Friday February 1st Elephanta Island

A big adventure. After hearing the quote of 2500 Rs a person from the travel agency (2 cars but no guide), we arranged this trip on our own. We had already had the phone numbers of some taxi drivers. (They all gave us their numbers in hope of more business.) The hotel called one of the numbers and explained what we wanted. For 3000 Rs we could get 2 cars for the day. We would be on our own for the boat ride and the entrance to the caves. (Another 300 Rs) So, for about 800 Rs a person, we could have the same trip. We expected that the driver that had been called would contact the same guy he had worked with yesterday, but instead he brought his brother. Here are Salim & Bablu:

The traffic was horrendous as usual. We even took pictures when our cabs were stopped next to each other.

I was able to take some pictures of the people who live on the street.

Sometimes there were toddlers within a few feet of the traffic, obviously living on the curb. How do you keep them from stepping into traffic? Only the strong survive.

The boats leave from the Gate of India. Bablu took us to the ticket booth. (He spoke much more English than Salim. He said that Salim was his big brother.) We bought a 1^st class ticket – but I really think that everything was the same. The ticket guy told us to go to the back side of the Gate and then to #4.

We are underway. The Gate of India and several boats that look the same as ours. Behind the gate, is the Taj palace hotel. (We plan to have a late lunch there when we return.)

Elephanta island does NOT have any elephants. It was named by the Portuguese because there had been a giant Elephant statue on the island. In taking it, their chains were too light and the statue dropped into the sea. It was later recovered and is now in a park. The island has carved caves that have many rooms and statues and were places of worship. We are now very confused because we have heard so many names for Shiva in all its many guises.

The trip to the island takes about an hour. The Indian Navy Dockyard is near by, so we saw a submarine:

There is a train to take you the 1 km from the boat to the end of the pier. We chose to walk and arrived at the same time as the train.

We had been worried because we knew that there were steps up to the cave level, but no one had been able to tell us how many. They do have sedan chairs to carry you up and down.

As westerners, we feel very funny about having people carry us. It turned out that there were only 100 steps that went up on a gradual grade, so we decided to walk. The stairs were lined with souvenir stands, so we would have missed a fun shopping experience. (An Indian woman who was being carried gave us another perspective, “How will they feed their children, if we don’t hire them!”)

The caves really were impressive:

The island has wild monkeys. They are quite aggressive. Lucille put down her back pack and one of them tried to grab it. One latched onto Maria’s little pack that was dangling from her hand. (Maria was also attacked by a cow. She was quite close to its horns and she had to really move and duck to get away.)

We watched this monkey open a half empy coke bottle. He was able to unscrew the top, but didn’t understand how to tip it up to his mouth. He solved the problem by pouring it out and frantically lapping it up from a puddle before it all ran down the tree.

After exploring, we returned to the boat. (Well, we did shop a little.)

We ate in one of the fanciest hotels in Mumbai. Some of us had high tea and some went to the coffee shop for a sandwich and beer. (I was among the sandwich/beer group.) By this time it was almost dark. We called the drivers and they said that they would meet us by the cars where they had dropped us off. It turned out that they had parked there all day for 50 Rs. We paid the parking fee and headed back. Bablu had bought a toy for his children. We presumed that this was a really profitable gig for him.

Back at the hotel, we hit the bar for a beer to restore our nerves after the traffic home. I was fast asleep when Chuck got back from the council meeting. He did feel the need to wake me up to tell me he was home!

Thursday, January 31st Suburban Highlights

Once more we went with the conference bus to see the tour company. We were scheduled to take the 4 -5 hour tour of the sights in the suburbs. (Mind you this wasn’t the suburb that we were staying in – it was one that was closer to the city. We really are far out.) We also were to find out how much the tour to Elephanta Island was going to cost. After much dithering and disorganization, the guy really wasn’t ready to tell us. He finally said that it would cost 2500 Rupees each. That would include two cars to the dock, the boat and entrance to the caves on the island. It would not include a guide. That was about $65 apiece. We said, “No thanks” and decided that if we weren’t going to get a guide, we could do the trip for much cheaper. We are getting really confident!

The Suburban Highlights tour again involved a lot of traffic, (everything here involves a lot of traffic) but not for as long a distance.

Our first stop was:

This was where the Beatles came. Now we know where all the money that the Hare Krishnas collected went.

I really like the guy with the glasses on the right.

This lady was stringing the flowers for the offerings.

It was nice to see some homes that were not hovels.

Next we drove by the Khar fishing village. The fisher folk dry the fish on scaffolding and also were drying salt. We didn’t stop because there wasn’t a whole lot to see and the smell would be rather strong.

