Leaving North India

The last couple of days in the north were underwhelming, but even less impressive was the behavior of my awful fellow travelers (awful making up 42% of the group). First, I learned that the two Iranian sisters had been cheating as many local people as they could, ordering saris without paying in advance, then declaring they wouldn't pay a penny when they arrived. Also accusing the busdriver's assistant of attmepting to cheat them out of a dollar when they didn't want to pay full price for a video camera tape they'd wanted (but had not brought the money to pay for). It ended with my being so disgusted by the two of them that I couldn't look at them. Next, the smokers, who continued to be themselves, only why simultaneously short-changing our tour guide (and, at the final dinner, disappearing altogether in an effort to avoid giving her a tip). It was a relief to see the last of them, and I may be signing them up for unpleasant spam some time in the near future. Sadly, Nick never fulfilled his part of the bargain by shaving evil, sun-worshipping Bettina's head, and so was ineligible to have his South India trip paid for by Joan (my fellow American).

Airport transport is incredibly cheap. I paid around $7 for my trip from my (really appallingly bad) hotel not too far from Marine Drive to the Mumbai International airport, which took about an hour. Sadly, the cab wasn't air-conditioned. Also, midway through the ride, I discovered I had a fellow passenger: a roach crawling up my arm. Pretty awful. But it gets better: a kid hawking DVDs asked me for a lift when we were stopped at a red light. I politely declined. So he asked the cabbie, who let him in, after which point he immediately started trying to sell me the aforementioned DVDs. Hawkers on the street are bad enough, but hawkers in your cab?

And I know I've said almost nothing about Mumbai, but what is there to say? I was there for less than 24 hours, stayed at a total dump (I didn't pick the hotel), had a farewell dinner at a dry restaurant (I liked my tour leader in the north, but what was she thinking?) and saw very little other than India Gate, Marine Drive and the Elephanta Caves. I would say maybe another time, but I think not. The south (which I will be addressing in my next few posts) has me thinking a return trip may not be in the cards.