Planes, Trains and Elephanta Island

Arrived at the hotel after day one of my tour only to realize that I had left my smartphone in a blue cab. As I mentioned before, there are approximately 20,000 cabs in Mumbai, so there was no chance of recovering my HTC Dash complete with a prepaid SIM card. Fortunately, that was the only thing I lost on my voyage with the exception of my favorite bike multi-tool that some young security official pocketed at the Munich Airport...

Another night and no relief from the humidity, 12 a.m. 32 C (felt like 40 C) – time for another cold shower without drying off before hitting the sac. The bedsheets were incredibly starchy, fortunately I had packed a sleeping bag liner and mini pillow which served me well throughout the trip.

I jumped out of bed early and had the great idea of taking a commuter train from Chembur (where my hostel was) to Mumbai, it was a fraction of the cost because the hotel security guard escorted me to the station and paid for the ticket – I came to realize that there are two prices for everything: one for "National Citizens" and another for "Tourists". But I was determined to act like the common man, I'm adaptable – right? I boarded the train circa 1956, grabbed a dangling handle from the lime green ceiling and blended in like a pink elephant on a bus. I was reminded of what my tour guide told me the day before – there is no personal space in India, no one even knows what it means. After each stop more people boarded, spaces became smaller and the burning stares became stronger, and just when I thought that more people could not possibly fit in, even more boarded the train – repeat times two. Although it was obvious that I was "one of those kids that's not like the other" I felt calm, safe and fortunate. It was just an experience for me, but for thousands of working class citizens it was simply an ordinary commute to the city. The temples, caves and monuments were wondrous and amazing, however my experiences with people is what I cherished the most from the voyage.

I arrived at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus built in 1903, (formerly known as Victoria Terminus, 1996). This was another site of the terrorist attacks in 2008 (again thankful for my early departure a month before the events.) The day before, I went to an internet café and contacted a few people on couchsurfing.com to see if they wanted to meet up for a tour of Elephanta Island. I met the wonderfully friendly Nidhi (Jakhodia). We met at the Gateway to India where the ferries idled in the water with their red and white trim, if Santa built ferries they would look exactly like these. We puttered across the Arabian Sea taking photos and getting to know one another. Once we arrived on the Island, we took an ornamental train to the park's entrance which led us up an infinite staircase, flanked with various makeshift booths that offered all kinds of trinkets and souvenirs at outrageous prices. 

We made our way up to the "real entrance" of the caves and had to pay another fee to get in (something that the ticket booth in Mumbai neglected to mention). The double pricing was in effect here as well, and my friend Nidhi tried her best to get me in at the Nationalist price but to no avail, extra Karma points to her for trying – she did manage to get me a Sprite for local prices though, she is one tough negotiator.


The caves were built around the 6th century. I say built because they were all carved out of the mountainside by hand with rudimentary tools. I can't impress upon you how much work that would have taken given the size of the caves and the intricacy of the embedded carvings. Please take a look at my album to get an idea of what I mean. There were several large hall-type caves supported by pillars and guarded by statues of the Hindu God Shiva, in various representations. Nidhi is an amateur photographer, and we spent most of the afternoon pointing our lenses at all of the caves treasures.

Even the monkeys don't drink the local water.

When we ran out of things to shoot, we made our way back to the ferry for the trip back to Mumbai. A much welcomed breeze followed us on the boat as we talked about traveling and world views. We disembarked around supper time and decided to eat at an Italian restaurant, the place was packed and decorated with art deco-style posters. I enjoyed spending the day with my new friend, we still keep in touch via Facebook to this day.


She invited me out for tea with her friends that evening, but unfortunately I was leaving for New Delhi very early the next day. In hindsight, I should have spent more time socializing instead of trying to cram in more activities. Live and learn, no regrets here.


I roared off into the pitch black night reflecting on the great day that I had and was excited about my morning trip to New Delhi to meet an old friend whom I had not seen in 20 years.

Mumbai aka Bombay

I awoke to the buzz of thousands of people making their way through their lives. I decided to take a cab into the city – there are no words to describe this experience. There are 20,000 cabs alone in the city of Mumbai and they all seem to be driving in circles. Add to this the thousands of people crossing the road in the middle of this auto madness. Traffic signs and painted lines mean nothing, it is all about the honking, from above I would imagine that it looks like a swarm of bees trying to make their way around the hive – complete with the beeping and buzzing. A 20-kilometer drive took 90-minutes to complete.

