Amazon - Up The Ganges Without a Paddle

Our last day in Mumbai began with a one-hour boat ride to Elephanta island, the home of a Hindu shrine dedicated to Shiva, the destroyer and god of fertility (apparently, he was, or is, well endowed).   The shrine (which is only considered a temple on one day of the year), is carved out of solid rock as a large cave containing several sculptures also carved into the rock.   Unfortunately, much of the sculpted figures had been damaged by those who are not of the faith (Portuguese) who discovered the caves. Following our trip back to the mainland, we parted company with Tombi (the guide), and set off for the hotel to check out.   During this trip we heard rumblings regarding our flight home.   Apparently our plane had been delayed in leaving Toronto (weather) and Trinetra were concerned that Air Canada wouldn’t accept our check in 4 hours prior to our scheduled departure if that departure had been shifted by a further 4 hours.   We decided to keep to our orig...

This day would turn out to be one our best days yet.   Amazon   and I had spent many evenings discussing the highlights of the trip to date.   They were divided in two main categories, sensory and spiritual/cultural.   Up to this point both played out in perfect competition with each other.   Today would bring a shift in that balance. The morning was spent driving past many monuments and buildings.   We visited a public laundry area where people make the best of a water supply that is rationed to only a few hours a day.   For many this is a living as they do laundry for many homes, commercial businesses and industrial customers. In order to capture the things we missed on Sunday due to closures, we were only afforded 45 minutes in the Prince of Wales Museum.   While I restricted myself to the ancient history of Hinduism and the natural history section featuring many stuffed animals native to western India,    Amazon got on her bik...

Our day started at 4:00 am in order to get to the airport for a 7:00 am flight.   When we got to the airport we had an emotional Amazon moment when she hugged Ajay, our faithful driver for the past 15 days.   Of all the drivers we had, he was the one we felt safest with and very willing to make changes on the fly when requested.   He even offered suggestions without coaching (found me some beer).   He was worth every Rupee of the tip we gave him with the full approval of the fiscally conservative Amazon. We got on the plane without incident and arrived in Mumbai on time.   As usual, we were met and delivered to our hotel without delay.   Following a short wait, we were escorted to our room. In the afternoon, we were met by our guide, Tombi, who immediately started reorganizing our itinerary.   This was necessary because it was a Sunday and certain sites were not open.   At any rate we had an eye opening exposure to some of the bazaars and s...