Mumbai Rest Day

When I finally got Chris out of bed we headed next door for another buffet breakfast. Because we arrived later today the selection had improved and we enjoyed spiced potatoes, baked beans, sausages and cheese breads in addition to the usual fare.

After stuffing ourselves silly we went in search of the post office to finally post the gifts we purchased a week or so ago. Surprisingly, we found it without too much difficulty considering it was down a small tree lined road and looked more like a house than a post office. With that said it wasn't much of a post office: no boxes, no packing material and, of course, no helpful staff. We walked past the famous (thanks to Shantaram) Leopold's thinking we should probably do the touristy thing and at least have a beer there. But, after passing the bag searching security, we saw that the place was no longer filled with interesting, dynamic people from all walks of life. Rather, it was filled with people, just like us, who wanted to say they had been to Leopold's. We decided that it was not for us after all and very quickly moved on.

Next, we went in search of a movie with English subtitles, preferably of the Bollywood nature. We found the Regal cinema and asked at the ticket office if they had any English movies. We were quickly informed, in what appeared to be a very well practiced one liner... "no English, no English subtitles."

With the rather unsuccessful morning over we decided that we'd grab a few snacks for lunch and head home to plan our escape from Mumbai and our five day ride to Jaisalmer. Samosas and other fried goodies, with some pineapple and grapes to balance the whole thing out, ended up costing us more than our sit down meal yesterday. Darn fruit is so expensive!

After lunch and some lazing around we thought we ought to decide whether we were leaving tomorrow or not. As we began researching Gujurat and Rajasthan (the states up North) our plan to push to Jaisalmer swiftly turned into a plan to thoroughly explore the palaces, forts and mountains on the way up. After one more day in Mumbai.

Six o'clock rolled around and we found a relatively cheap establishment for yet another delicious meal. The flavours just keep on coming, changing as we move between states, and all the while maintaining excellency.