From Mumbai (Bombay)

We've now been in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, for the past day and a half. We learned, much to our surprise, that there are at least 2 different train approaches to Mumbai from Ernakulam, Kerala, where we came from. The shorter route which we thought we were taking, goes along the coast through Goa. It takes a total of 27 hours of train time, with a change of trains and a 3 hour or so stop in one place.

On the other hand, we took the "Express" train which goes from Trivandrum to Mumbai. What they didn't tell us is that this route goes far inland, almost to Chennai (formerly Madras) first! And it takes 40 hours. This may sound painful, but it really was enjoyable. Lots of interesting people to watch, especially the vendors who board the train and sell books, toys, maps, samosas, tea, coffees, fruits, snacks, meals, and more. A constant parade up and down the train. Also beggars, old and young. It seemed more like a festival than a train ride sometimes! The trains are very well designed. Eight people can sit quite comfortably during the day in each mini-compartment, and then several seats convert to sleeping berths at night. From experience, Shamir can say this is a much more comfortable way to sleep on a train than coach seat in Canada.

The landscape was ever-changing. We ended up passing through no less than 5 states during the journey - Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andra Pradesh, and Maharashtra ... and no Goa in sight! Seeing fields of chillies, rice, corn, sunflowers, cotton, and more reminded us of some plaes in Mexico.

Surrinder was struck by rock formations in one area. They were huge piles of stone, which looked almost like giant fortresses. A photo is attached.

One little girl about 9 years old came on the train to sing for money (Heather - Playing for Pennies all over again!). She saw Surrinder drawing, and stopped in mid-song to come and watch. She then asked if she could draw. Most of this was conversation by gesture. It was truly magical watching her draw a picture of a dress, with a heart at the top. It was a rather good drawing, too! And she captured the curiosity of all the nearby passengers, wondering what had happened. Their smiles told the story, once they saw. She earned a goodly sum from us and our fellow passengers that day. The real winners were us, though.

Stepping back a bit, Kochi (Ernakulam and Fort Cochin) is on what was known as the Malabar or Spice Coast. We enjoyed 2 days there, one of which was a 2-pronged tour of the extensive backwaters. One part was in a long canoe; the other in a converted rice large known as a "kettu vallam." The quiet, peaceful pace was a welcome contrast from the constant horn-honking frenzy of India's roads. Unless you've been there, it's hard to imagine the ongoing horn hooting and blaring. We'll try to figure out how to add in a video clip for a future blog entry.

On our last full day in Varkala, we went to the neighbouring beach with fishermen clearing their nets from the night before. One of their ''vehicles" is a remarkable, simple boat made of three logs lashed together, propelled by shaped bamboo paddles. See the photos. Kerala means the land of coconuts. They use coconuts for food, fibre, and more.

Mumbai has been quite a change. Very modern in many ways ... and yet still very much part of India, with all its texture and contrasts. We'll say more about it in the future.

We expect to leave for Gujarat around Thursday the 7th. Plans continue to be fairly loose, and we'll see what happens there.

Posting photos is a bit awkward. We add them all in, and compose text meanwhile. So we don't have captions for each at the moment, but we hope you'll get a sense of them as you read and look. Please tell us if the sizes are okay, etc, etc. Surrinder insisted on including the photo of Shamir in comfortable clothing. He's really taken to wearing a dhoti, Kerala style. Sorry he's sideways. The photo was in our hotel room in Varkala.

Many of the photos are from the train, including the field of sunflowers.

Soon ...

Surrinder and Shamir