Good ol'Colaba, Mumbai

Hey Everyone - hope you are all well!

Well we're back in Mumbai now, and have been for the past couple of hours.
It was a bit sad leaving Anjuna and indeed Goa, though, but circumstances
meant that we couldn't stay those extra days that we planned to :-(

Although, saying that, my last few days in Anjuna were definitely not my
best. I'd been getting ill all week, but by Wednesday night it was pretty
definite that there was something serious that had to be treated! I woke up
on Thursday morning not able to move and also (to make things easier for
me...) my eye had swollen to twice it's size during the night, so I could
hardly open it. Brilliant. So I had to get all these pills to cure my
stomach, whilst making sure I only eat jam toast (no butter) for every meal
and drink lots of water, whilst also putting in eye drops every hour or so
to help the conjunctivitis. All in all it wasn't nice and I didn't feel
better properly until Sunday morning, which is just as well as we were
booked onto the night bus to mumbai that evening!

In my ill state, though, we managed to do some pretty cool stuff in our last
few days in Anjuna. For example we went trekking across all these angular
rocks on Anjuna beach front... it was so picturesque and got some great
photos! Also we managed to make it up to the infamous Anjuna market, which
was cool (if anyone has ever been to Glasgow Barra-Land, then they'll get a
good idea what it's like!!) There were multiple jewellery stalls, pottery,
clothes, food and general random stuff! Was fun, but was cut short by my
feeling too ill :-(

Yesterday (Sunday) we had to be out of our GuestHouse in Anjuna by 10am
(horrible....) so we had the whole day to kill with our backpacks as our bus
didn't leave till 7:30pm. We ended up sitting in our regular haunt (Oasis -
so good!!) and sat there from 10:30am until 6pm!! ordering pancakes, noodles
and toast (I was starting to eat normally again!). And at one point, we saw
these massive monkeys scuttling about the trees and then on the road!! It's
the first monkeys we've seen since Delhi, so we were being massive tourist
and like hanging off our seats!

Then we had to head up to Mapusa (inland Goa) for our bus and discovered
that Mapusa is quite cool! It looks a bit like Northern Italy and
definitely more 'build-up' than anywhere else we've seen in Goa!
Anywho we continued waiting for our bus and then when it FINALLY came this
tout guy who'd been hovering about me for a while starting shouting at me
and grabbing my bag. I told him where to go, but apparently that was some
sort of code for 'shout at me more and grab my arm!'. So I was getting
quite angry at this point because I wasn't even sure this was the right bus
and this muppet was like grabbing my bag and shouting at me. So when I
found out it was the right bus I tried to put my bag in the bus hold and the
muppet guy wouldnt let me do it, he just kept grabbing it off me. So I
couldnt keep up the fight anymore so he commandeered my bag, and then
chucked it in the hold. He then cornered me to give him money and wouldnt
let me past to get on the bus. I started panicking when the bus started
moving (with Camilla on it!) so I just made a dash and somehow got on it
*phew* without paying the guy (mwhaha)
This bus though, was significantly different from the other. For a start it
was falling to bits and it also stank (before we got on ;-) Then the guys
who parade about the bus barking orders, starting shouting in Konkani down
the front and made a big fuss about something. And then, after like 5
minutes, the lights cut out so we were plunged into darkness, until these
random guys came on the bus and starting raiding it with torches (we think
it may have been border control...) wasn't very pleasant and as usual I was
freaking out... :-(
Another difference with this bus is that it made a pit-stop, unlike the
other, so we could actually use the bathroom (i.e. hole-in-the-ground) and
get some food. We stopped at the most random place I've ever seen. It
looked all temple-y from the outside and then looked like a big school
dinner hall inside! They fed us (wait for it....) curry! with rice, roti
and this strange orange stuff that I *think* was potato with curry. I was
quite chuffed though because they didn't hand us any knives or forks, so we
had to eat the authentic Indian way (with your right hand only... your left
is reserved for other things that take place over the hole-in-the-ground...
;-) So that was quite cool.
Then back on the bus was horrible, because this time we were on the upper
berths and I was on the outside again, which is scarier from a height. The
only thing 'holding you in' in two vertical poles that measure about 2cm or
less in diametre at the most inappropriate place ever. Not nice on the
roads here, nearly falling out everytime it changes gear. So I think I
slept a total of about half an hour :-( but I guess the good thing was that
I didn't get ill :-)

Anywho back in good ol' Mumbai now and shall be here methinks until Sunday.
We're staying at the Salvation Army, which is the cheapest place in town
(yay) and is right in the midst of things in Colaba. We're quite chuffed
with that and our dorms are ok and the place seems pretty full of
backpackers, which is cool.

Anywho, I best be off methinks since there's nothing really siginificant for
me to say (apart from more ranting about the bus... but I'm sure thats not
necessary...)
:-)
Speak soon, love kirsty -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-