We drove by Juhu beach and up to Mount Mary Basilica. We have seen a lot of different religious buildings here. This one was Catholic.

The stand selling candles also had wax holders in the shape of the thing you were praying for: a child, a house, an arm or leg.

The suburbs definitely had some higher end stores. It is interesting to see the various areas.

The last stop on the tour was the same department store that we had gone to on our first tour. We moaned and whined. Couldn’t we go for lunch instead? We had already visited one shop, wasn’t that enough? We had already been to this one! The guide said sorry, but it is required. (We really knew this. We were just yanking his chain. In China you have to go to the factories, in India it is tourist department stores.) He did promise that we only had to stay 10 minutes. It was more like 20, but we did get out quite quickly.

Since we could only be dropped off at one of our hotels, we decided to go for lunch to Felicia’s (another Hefei 8). The coffee shop had a great buffet. After lunch 3 of us took a taxi and 3 an auto rickshaw.

This was the banquet night. It was being held in the garden of our hotel. It was a really nice idea, because the physicists have been inside almost continuously all week. Unfortunately, it was the chilliest night here. They started by passing out orange juice and soda. Oh, oh, a dry event? Things got better when they broke out the beer, wine and hard stuff.

They had a buffet. We all chatted awhile after dinner, but I heard Chuck snore and snort himself awake, and I was getting cold, so we excused ourselves and headed inside to bed.

Wednesday, Jan 30 we strike out on our own

We joined the bus to the conference so that we could arrange some more sightseeing with the tour company. We have all made this trip several times, so when the bus made an unexpected turn, there were curious rumblings from the crowd. When the bus stopped and the driver got out and started talking to the auto rickshaw drivers, we realized that he didn’t know the way and was asking directions.

When he got back on the bus, Lucille’s husband opened the window to the driver and said, “We know the way. Turn around.” As he came back to the road we had started from, we all sang out in unison, “Turn right.” Then “The second gate, turn left.” It only took a few minutes to get to the right place.

We arranged to take the suburban tour on Thursday and asked for a quote on the cost of going to Elephanta island. They said, “No problem, this afternoon, we give.”

“We won’t be here this afternoon. Tell us tomorrow morning. Now, take us all back to the hotel.”

At the hotel we arranged for 2 taxis to take us to a real shopping mall and then on to a restaurant for lunch. We spend a lot of time making sure that we have all of the telephone numbers (both cabs, Deena’s cell, my cell, and Lucille’s cell (which has a Mumbai sim chip.)) We have learned the hard way that this is really important. The cabs seem to always let us off in different spots.

Everyone seems to be on the same page and we set off for the “In Orbit Mall”. We drive up to a store and our driver says, “Here it is, nice store.” It is another one of those damned department stores where they take the tourists.

“NO WAY!” We want the In Orbit Mall. “Oh,” he says, in all innocence, “No problem, I know it.” The other cab has been following us, so we all turn around and head off again. The next stop is the side door of the mall. The other cab goes to the front door, so with a little calling, we all get together. The cabs will pick us up when we call them.

Once inside, we decide to split up and meet again in an hour to compare notes. Maria (another of the Hefei 8) just arrived late last night and needs a coffee. Deena wants to shop for clothes, because she didn’t bring anything to wear that was a little dressy. I am looking for a Parcheesi set (and also anything that I think might appeal to the kids.) And Carol is still looking for hearing aid batteries. Today, she has a battery to show people. Her husband is hearing out of one ear.

It is really fun to see a mall in another country. There is a basic sameness. (A Body shop is in every mall in the world as far as I can tell.) But there is also very much the flavor of the country. You can see the kinds of clothes they wear, the toys for their kids, the food court choices, etc.

I ended up with Carol’s battery because I had a zippered pack and wouldn’t lose it. She was a little shy about asking people about it. Since I was just wandering anyway, I went into every shop that seemed to have watch repair or electronics and asked. No luck.

When we met again, Deena had found some great clothes at a store that she described as something between Target and Macy’s. Several of the group went off and Lucille also found a tunic top.

After the 2^nd hour, it was time to call the taxis and go to lunch.

We drove along and stopped near some hovels. Oh, oh. Out the driver hopped to talk to the auto rickshaw drivers. (This was both good and bad – the good part was that the restaurant wasn’t one of the hovels, the bad was that they didn’t know where it was.) No one seemed to know. We suggested that they call the number that the hotel had written. It didn’t work. We compared it with the other taxis piece of paper and realized that one number had been left out and insisted that they try the new number. Success at last. The restaurant told them how to get there and we soon arrived.

We tried to order beer, but in honor of Gandhi’s death, it was a dry day. We ordered only 3 dishes to share and some naan. It was more than enough food.