After many stops to ask for directions to Leopold's Cafe I finally found it. This was one of the sites that was attacked by terrorists a few weeks after my visit. It felt somewhat surreal watching the news reports, having just been there enjoying some Chicken Tikka Masala. I visited nearly all of the locations that were targeted and consider

myself lucky that my schedule conflicted with that of the terrorists.

I covered a lot of ground my first day, the Gateway to India, Kanehri Caves, Naked Man Temple, Hanging Gardens, Laundry Colony, Parsi graveyard, Ghandi's House and a plethora of textile shops and craft shops (that's the kicker when you bargain with tour guides, you have to humour the shop owners and listen to their

pitch). Each spot was very unique but all had a long, and interesting history. I was particularly

moved by the visit to Ghandi's House, they had among other things, his sandals, robe, bed, writing stationary. I love it when you can see and touch history, I imagined him writing and meditating in his office area, wandering the halls contemplating the virtues of passive-resistance and sitting

by the window watching people walking by just as they were this day.

I watched the sun disappear over the water just as I was finishing my first marathon tourist route overlooking the Queen's Necklace on Marine Drive. With one great day under my belt, I was even more excited to explore Bombay's hidden treasures.

Thank you India

The Alanis Morrisette song Thank you has a line in it "thank you India" and I can't think of a better way to sum up my visit to this wonderful, mystical, overwhelming place. People that have traveled to India often say: "it will change you" and I couldn't agree more. It attacks all the senses pulling you in opposite directions physically and emotionally. In my opinion you do not vacation in India, you experience India.

Munich to Mumbai

I took an early flight from Munich on Jet Airways. To my pleasant surprise the airline was top notch, I felt as if I was traveling in business class: personal media centre, gourmet Indian food, big comfy seats and wonderful staff. Had I known what the next week would hold for me I would have relished the moment longer... Actually, I found all flights within India to be just as comfortable (not to mention affordable). I arrived in Mumbai (Bombay) at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport about 12:30 a.m. As I exited the airconditioned aircraft, I felt a wall of hot moisture hit me in the face – not unlike walking into a sauna fully clothed. It was 34 degrees Celsius with 96% humidity. This weather would not change during my entire stay in Mumbai. In fact, during the day the temperature would climb to 40 C. After muddling through the confusing immigration checkpoints (which I found out afterward that you could easily walk past without stopping) I made my way to the currency exchange counter *bring USD with you there are no ATMs in the airport*. I grabbed my fist full of rupees and then booked a prepaid cab. Fortunately at this hour of the day there was little traffic and we motored our way into the darkness. Having lived in Malawi, Africa I thought I was prepared, no, conditioned to adapt to the culture shock; this turned out to be a false assumption. It was, after all, many years ago and seeing people sleeping on the street, in the gutter, and on sidewalks was a huge wake up call. I arrived at the Hotel Pearl in Chembur (about 20 kms north of Mumbai central).

The staff were very pleasant and accomodating however the condition of the rooms left much to be desired - even for hostel standards. That being said, I was glad to have a place to lay down and rest. Fortunately, I brought ear plugs with me which helped drown out the noise of the rattling air conditioner, which did not provide any relief from the heat since it would only blow air. The only way to fall asleep was to take a cold shower without drying off and go straight to bed, allowing the fan to evaporate the water from my skin thus taking some heat with it. As I laid my weary head on my thin pillow, I drifted into sleep thinking about all of the wonderful adventures that awaited me.

Umpa, Pretzels and Beer!!

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Originally uploaded by mr_dj72

I arrived a little early in Munich and had some time to kill. Having never traveled there I had little idea where to go or what to do. After grabbing a pretzel and some mineral water at the station I walked outside to see a swarm of people all heading in the same direction - so I did what any curious young traveler would do - follow the crowd. It didn't take me long to figure out where all the cheerful people were heading, no it wasn't the Pied Piper they were all shuffling toward the gates of Oktoberfest! NOTE: When attending Oktoberfest or any other major event that involves circus rides, beer, and pin-balling your way through crowds check your bags in a locker at the station (if you don't have a place to put them like I didn't) - I was easily the most obvious tourist backpacker - one 60 Litre pack in the back and one 30 Litre pack in the front. Three hours of walking took two days of mending for my hips and back...Fortunately I was able to return the next day sans backpacks to enjoy the event in its totality.

I was fortunate enough to have a schoolmate from Malawi, Africa now living in Munich with his wife. His parents were also visiting which was a treat because they too had lived in Malawi during the same time period and were close friends with my mother and father.

