Mumbai

Kiron and Robins Apartment Block, Mumbai

We began our travels in Mumbai (Bombay), but obviously before we could land in India we had some more paper work to fill, in with ample spaces left on the paper so that it can be stamped by several important people in several different locations before we reach the departure lounge. We did however get to have quite a sheltered experience of Mumbai (which, believe me, we were very happy to have). We were staying with Christine’s aunt and uncle, Robin and Kiron.

Mumbai

Mumbai is like no place I have seen before, the divide between rich and poor is unbelievable. And what seems even more unbelievable is that they live right on top of each other, in a city that often seems to be in complete decay. Yet rising out of this are huge new skyscrapers and shiny new shopping malls, but which incredibly are just in between all the plastic and rusty old corrugated shacks of the poor.

Our first taste of Indian culture, and we didn’t even have to leave the country!

So where do we begin? Well our first stop Mumbai India, and before we had even left, we were already frustrated (putting it lightly) with the country.
Yes, we had to get our Indian Visas…..No problem, this being the modern age, simply log on to Indian immigration, fill out a little online application and (as it is in most countries) you're done.
OOOOhhhh, wouldn’t that have been a lovely story if it wasn’t a load of Bull Shit! Maybe some day far far in the future it will be so, when their beloved sacred cows take over the country in their spaceships and remove all the bureaucrats and their love of paper from office may it be so.
So to cut a long drawn out story short, we had to travel up to Dublin and hand our passports in the embassy along with a bunch of forms, and wait to hear back from them.
Unfortunately I did not hear back from them, and as our trip drew closer I tried to contact them, but as their website states “In the interest of reliable and authentic communication, we request that all queries/requests be made in writing by e-mail/fax/post” With means they don’t answer the phone and they don’t respond to emails, so basically the only way to contact the embassy is to drive up to Dublin and knock on there Door.
Eventually Christine just went up and lo and behold, they were there all along!
YEPPEEEEEEE INDIA HERE WE COME (beaming with enthusiasm of course after our experiencing our first wonderful succulent taste of ‘incredible’ Indian culture.