Here is our waiter opening one of our choices. This was an earthenware pot sealed with dough. Inside was a lamb and rice dish.

When we asked the waiter to take a picture, we suddenly had ALL of the waiters in the restaurant gathered around, giving him advice, checking the result, etc.

From the left, we are: Lucille, me, Deena, Carol and Maria. (I forgot to mention that Mary stayed at the hotel. Her back was bothering her after the car ride yesterday, and she wanted to used the hotel spa and relax it.)

Back in the taxis, we split up. Carol and Lucille went with one driver to try to find batteries. (They were successful. The driver took Carol by the hand and with the battery in his hand took her to a row of watch repair shops/hovels. They went shop to shop until one guy had some.)

On the way home we took a toll road. This was 2 card tables with guys collecting 20 Rupees. (50 cents) This road went through a wild park kind of area. Very rural looking with some dairy barns. It also seemed to be more direct with less traffic – a real blessing.

Chuck and I (and most of the other people) had the buffet dinner in the hotel.

Marvelous Mumbai – Tues Jan 29

It turns out that we are in a suburb of Mumbai – it is about 1 ½ to 2 hours to get to downtown. The little 3 wheeler auto rickshaws are only allowed in the suburb, so you know when you get to the city limits – they all disappear. Thus, we all signed up for the tour that was provided. (The really great thing about this conference is that several tours are being provided for FREE.)

The van picked us up at 9 am. There are only 5 of us here at the moment, so it was sort of an SUV. The driver and the guide sat in the front, 3 people in the next row and two facing seats in the rear. I was one in the rear and was having a hard time getting in and out until the driver put down a little step attached to the rear.

The rear facing seat was both good and bad. We could take pictures quite easily but only saw things that we passed. Deena and I spotted an elephant (just walking down the street), but the others couldn’t see it in time. We also had a fabulous view of all of the vehicles bearing down on us and coming up to almost touch our bumper. We have all said that Hefei was good training. After riding in the cabs there, we have nerves of steel.

First we went to the laundry village (Dhobi Ghat). It is almost mind boggling to realize that all of this laundry is picked up and delivered back clean and pressed. They have customer codes on each piece. These are family businesses passed on from father to son. (Only the men do this.)

Then on to Haji Ali, a Muslim temple built out in the bay. It can only be reached by a walkway during low tide. We were obviously there a low tide, but only took pictures from the shore.

Next, we visited the house that Gandhi lived in when he was in Mumbai. He had been assassinated 60 years minus one day ago. Recently his ashes had been returned to this museum. (His hosts had kept the ashes and given them to their son who lived in Dubai. He wanted to give them back. The museum decided that the ashes should be strewn in the sea so that they would not become an object of veneration.) We visited the day before this was going to be done – so were among the last people to see the urn that contained the ashes.

Flower designs are used a lot here in religious circumstances.

This was the room where he worked and received guests.

At the Jain temple, we had to remove our shoes (glad I wore socks without holes). These people are strict vegetarians. Many of them wore masks so that they wouldn’t inadvertently hurt an insect or microbe by breathing it in and causing its death. (They wouldn’t appreciate my mosquito killing.)

Most of the building seemed to be made of carved marble:

Obviously, they don’t subscribe to the “less is more” school of decoration.

Some of the worshipers made designs with rice:

We walked through the Hanging Gardens, which were constructed on top of a reservoir.

Then, on to what must be the most elaborate train station in the world, Victoria Terminus.

Finally, it was lunch time. We went to the famous Khyber restaurant. I had read many descriptions of it and when we walked in, I knew that was where we were.

It is really hard to take good food pictures in India. Many of our meals have been buffet with everything inside of covered dishes. Here, we each ordered a dish and then shared them around. We are (from the left): Deena, Mary, Me, Lucille and Carol.

These were pickled onions and other pickles:

A cheese and veg ball in sauce:

Saag (spinach) chicken with naan.

This young man was making street snacks. He took leaves and spread all kinds of things on them (with his fingers) and then folded up the leaf and passed it over. The customer ate the whole thing.

The Gateway of India was sort of a disappointment. There was a car bomb incident 4-5 years ago, so it is really blocked off. We just stopped and took pictures from a distance.

We stopped at a Pharmacy. You told a clerk what you wanted and someone climbed around to get it. I needed to get razors for Chuck, because he forgot to pack them. Several other people had things they needed too. Carol is looking for hearing aide batteries for her husband. He forgot to pack his (after she asked him if he had them!) I think he only has about 2 more days of hearing if she doesn’t find them.

