Towards the end of our three month Indian odyssey my thoughts started to turn towards Australia and so it was that on a long taxi journey back from Anjuna market in northern Goa to Patnem that I nodded off and began to dream. A bump in the road or a car horn stirred me from my slumber and as I rubbed my eyes to wake myself I realised that I had been dreaming of squeezing ketchup onto a genuine old fashioned ozzie meat pie. I will miss India's food forever but new culinary delights await. Some of those delights may or may not be cow flavoured.
Mumbai was the final hoorah and a fitting place to say goodbye to all that makes India such a dizzying incredible place. I loved Mumbai although I had been a bit nervous before arriving having read so much and having had our heads so fried in Delhi. It is however a brilliant city; very European in parts, great food, interesting sights, vibrant. Still utterly bonkers though and so while it has embraced the west and has money flowing freely through it it has retained the very essence of India. You can get your knives sharpened by a man operating a grinding wheel with a modified bike, have a shave, get a deep fried snack, peruse state of the art laptops, drink fresh coconut milk and buy a balloon that it four foot long and a foot wide all on the street outside your hotel.
We capped our trip off with Gin and Tonics in the iconic Taj Hotel which cost more than an entire days budget for both of us. Farewell India. I smell much better for having left you but things will never quite be the same again.
