We are in India!

We arrived in Mumbai last night after a 4 hour flight from Austin to Newark, a 4 hour layover, and a 13 hour flight from Newark to Mumbai. Both the D&B office as well as our hotel are very close to the airport. The hospitality of the D&B India team has been amazing. They helped take care of all the arrangements for this week in Mumbai including sending a driver to pick us up and called while we were being driven to the hotel to welcome us to India.

After settling in, we ate a late dinner at the hotel. We have been told that the best restaurants in India are in the top hotels. Last night we had the best chicken curry we've ever tasted. For us foodies, this is the best way to start an adventure in a new country.

We managed to get some sleep and set off after a quick workout (well, Helen anyway) and breakfast to explore Mumbai. We hired a taxi to take us around. Mumbai is an assault on your senses with the smell of the pollution from all the vehicles, all of the honking, and new things to see every direction you look. I have to say that we have been to many places but I think driving in India is the scariest. No where else is it more true that the lines on the road are "for suggestion only". We are amazed that the cars are not more beat up.

Our first stop was to see an area where all of the laundry is done. There were so many people washing clothes. It was an amazing to see all of the action.

We drove to Victoria Terminus which is the municipal train station in the middle of Mumbai. In the words of Lonely Planet, "If there ever was a building that summed up the city, it would be Victoria Terminus. This extravagant Victorian-Gothic fantasy falls somewhere between Notre Dame and the Taj Mahal, with a hint of fairy-tale castle thrown in for good measure".

When we parked the car, we saw a carpet store directly across the street. Young and I decided to check it out. To my surprise, Young started to have them pull out carpets and proceeded to tell them what he liked and disliked and asked my opinion. He then started asking for price and started negotiating. This was surprising because a) we had never talked about purchasing a carpet in India, b) it is a relatively expensive purchase and for those of you who know my husband, he's pretty thrifty c) he knows almost nothing about carpets (but we found out he apparently likes the silk carpets over the wool ones), and d) he usually hates shopping! He would have purchased a carpet (maybe even two) right there and then in our first store if I hadn't pulled him out.

I realized that my biggest fear when shopping is that I won't get what I paid for. I am going to do some research on carpets and talk to my D&B colleagues in India before purchasing.

We then proceeded to the Gateway of India. It is Mumbai's most famous landmark and was built for a one-off visit by a foreign monarch. It is in the process of being restored so unfortunately, we couldn't get a picture without all of the construction. We realized that we stick out as foreigners when a lady approached us and asked if she could take a picture of us with her daughter (we did pose with her).

Behind the Gateway of India is another famous landmark in Mumbai, the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower (Taj Mahal hotel). This historic hotel is considered one of Mumbai's finest. The inside of the hotel is beautiful as are the shops with the likes of LV. Again, I don't quite know what was with my husband today (but I like it!) he bought me a beautiful pashmina from one of the hotel shops.

Also in the same neighborhood is a street "the causeway" along which are many stalls selling all sorts of interesting things. It was fun to walk through but we didn't buy anything.

We started driving back north via the scenic route on Marine Drive stopping to take pictures along the way. We drove to Bandra and had lunch at an amazing place recommended by the Lonely Planet called Moti Mahal (Turner & Waterfield Rd). Everything was delicious. It was cheaper and in our humble opinion, better than our meal at the Hyatt Regency. It was the best Dal we have ever had. I have a bad feeling that it was due to the amount of cream but I'm going to try not to think about that.

That brings us back to the hotel where we are now, having had a nap (we only got a few hours sleep last night) and reflecting on the day. Mumbai is an amazing place. When a tuck tuck overturned in front of us, our taxi driver as well as many others got out of their cars and ran to help. Thankfully, everyone was OK. It was only another example of the kindness we have seen in these people after only a day. The poverty is hard to see, especially when children are begging in the streets. I hope there never comes a time when this doesn't bother me.

I am going to sign off now and try to load a few of the pictures we took today into this blog. I am looking forward to meeting my colleagues at D&B India tomorrow and going to meet some of our largest Hoover's customers. I'm not sure what Young will get up to tomorrow but I know that he will enjoy exploring this facinating city and tasting more of the amazing food.