Mumbai

The dead dog's body flopped awkwardly in the road as the bus wheel rode over it. The free transfer car was driving me from Mumbai airport to my hostel a couple of suburbs over, and I was getting my first sights, smells and sounds of the city. A wave of heat had hit me leaving the airport, but the car had AC so I was fairly comfortable inside, compared to the chaos of the city rising and falling outside. Welcome to Mumbai.

Been here two days so far and it's a pretty interesting place, though not unlike most other big, dirty, busy cities. The area we've been staying in, Anderi East, is particularly chaotic and crowded - so much so that when the rickshaw dropped us off at the station earlier today we couldn't actually see it for all the people, market stalls, traffic, rubbish, random part finished bits of buildings, oh, and people.

I've already met some cool people here and received more travel tips and information than I can keep track of. My main man at the moment is a dude called Sam, from near Reading (UK), though I've had some really good conversations with a couple of other people staying at the hostel too, and we met a guy in the Sports Bar tonight (we watched the first World Cup match there) who we've found a cheaper place to stay from.

Spent yesterday and today exploring some parts of Mumbai, including a visit to the Gateway to India and the Mohatma Ghandi museum (the museum was probably the highlight so far, incredible how much he achieved in one lifetime through non-violent protest. It gives you hope that so much is possible through peaceful means). Tomorrow we've decided to move hostels to the cheaper place (here is 720 INR/night, there will be 300, and it's a lot more central).

We're also looking at booking train tickets soon, as everyone we've spoken to has recommended we head north, and I was thinking that anyway. Probably going to skip Rajasthan though as it's supposed to be baking, roasting hot there, and Mumbai's heat has got to me already a few times (it's not even that hot really, but very humid). Even if it was dry heat, the thought of cool mountain breezes and snow capped summits is incredibly alluring... so, going to have a proper dig in the LP tomorrow and figure out what's next.

Stay tuned! :)