-overs, and the shanty-towns created by wood polls and cloth clearly shocked him. Having been here before these were not new experiences for me. Indeed my surprise was that there were less dead bodies on the side of the street than during my previous visit to Mumbai. Indeed the main impact on me was how much new build and development there is. I read in the Economist two weeks ago that India's boom, and Mumbai is a key boom town, has helped parts of the population, but merely highlights even more then poverty of those who are poor.

The bus drove us through North Mumbai and we then turned off onto a road blocked by eight big oil barrels with guys carrying guns. After brief discussions between the drivers and the guards holding the guns we were allowed through. We than drove down a road, really a small piece of tarmac, that was at times narrower than the bus, and certainly didn’t allow for vehicles coming the other way. After about 20 minutes we could see the hotel (Park Plaza Royal Palms) up the hill. And I mean a hill! The bus turned up towards the hill and its engine sounded like me if I ever try to run i.e. knackered!! The grinding noise of the engine went on for some time and the relief of all the passengers when we got to the top of the hill caused lots of, near hysterical, laughter.

We then had to identify our cases and enter the hotel. This was a lovely experience. A large number of staff were there to greet us, as we entered some of the staff were dropping rose petals onto our heads as we walked in, and others offering puja (not sure of the spelling of that) the little Hindu symbol of welcome and good health placed on the forehead.
The room was huge (Drew took some pictures so you can see these on Flicker). So it was 2.30 a.m. (10.00 p.m. UK) by the time we got to bed.

We woke at 7.45 a.m. (3.15 a.m. UK) after shaving and showering (a really nice large shower with water flowing strongly) we went down to Breakfast at 8.30. The breakfast room was beautiful with a large fountain in the middle of the room. (For food see below).
We returned to our room for an hour (this is where I am typing this) and soon, our luggage having been taken to the ship we are leaving the hotel.

My Food Log – Non foodies can happily finish reading the post at this point.

The meal on the airplane was remarkably nice. I’m often critical of air food, but this was not only nice, but served at the right heat and good in flavour. The starter was a lovely salad of Feta, Red Pepper, Tomatoes, red onion and olives in a lemon vinegar dressing. The main course was Chicken Chasseur, served with baby potatoes, baby carrots and green beans, really yummy. I didn’t do dessert, but used my lime pickle (wow what a sharp flavour) with my bread roll in its place. I had a couple of bottles of French Sauvignon Blanc and Drew had some Hardy’s Shiraz/Cab Sav.

The latter snack/meal served near the end of the flight was Fresh Fruit (Apple and Grapes) and a Cheese Salad wrapped in Nan bread. I swapped my chocolate with for Drew’s fruit (mango, guava and melon).

Breakfast (1st Sept) – After some fresh fruit and fruit juice which we both had I reminded myself of my previous visit to India by having Idli (a rice cake) we had it daily for breakfast on my last visit, it is served with a light curry sauce strongly peppered, but strangely refreshing, it really feels like we are in India now. Drew opted for sautéed parsley potatoes and scrambled eggs.