We returned home by way of Marine Drive and Chowpatty beach. There was a gigantic traffic jam. Mary had just said, “Everyone keep a lookout for elephants, we don’t want to miss any” when we found the cause of the jam:

There was a picture in the paper the next day. (A front view) These elephants had been in a religious procession and had been arrested for creating the traffic jam. They were being put on the beach until later when they were moved to the police station.

It took us 3 hours to get back to the conference site. We called the only husband with a cell phone to tell him that we were on the way, but didn’t know when we would be there. He was to pass the message on to the others.

This was the evening of the “Cultural Program”. It was supposed to start at 6 and we were sure that we were going to miss it. Luckily, the meetings were late too, so when we got there at 7, we just had time to go to the bathroom before it started.

It was an hour of Indian singing and dancing. The performers were very good, but we had been sitting already for 3 hours. My little sitter was screaming by the time it was finished.

We got back to the hotel at 10. Everyone hit the dining room for a late dinner. Luckily, the hotel does buffet and we could eat with waiting.

Off to bed. Most of the mosquitoes have been killed, so I’m sure that we will sleep well.

Visit to IIT (India Institute of Technology)

We all went to the meeting site to see the lay of the land and to hear Art’s talk. His wife Lucille was also one of the Hefei 8. We made arrangements to go on a “shopping tour” in the afternoon. Some of us (Deena, Mary and I) decided to walk around the campus. The first thing that we saw when we exited the building was this bull in a field across the street:

Most of the campus has this very dry look to it. Sharing the field was a banyan tree:

We did see one green patch complete with monkey:

A little further on, we found a whole troop of them: Mommies, daddies and babies.

The buildings were either very new and modern, or concrete blocks with mold growing inside. (Of course, the people were still working in them!) Every building had a deep concrete ditch around it. There must be severe flooding here.

The campus is on the edge of a lake. At a talk which we missed, they said that there are snakes and crocs in the lake. A good thing that we hadn’t heard that before we took our walk. (They also said that there were panthers on the campus.)

Behind the cow, on the other shore are a group of buildings that includes our hotel. There is so much traffic that it probably would be faster to come by boat.

We had been SO excited by our first cow. Now, we are seeing them everywhere-just wandering around.

That’s Deena with another – we are getting really blasé about them.

Back to the conference for a buffet lunch and then on our shopping trip. It was a high end department store. We may have been the only customers there. It was a little embarrassing that we let the rug salesman go through his entire sales talk AND give us tea, when we really weren’t going to buy. The rugs were fabulous – wool and silk from Kashmir.

The first night’s entertainment was playing games and a BBQ. The playing games part was a little funny. These are physicists after all. Only a few played basketball. We all had a turn shooting at balloons with a pellet gun. They tried to convince us to play Frisbee, but no one joined in. Finally, it was time for the BBQ.

The green things on the skewers are fish. Many of the things were cooked in boiling oil.

Everything was very tasty. They did say that because of a bird flu scare in Northern India, they were not serving any chicken.

The mosquitoes were biting and we were fading fast – so the old farts took the first bus back. We fell into bed. Unfortunately, we had brought the mosquitoes back with us. I slept really well at first – but then have been awake since 3am. I think that I’ve killed all of them now, so will try to get a little more sleep.

A note from later:

It turned out that a maid had left the window open. No wonder I couldn’t kill all the mosquitoes – they kept coming in. I complained bitterly about it to the desk in the morning. I told them that I had left a trail of blood around the room. They apologized profusely and sent someone with a mosquito killing machine that gets plugged in. Unfortunately, the electricity is turned off when you take your room key to leave – so we will only have a little killing until we get back in the evening.

Jan 26 Day 1

Our trip has begun. After an interminably long plane ride, (L. A. to Newark-5 hours and Newark to Mumbai 14) we arrived in the Mumbai airport. It is being refurbished so looks like every other airport under construction in the world. Long hallways of pardon our dust signs and being able to see the air-conditioning ducts in the ceiling. The best part of the whole trip was that it was over and we hadn’t had any problems.

The conference was supposed to arrange for transportation to the hotel – but after the experience in Slovakia, Chuck was waiting to see before he would believe. Incredibly there were several guys with signs and hotel sheets. We had met Carl and Deena at the Newark airport (Deena was one of the Hefei 8), and shared a cab to the hotel. When we left the airport building, we realized why the weather report for Mumbai had always said “Smoke”. They were not describing haze or smog – it really is smoky here.

We have a normal looking hotel room except that it has marble floors, desk & bathroom counter:

They were having a WEDDING in the garden. One of my favorite things!! So here are the 1^st

wedding pictures from this trip:

The decorated car:

The backdrop on the stage. I think that they were taking some of the formal photos – I never did get a clear view of the bride.

Some of the guests. The sari’s were beautiful.

We fell into bed and slept till 5.