Over the winter holiday we decided to visit Ankur's family in Bombay. It's only a short 3.5 hr flight although the ticket is still quite expensive. Anyway, the first two days there were overwhelming to say the least. My first impression was that it is the dirtiest city I've ever been to. Granted I haven't been to many places outside of the US, Europe, or Australia. Only Taipei and Beijing could compare. Anyway, besides the dirt and pollution there are slums everywhere you look and it is heartbreaking. The naked children playing on the street in a pile of garbage is shocking. And getting a sore throat because of the pollution is not a good sign. Despite the environment, I must say people there were genuinely nice and seemed very happy. Once I got used to everything and over my paranoia of getting malaria, diarrhea, etc. I truly enjoyed myself. The company and food was fantastic as was the shopping! Thanks to Samir and Mahesh Kaka!
My album was posted on snapfish here, and ank posted some on flickr here
Day 1: sleep
Day 2: shopping…Samir took us to this crazy market with just about everything and then some!
Day 3: New Years party…lots of eating and dancing!!
Day 4: recover and eat good home-cooked food and more shopping
Day 5: paragliding - we had a 3-day class that was amazing! First day you run! run! and start to get off the ground a little
Day 6: paragliding – second day you actually fly a little from the middle of the hill. You don't fly for long but it's so exciting and such a thrill.
Day 7: paragliding – third day you're at the top of the hill and seriously nervous. What an experience!
Day 8: more good food and hanging out w/Hetal and Binal
Day 9: last chance shopping and food
Day 10: back to Doha
Yes, I left out a lot of the details and I should have written this a long time ago.
-Gen
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