almost done

Went to Chowpatti beach. Toxic beyond belief. You can actually see the garbage in the waves. A bunch of teens saw us on the beach and wanted us to write our names all over their arms to celebrate friendship day (weird Indian holiday). Took a harrowing boat ride to Elephant Island. Small boats don't fare well in monsoon season. One lady passed out and several vomited and I got soaked to the bone. The island was pretty awesome. Lots of great Hindu cave carvings. We also went to the Kaneri caves. These were Buddhist caves and much more beautiful and interesting. Both caves were over run with monkeys. I never thought I'd say it, but I hate monkeys. They do nothing but cause problems and make me nervous.The steal stuff and fight with each other; I'm pretty sure that even the other animals hate them. Whenever they are around I make sure to carry a stick just in case (rabies was the only shot I didn't get). We are getting pretty worn out so there probably won't be much more than souvenir shopping before we leave. Our flight leaves at 5am so we won't be able get much sleep. I can't wait to get back to the sanity of the states.

Garbage water

friendship day?

caves

kolkata to mumbai

We spent our last day in kolkata at a loud scummy local bar in town. There are a ton of super classy places, but I am not classy enough to get in. I was actually turned away for wearing shorts (from street pooping to dress codes, only in India!). We both had to go to the bathroom real bad on our walk to a Jain temple and we stopped to go in the alley (like all the locals do). Turns out though that it was NOT only an alley but some womans home too. She freaked out on Sunni and Sunni freaked out right back. Nothing like walking through a beautiful temple with your hystarically crying girlfriend (again, only in India). Flying into Mumbia was a little unsettling. A massive slum surounds the airport and as you land you can see all the tiny metal villages. So far it is still not the modern metropolis that I was somehow invisioning, but it has all the signs of progress. We went to a mall yesterday and walked around by the Gateway of India today. Modern coffee houses and fancy chain stories sit next to beggars and bazzars with highrises being constructed everywhere. Although still pretty strange this and kokata are the closest to western cities (but still light years away).

Bohdi Tree Guest House


Jain Temple


Rare moment of athleticism (playing catch with some little kids)


Mumbai