Mumbai to Nasik

The Taj. While Crows were enjoying our breakfast

We went over to Hotel Goodwin this morning for our final rooftop brekky. After getting a couple of large plates of food, I went inside to search for tea and Chris went in search of the perfect photo of Taj Mahal Palace. Our breakfasts suffered as a result. Crows. They especially enjoyed the eggs, dragging them off our plates and onto the table and chairs. When I returned and questioned Chris as to whether the breakfast was still edible he promptly replied "the crow was in my food."

Shanty town

With two new plates of Indian meets Western brekky cuisine, we sat back and relaxed. It was then time to check out and hit the road.

Big Red was eager to depart after a few days of rest and recuperation in Mumbai. He got us out of Mumbai with only a slight detour.

We passed countless shanty towns that seemed about to fall in on themselves. Tarps, corrugated iron and other rubble is piled high into a semi liveable state.

The journey to Nasik was relatively uneventful. We stopped once to get some petrol and once again to check out an abandoned village and to rest our bums.

Abandon buildings

India in a nut shell

We rode into a busier Nasik than we had anticipated and hence tried to locate some accomodation on the outskirts of town, away from the hustle and bustle. We found Sai Prem down a side road and settled right away. The other places we had tried had been fully booked probably due to there being a wedding around every corner.

We unloaded Big Red and headed into town to find the holy river of Godavari and the bathing ghat Ramkund. We found it alright. But I was just not in the mood. Every stare, every lazy sales person, every comment was getting right under my skin. We left, grabbed some samosas and headed home so I could cool down.

Ramkund Bathing Ghat

Bathing, Ramkund

Second attempt at the ghat: with me feeling a little more normal, we ventured back to the river and were very pleased we did. We sat amongst the pilgrims as they bathed in, drank and splashed the holy water over themselves. Floats of flowers and candles were set sailing across the water as children were dunked against their will. It's nice that, when you sit for a while, people seem to forget you are there. They forget trying to sell you things and go about their day and you are rewarded with a close-up view of Indian life.

Nasik Market

We followed a loop around the ghat then ventured through a bustling fruit and veg market. Encouraged by the stall owners we captured the goings on and then purchased some of Nasik's famous sultanas.

Giant Pumpkin, Nasik Market

We arrived home and decided to eat at our guesthouse restaurant. They had moved all of the chairs and tables outside into the garden but had no lighting. We were encouraged to go and sit in the dark, being told we would need to wait only 10 minutes. For what we were unsure. 15 minutes later we got sick of being eaten by bugs and went inside. We made a dinner order at reception and headed back to our room to wait the specified 15 minutes for dinner. Working on India time, we went back downstairs half an hour later and asked if we could possibly sit inside. Two guys quickly jumped to attention bringing one table and two chairs into a large empty room. Those plastic chairs were just not good enough though apparently so a manager curtly told them to fetch the cushioned, material-covered chairs for us. We were even given a plastic table cloth which may or may not have been dirtier than the table it covered. Before we knew it we had five guys working to get our dinner sorted. It's like they had waited for or arrival to actually start cooking. Out came our order (sort of) plus a bunch of other accompaniments that we had not ordered nor ever seen before. It was tasty though. And entertaining.

As the noises coming from the street made sleep impossible we decided to do a little research. Per square kilometre, India has 383 people. That may not sound too ridiculous but keep in mind, New Zealand has 16 and Australia has, wait for it...3. No wonder we're having trouble adjusting.

We also found a blog which pretty much mirrors our experiences. It talks about the non-stop noise, escaping it overnight on the Keralan houseboat and going in search of silence on a camel safari in Rajasthan. Sadly, this blogger didn't find silence, even in the deserted desert. Fingers crossed we have more luck.

Dinner

Ramkund Bathing Ghat