India Day 10: Mumbai

The same taxi driver that drive us up was there at 5:30am to drive us back down to the airport at Kochi. It had taken 3.5 hours to get up there (at speed) but the taxi company thought it would only take 3 hours to get back down. We had a flight to catch a were a little dubious but we trusted there judgement.

Well, they were wrong...it took just over 2.5 hours to get down..

And we were overtaken on the way so weren't even the fastest thing on the road! Got to the airport in plenty od time and boarded our flight o Mumbai.

We had opted for a bit of luxury in Mumbai and booked the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel near the Gateway to India, and even treated ourselves to booking a taxi with the hotel to transfer us from the aiport. Little did we know that this was a chauffer driven SUV. We were a bit taken aback by this. It was more expensive than we thought but worth it as a one off. The journey was 5000 rupees and when we got to the hotel it was very plush. 

Our room for £270 didn't have a window...but of a shock that but when I mentioned this they upgraded us straight away. It was on the second floor and very nice...but smelt of damp so we asked for a different room. They apologised profusely and gave us another room...which was better but not great so they offered us another on the 6th floor. This was better again and we opted for that. They also helped is up with our bags and were generally very helpful about the whole thing.

In all, everyone we met in India wanted to help us. They wanted to ensure we were happy and having a nice time. I liked this. It was like, they want us to feel happy. They were proud of their country and us to like it. I feel we in the UK have lost this feeling.

So, went went shopping in the streets and markets nearby. The prices were OK and we bought lots of presents, including an India cricket shirt and a Mumbai City football shirt, each for 2000 rupees. 

Dinner was in the hotel brasserie and was very nice, we even treated ourselves toa glass of wine...it being our last night.


When we got back to the room, the Hotel Services staff had laid on a foot spa for us which was super nice. In all a great stay in Mumbai.

Just leaves the flight home tomorrow

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