The following day we returned to Oktoberfest, it was the last day of the festival which my friend informed me was the best day to go because most of the tourists have left LOL. It was indeed a somewhat different crowd of people, more families and a little more civility. We managed to find a spot on a patio of one of the "tents". There are about ten tents, each holding between six and ten thousand people. I managed to consume one stein of beer and couldn't imagine drinking any more than that, however there were many who surpassed my quota by five or six times.

And if beer and pretzels are not to your liking there was a dessert tent that served up a wonderful menu full of chocolate and pastry masterpieces. Not to be outdone we decide it would be prudent to make our last stop there.

That evening we had a wonderful home cooked meal and talk about the "good old days" living in Malawi and it was early to bed for me so that I could catch an early flight to Mumbai, India.

Das Schmekt Gut

Landed in Frankfurt without incident — other than the fact that the airline food was just awful. It was surprisingly easy to find the ICE train at the airport, just take the free bus outside the baggage claim area to the station (5 mins). On the ride to Nuremberg I met Betina, a freelance journalist. She had traveled extensively while producing human interest stories. We chatted sporadically during the two-and-a-half our ride which made the introduction to Germany pleasant. I should have gotten an email address or at least a last name but brief friendships are sometimes ethereal and that's o.k.

The German countryside was not unlike Canada's with rolling hills and forests, the only exception would be red terra cotta roofs in the villages.

Upon arrival in Nuremberg I was immediately taken aback by the awesome architecture. The train station was something to behold (see above). This would prove to be the second most impressive train station that I will have encountered (Mumbai station is #1). My hotel was just a five minute walk underground, I surfaced near one of city's watchtowers – Hotel Victoria was right next to it.

I had met some folks online through a travel forum and decided to meet around 4:30pm. We toured the city and found a great Italian pizza joint that served rediculously huge pizzas for very reasonable prices. I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation and laughter with my newfound friends, I will surely keep in touch. The next day I hopped on a train to Munich and accidentally wandered into madness...

On y Va

This was it, the journey finally began. Up until this point it was a dream despite having paid for my air travel and booking hotels. The drive to the Bangor Airport was complimented by the fall colours flanking the highway. It was at this point that I remembered that I did not bring my wall charger for my smartphone—unbeknown to me at the time it was an omen (more about that later). I did manage to purchase a new wall charger at the JFK aiport, you can buy just about anything there.

Onward to Germany...

Prepare.....Ready Set GO!

The best and worst thing about planning this trip was the time I had to prepare. I made the decision to travel about a month ago, so it has given me enough time to coordinate it all but not so much that I've planned every infinite detail. Having a baseline is essential but I'm going with the theory that more flexibility equals more fun. Time will tell. I've packed everything from bug repellent to blue putty (helps keep the power adapters from falling out of the sockets). I can probably buy 80% of this stuff in India but I'd rather spend time checking out the sights and sounds instead of buying sundries.

I'm leaving Oct 2nd (tomorrow) from Bangor ME connecting to JFK in NY and then to Frankfurt. There I will be taking a train to Nuremberg, staying overnight and then taking another train through Bavarian country to Munich where I will meet some friends and partake in some Oktoberfest activities but not the underwear tearing kind of activities (ask me more about a story I heard about a friend's experience).

I hope I will sleep well tonight, I'm anxious to get going! Stay tuned for more photos, and perhaps a few video blogs.

Is it all a dream?

What can I say, the past year has been an interesting one to say the least. Here I am posting tidbits of my life for the world to view. I wanted to write something prolific for my first post, so I did what any wise person would do—Googled it! As a result I found this quote:

“When you can think of yesterday without regret and tomorrow without fear, you are near contentment.” — Anonymous.

Despite the tumultuous year, I do not have any regrets. I've grown tremendously as a person and have learned many valuable life-lessons that have helped me become more content. This EPIC voyage is a gateway with an exit and an entrance. My father has often told me that when one door closes another one opens, I believe this to be true and would add that it is up to us to walk through the open door. All too often we are caught between doors without realizing that all it takes is for us to step forward. The other advice that my dad has bestowed upon me is to always try something new that scares the shit out of you at least for a little while. This has been by far one of the best pieces of advice that I have ever followed. This has not only been good for my career, but also for my life, love and laughter.

I cannot promise that you will be inspired, titillated or amused by my blog but I hope that you will feel somewhat content after reading about my experiences.

Salani bwino (stay well)

DJ