Guided Cave Tour by Chandra

After another morning of exploring our neighborhood, booking pedicures at the World Famous Taj Mahal Hotel and slurping up more mango lassis, we hopped on a long ferry journey to Elephanta Island http://www-ccs.cs.umass.edu/cris/bombay1998/elephanta/elephanta.html. Not surprising, there was a fee or tax at every step of our journey. On our trip up the mountain, we encountered solicitations for tour guides. I had read that this is a treat and worth the few dollars they charge. So Chandra, who was raised and has lived on the Island with out electricity his entire life became our day long friend. His services proved to be quit useful. He helped us weave our way through vendors, I stopped for my first sidewalk meal (yummy), guarded us from nasty moneys, told us the fair prices we should be paying for misc items and the prices we would be quoted because of our color and was in general friendly and helpful. At the top of the mountain, I forgot about the scorching heat, my burning calves and fell in love with the caves I have only read about. I am still in awe. The depth, size and detail of the caves and carvings within are like nothing I have seen in real life. Caved into the mountain side was a living museum, think Indiana Jones. It is also incredible that the work was done during the 13th century. After the caves we were invited to visit the local village, Indian hospitality is common. We ended up with a fantastic view of the ocean from the second story of a small but exceptional clean and bare hut. The breeze and shade was fantastic. Before we parted ways with our new friend, he gave us both matching anklets and we bought him a beer at the Government ran restaurant on the Island.

Back in Mumbai, Jeni and I had the most fantastic Indian meal. I mean mouth watering, take the food away or I will eat myself into oblivion meal! Cost: less than 5$ total. We thought we would go home, take a short nap and then get ready for our big night on the town. We were wrong. We fell sleep about 7:20 pm and slept threw the alarm and on into the morning. We were so exhausted. We both woke up this morning (or rather I woke Jeni up because "Hey sleepyhead, we're in India!") rested and eager to start our next adventurous day.

So far, we have ate breakfast, bought new shoes from a street vendor, are currently at the Internet Cafe, will be leaving here to Leopold Cafe for the most perfect Mango Lassi and who knows until our 1:00 pedicures and an attempt to sneak into the fancy hotel swimming pool...

Om Shanti, Jeeni