India and Pakistan 2009

Our route from Mumbai through Gujerat, Rajasthan and Punjab into Pakistan.

Sun 11th Jan. Flew on Air India to Mumbai (Bombay). We went to Bentley's hotel, a recommended option, but it was full so we stayed at the Hotel Antique, where we stayed the last two times we came to Mumbai - in a good location but not a great hotel, but there again we do not spend much time in it.

About 5pm we decided to go sightseeing, so we got on a random bus on the main road and for the equivalent of 5 pence it took us through the Fort area of Mumbai to Churchgate station. Churchgate was teeming with commuters on their way home so we made a few enquiries for tomorrow and got another bus which took us through the financial district and to the Gateway of India, where we promenaded with the crowds for a while until it got dark, then we walked up the road to Café Mondegar for a couple of refreshing beers and delicious masala peanuts. Kingfisher seems to be the beer of choice in this part of India, we had difficulty finding Cobra anywhere this trip. Back at Café Paris (not quite like the name suggests), almost opposite our hotel, we had an excellent dinner of tandoori chicken, chicken dopiaza and a dhal, before collapsing into bed.

	We went round the Oval Maidan, a grassy area with cricket games and exercise classes going on in the middle and more imposing buildings all around, to end at Churchgate railway station.
	We got a train five stops up the line to Mahalaxmi station, where from the bridge just outside we had a panoramic view of the washing ghats, Bombay's 'washing machine' where clothes from most of the laundries in the city are beaten mercilessly against concrete blocks by men standing knee-deep in murky water.
	All around, football-field sized areas of washing lines are filled with every variety of clothing drying in the sun.

At one point we saw a bus go past with this advertisement for an energy drink.  We saw a similar one for the same product - "Drink one can of Cloud 9 and drive nonstop for 9 hours". If there was an advertising standards agency, I wonder what they would think of that!

Afterwards we jumped on a random bus which took us to the business district where we walked past the office workers having lunch at the row of street stalls, down to the sea which at this point we could only look at through railings across some rather grubby rocks. We got a taxi back to the hotel, washed off some of the city dust, then got a taxi out to Chowpatty Beach in the evening. Chowpatty is where everyone comes out to promenade, fly kites and ride on the little fairground.

We also walked inland to the Kotachi Wadi, an oasis of little winding lanes and wooden two-storey houses out of earshot of the roar of Mumbai's traffic.

Weds 14th. We strolled down to Sassoon dock to see the fish market, although by the time we got there all the fish had been unloaded from the boats and most of the activity was families of women and children sitting round huge piles of prawns, shelling them.

Near the dock was the 'fish division' of a bakery, hard to imagine what they were selling!

We had breakfast at Mondegar's and spent the day wandering around Mumbai, from the street stalls in Colaba to the lobby of the Oberoi, where we sat in luxury for a while to cool off. We walked a little way along Marine Drive by the sea and turned off to look at the highly-recommended Gaylord restaurant, but we were too early and it was not open. Back in Colaba we went to the Indigo Delicatessen for tea and a lemon tart, then after a bit more walking round we had a nice curry and tandoori chicken at the local Delhi Darbar restaurant.

Note, for comparing prices, one pound = about 70 Rupees, one euro = about 64 Rupees.

Hotel Sumeru has a 'dilapidated charm' with wide corridors, big rooms and friendly staff. We had a drink in the restaurant and set out to see the main attraction - the Shatrunjaya Temples spread over a hilltop about a mile from town.

The only way to get to the Shatrunjaya temples is up 3,200 steps spread over 2½ km, and it's hard work when you are as unfit as we are. It is humbling to be sitting panting in the shade as an elderly pilgrim lady goes past and tells you she's been up to the temples 55 times, and her mission is to do it 99 times in her life. You can be carried up in a seat on poles by two porters, but we were determined to do it ourselves - the porters saw that we were struggling and followed us for the first 1000 steps, then gave up!

Red in the face and exhausted we finally arrived at the incredible sea of over 800 temples spread over the hilltop, which is the holiest pilgrimage site for the Jain religion (which separated from mainstream Hinduism a mere 2,500 years ago).

We strolled around the temple enclosures appreciating the fine stone carvings then set off on the descent, which was less tiring than climbing up but stressed a whole different set of leg muscles. Most of the way down we were exhorted to go faster by a security guard, because we were the last and it was getting dark. We had arrived at the top with our legs aching, by the time we got down they were shaking like jelly!

Fri 16th. Rather than face an even more daunting series of bus rides, the pleasant hotel manager arranged a car to take us to Diu for 2,200 Rs (2000 for the car and 200 his commission). The driver picked us up at 7am and we had an uneventful ride through the Gujerat countryside, arriving at our hotel in Diu around 11am. Diu is a former Portuguese enclave (like Goa) and is a 'Union Territory' separate from Gujerat state. There were several Portuguese-style churches on the low hills behind the town and our hotel was in one of them. The main body of St Thomas' church, approached by a wide flight of brilliant-white steps, is now a museum, while the rooms at the back (and some shacks on the roof) are the Sao Tome Principe hotel. Our room, up its own flight of steps at the back of the building, was light and airy with views across gardens and the spires of St Paul's church to the distant sea.

	While Sheila slept off the lunchtime beer I climbed up the little steps right onto the curved roof of St Thomas church and took photos, keeping well away from the edge because they don't bother with safety features like guard rails!
	The front of St Thomas' church in Diu, illuminated at night.

