20th January 2005 – Hampi to Mumbai 23 hours

Well considering it took so long to get to Mumbai from Hampi we survived the journey extremely well. Whilst waiting for our connection train we saw a child get repeatedly hit hard by a stationmaster. I think the child had been caught thieving which in my book is no excuse to hit anybody let alone a child. This happened whilst the police stood around watching. This episode deeply upset me; there are some things you just can’t harden to. The hierarchy is so fixed in India; most of the poor will stay poor. Children have little opportunity to break the cycle they are born into. This is generalising maybe but that’s how it seems a lot of the time.
Mumbai has the most wonderful British architecture along with their own double decker busses, which are so old I have no idea how they are still on the road. As you are coming in on the train you can see how far the city has spread out especially with shantytowns set up on the side of the tracks and even vegetable patches in between the tracks. The center of the city is kept quite clean and actually has proper pavements even though the road is still favored by most to walk on. Mumbai is so developed it is a world apart from the India we have experienced so far. The bookstalls that line the streets offer every kind of book you can think of. Mumbai must be one of the most expensive places in India as far as accommodation and eating out are concerned. We found a hotel for Rs510 (approx 6.20), which is the most we have had to pay so far. Mumbai is great for shopping so it was a good job we were only staying for a couple of days
We were lucky enough to be in India during the wedding season. We saw a groom on his way to his wedding, which happens in the evening and often carries on through out the night. The groom rides on an elaborately decorated horse or in this case on a carriage decorated with fresh flowers accompanied by a complete brass band. The relatives of the groom danced along side the carriage in true festival style, the atmosphere was amazing.