D100 –- One Hundred!!!

Today we flew from Hong Kong to Mumbai (Bombay) India. In preparation for landing the flight attendants went through the cabin spraying some sort of disinfectant. From that moment my education about India began. We landed and were taxing to the gate. When the plane started to slow practically everyone stood up and started getting their carry-ons down. I'd never seen people get up so early! The plane hadn't even stopped moving! And once we actually stopped moving and the seatbelt sign went off people REALLY got pushy. You would think there was a fire on board or something.

We boarded an old, beat-up bus that smelled like incense to get to the terminal. Thomas went for our luggage, and it was just a madhouse by the baggage carousel since everyone and their mother had carts with them and there was absolutely no room to maneuver. We caught a taxi outside and people were trying to grab our luggage from our hands so they could make a few rupees carrying them. The driver took us on a crazy route – I'm not sure if by choice or necessity. We went through what I can only describe as a shanty town. There were people everywhere and we went up several streets that seemed like one-way streets but we were going opposite traffic. I saw a little boy pull his pants down to defecate on the sidewalk. There was trash everywhere. I started to get concerned because I just couldn't imagine any hotel in these small, poorly-lit, impoverished back streets. But all of a sudden we turned a corner and we were on a main road. We got to the hotel where uniformed bellman opened doors for us and led us into the lobby, where two men were playing piano and guitar in front of a 7-story high waterfall. Only one word came to my mind: Insane. It was insane to go from one of the most impoverished neighborhoods I've ever seen to a posh, sterile hotel. My first lesson about India – it is a land of stark contrasts.

-Elva