Sat-Sun 17th-18th. Relaxing in Diu. We checked out of the Sao Tome Principe because they are cashing in on their good write-up in Lonely Planet by charging too much (800 Rs) for a poorly-maintained room with blocked drains, and don't provide soap, towels or toilet paper. We went instead to the Sanmaan Palace hotel in an atmospheric old Portuguese villa right on the waterfront, and had the large, airy room 101 with a living room with a bow window overlooking the sea, nice big bedroom and a clean bathroom with a toilet that actually flushed, along with all those other little facilities that the previous hotel lacked, and all for 600 Rs. The staff were very friendly and helpful and we had breakfast in the pleasant rooftop restaurant overlooking the seafront.

We got an auto-rickshaw down to the fish-market and bought some seriously big prawns for 100 Rs, which we took back to the Hotel Alishan restaurant where they promised to cook them tonight, then went back to our hotel Sanmaan Palace where they said what fish had we bought, they would cook them for us - too many choices!

	Even at midday the heat was pleasant rather than oppressive, so we strolled in the sun down the waterfront Bunder Road to the old Portuguese fort on the tip of the island.
	The fort was very impressive, just what a fort is supposed to be like, with lots of bastions to climb up (although our legs were still aching from the 3,200 steps in Palitana), old cannons, ruined chapels and surrounded by battlements and a moat.

 There's no entry charge and the place was full of Indian tourists and school children having a good time which gave it a festive feel.

Mon 19th. We are enjoying chilling out in Diu and we really like our big room at the Sanmaan Hotel, so we're staying another day. In fact we were really lazy and had room-service breakfast, eggs on toast, in our living room. Then we went down to the morning fish-market to buy our dinner, and this time chose five crayfish for 400 Rs. We dropped the crayfish at the Alishan restaurant, then went to the town square where we found the Post Office hidden away up some steps.

	Then we noticed a fishing boat had just arrived so we went across to the dock to watch them unloading the fish -
	- hauling them up in crates and tipping them into a 3-wheel rickshaw-type 'pickup truck'
	Nearby was the jetty where the boat trips start from, but there were no other passengers waiting so we hired the whole boat for 90 Rs and had a nice trip along the waterfront, seeing Diu town from a different angle, and out to the fort and Pani Kota, the former jail which seems to be 'floating' out in the bay, and back.

Next we got an auto-rickshaw out to Nagoa Beach, where the Gujeratis come to play.  The beach was full of groups of ladies in saris paddling in the waves, and crowds of exuberant youths, most of them already drunk even though it was only about midday. After posing for countless photos with them, it all got a bit too boisterous so we retired to a first-floor café to watch proceedings from a safe distance. We were joined by a giggling couple in their 30s who downed a huge slug of whisky even though they had clearly already had a few, then they insisted we all go to find the beach photographer to take a photo of us all to commemorate the occasion. We made our escape and went back to Diu, stopping on the way at the Shell Museum. 

Tues 20th. We had become good friends with Mr Ashish Mukherje at Hotel Alishan and he arranged for a friend of his to take us in his car to Junagadh 'at cost' of 2,000 Rs, which is exceptional as none of the other drivers or agencies we asked would negotiate below 3,000. They came to pick us up from the Sanmaan Palace at 8:30, we said goodbye to Mr Ashish and we were on our way. First stop after three hours or so was the historic temple at Somnath, in an imposing position overlooking the sea, which has recently been rebuilt in the old style and was full of cool marble floors and carved pillars.

	A few kms down the road is the fishing and boat-building town of Veraval, where we took pictures of the hundreds of boats moored in the harbour ....
	... and went into a couple of dhow-building yards to see the big wooden boats being hammered together from a selection of unlikely-looking planks.

They even invited us up the rickety ladder to see the 'work in progress' inside the boat, which was a truly impressive patchwork of shaped beams and planks.

We walked back through Diwan Chowk, a bustling bazaar area, and on to Mahabat Maqbara, which is the mausoleum of the former nawab of Junagadh. It's exotic and lavishly decorated, with domes and inscriptions, and four minarets encircled by spiralling staircases. We had to climb up one of them, of course, to see the view from the top, although chunks of the masonry were so loose that a casual lean would send you and them crashing to the ground.

Wed 21st. Our Ambassador car arrived at 8:30 as arranged and we drove through the flat, dusty Gujerat countryside on the 4-hour trip to Jamnagar for 1000 Rs. The journey was uneventful except when we stopped at a tea stall and discovered that one of the tyres was flat. Fortunately there was a tyre repair shack next door to the tea stall, and in 15 minutes we were on our way again with the inner tube all patched up.

We walked round the nearby lake which was occupied by all sorts of aquatic birds. The Lakhota palace, perched picturesquely in the middle of the lake, is closed on Wednesdays, so we walked past the town hall and had a tasty early dinner at the 7 Seas restaurant in the President Hotel - butter chicken, egg curry and the usual pickles - wonderful! We had a short walk around the bazaar in the evening but had to spend all our time dodging speeding motorbikes and auto-rickshaws and could hardly look at the shops.

The Lakhota Palace was a lovely, white building with gentle cooling breezes from the lake through the courtyards and windows.

Sheila trying to pretend she isn't nervous of the big camel.