I LOVE EUROPE by Filipe

Mumbai is a vivacious shit hole!! The smell is so thick it reminds me of my asthmatic days as a child where i struggle to breathe even with my airways open to their maximum. Thank god I bought a Palestinian towel to wrap round my head. The smell is a thick concoction of a man arms pits fused with a two day old curry which you forgot to leave in the fridge. The level of poverty hits you smack in the face. One positive I have noticed is that they make the best of their homes in the shanty towns making full use of colour. Having had a similar experience, although brief when I travelled to the Dominican Republic I look straight through the beggars and sellers as if they don’t exist. I find this works as the moment you make eye contact they harass till submission. Is it the responsibility of tourists to look after the Indian poor or the government who claim that their economy is the fastest growing in the world. Another issue I find myself asking is whether helping one poor child by slapping a sweaty wad of rupees in the palm of his hand will help. Will it really make an impact or will he run back to his crack head father to help get another fix. I concluded in not helping any and to be completely honest it bothers me less and less as the days go by.
We are staying near the fort area in the Salvation Army Red shield hostel as recommended by the lonely planet guide. The morning we arrived we found ourselves waiting with other fellow backpackers in the common room so as to checkin. The service is shockingly rude with a mentality of “I don’t give a fuck”. It funny that because proudly mounted on the wall is a quote from Ghandi talking about service and how it is their honour to serve us my response to their mentality is “bullshit”. Weli and I realise as we scan the faces of the white middle class backpackers minus the two Israelis as foretold by Massi just how little we are prepared to ruff it out to their extent. As the reception desk we could hear two backpackers saying that they wanted to stay in the 12 man dorm and not take up the triple private room. We looked at the prices it was either 2£ or 4£ per night!! I have also realised that everyone is armed to the ready with lonely planet guides so I seem to see the same faces at all the hot spots and sites. Maybe an Idea would be to buy another travel guide as we might actually do something original.
Mumbai takes some getting used to. Now on my third days the stench is not so bad and the street beggars don’t seem so annoying. The buildings left behind from British colonialism are breath taking and similarities can be made with areas in London such as St. Pancreas and Holborn. I am disappointed to see that the buildings are not being maintained and everything is falling to bits. I guess they are injecting all their money into new Mumbai. I read in the economist not too long ago an article on India that it was a country composed of articulate and clever salesmen, I completely agree. When I look at the various construction sites around the city I realise just how far in Europe we have come with regards to safety and general organisation.
During the day we visited Elephant Island (a name given by Portuguese navigators), it was a nice boat ride from the Taj Palace Hotel which is complete boarded up with a heavy presence of military not doubt due to the terror incidents of the previous months. I forgot to mention that the Hostel over looked the Taj Palace Hotel which is a staggering building. Elephant island was beautiful from a far but like most tourist traps around the world had been completely ruined by cheap tradesmen and tacky restaurants.
At night we have been going to Leopolds Cafe. A very cool place with lovely traditional food, we had a beautiful butter chicken (thank you for the info Bal). The music is loud, mainly RnB which Weli found comforting (and the odd bit of house to). I suppose I am used to be a white European in Europe, I guess always the majority coming to India I am defiantly the minority and I like knowing what that feels like. The second night in Mumbai we visited the famous Tavern where they showed both Man Utd and Chelsea games. Again the food was immense our favourite dish being the chicken pineapple.
We booked the train tickets to New Delhi for Sunday. That was yet another experience. We discovered that foreign people or tourists had no right to 1st AC class and so 2nd or 3rd were at our disposal. I found this disgraceful and it pissed me off royaly. If I have the money what is their god dam problem. We found out that 2nd AC was not available and I find myself now writing this entry from 3rd AC. Its not horrible but for a 17 hour trip I will do anything in my power to get my hands on 2nd AC if we are to repeat this journey. Again the concoction of smells dazzles me, I am getting a whiff of Afghani feet with an old sandwich.
So far I reckon in India you can meet some 5 star people, the two guys sitting in front are really happy people. I have to constantly remind myself not to get offended with their manners or should i say lack of. I never hear excuse me or pardon me for instance the guy in front just dropped his meal tray on my foot with burning hot soup, luckily the soup was not hot enough to give me third degree burns, I heard nothing. If anything he was expecting and waiting for me to pick the tray from the floor. Politeness cost nothing. I must be part of their culture as I see it happening all around me.
If Mumbai is supposedly the more modern city I cant even begin to imagine what New Delhi has in store for us all. To conclude INDIA = ONE HELL OF A CULTURE SHOCK.
I will definitely think twice when I return to England or Portugal when I criticise.