BOMBAY. Saturday 22/11/14. My last 24 hours of WiFi in Bombay. Ill be home at last on Monday night. So, a few last comments on Bombay. Firstly the hotel. Its certainly not 4 star, but Ive been happy and comfortable here. The reception staff are very varied. The manager seems only interested in what I might spend, another young man on the desk seems not interested in giving me any help at all. It took me three times to get toilet paper sent up to my room the first day and another three or four times before they admitted that something was wrong with THEIR settings, which explained why I couldnt log on. By contrast, an older man on duty later in the day was as helpful and kind as could be. He also recommended a local restaurant called Café Murol (Murol being the name of the area...North Bombay...quite near the International Airport). About 100 yards away, the only negative is...no air conditioning....just fans...and few of them really speak English. It seems to be run by Indian Muslims, judging by the white skull-caps and ubiquitous and impressive beards. The large choice of dishes covers both Indian and Chinese food...and not the usual stuff we see in the UK. Everything Ive had, though, has been wonderful! Theres no beef or pork, but only fish, chicken and mutton. However, I plumped for the vegetarian dishes. Wonderful eating and, including drinks, I still havent paid as much as £2 per meal yet. When this Wifi runs out tomorrow at about 2:30pm on Sunday, I plan my last meal there and will go for the full Monty...starter, main course, desert, fruit juice... I visited the famous Chor Bazaar yesterday but, what with the heat, I didnt do that much exploring. What I COULD see was rather disappointing. No antiques and interesting stuff at all. No doubt, if I had a local guide to show me where the best stuff was, it might have been different, but, in the end I decided to get a taxi back to the nearest station. Id been charged 60 rupees on the outward journey so I knew that they were trying to rip me off when they quoted 300 rupees when I wanted to return. OK. This is only £3, but its the principle of the thing. When a taxi offered me the correct price, I rewarded him by hiring him instead to take me all the way to Lower Parel and the comedy club where I was performing. He DID get 300 rupees in the end. Ive been performing at the Canvas Laugh Club. As I may have said, physically its a clone of the London Comedy Store, but much more friendly. Two years ago, I was much struck by how knowledgeable the comedy audience in Bangalore was. They had watched every British and American comedian on YouTube. Not so here in Bombay. Its all a bit new for them. Theres hardly a comedian over 30yo (I must seem truly ancient) and the audiences seem very much like comedy virgins, as we call them. That said, I am getting a good reception and the only negative is getting back to my hotel afterwards. It takes a good hour in the heat! Tonight, Saturday, it will be much more full and indeed, well be doing two back-to-back shows. I STILL have my *!!@@@!!!ing tickly couch, though I THINK its finally going away gradually, now. Ive also been eaten alive by the local insect population and, what with the never-ending heat and living out of a suitcase, Im looking forward to being home in London on Tuesday. The Internet says it will be 9C (49F) and rainy. (Its OK. I have my umbrella with me. I AM British!). Ah! The frisson of being a little chilly once more. I can hardly wait! One more negative. Wherever you go, there is persistent begging and you have to steel yourself not to give money all the time. If you do so once, youll be surrounded by a whole group of others from babyhood to old-age. Something obviously needs to be done to attack poverty here but it cant be down to tourists. You see the dreadful shanty-town dwellings from the train. Despite this...EVERYONE, despite the incessant heat, somehow always looks clean and neat. How DO they do it!? The ubiquitous, varied and crowded humanity will be my abiding memory of Bombay, though Im looking forward to perhaps one or two more auto-rickshaw rides before I leave. Theyre an adventure in themselves...
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 09:57:42 +0000
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