Namaste from the Taj President Hotel in Mumbai! After touching down shortly after midnight, we arrived at our hotel around 2:30am. Our travels thus far have been nothing short of an adventure, as delays in the visa process forced Ashley to miss the group's flight from Boston to London, and a late departure out of Boston made us hustle to catch our connecting flight at Heathrow.
The London-Mumbai leg of the journey was particularly interesting and eventful. Of the five meals we've now been served on this trip, three of them have been curry (thanks British Airways!), yet we've only been on the subcontinent for about 12 hours. Our flight attendants have ranged from chipper Brits who warned us of Diet Coke's dire dietary effects to a sneaky Indian woman who raised our seats back into the upright position as we slept. As we descended into Mumbai, the attendants sprayed our cabin with what they announced was an antiseptic designed to prevent the spread of disease. We suspect, however, that it was merely meant to mask the odors of the city itself as the plane lost altitude. True to form, the Indian customs officials were predictably taciturn and even made Ashneil complete another visa form because he'd made the egregious error of filling his out in red ink.
Walking out the airport doors to meet an unknown city (and entirely new continent for most of us) was an experience none of us is likely to soon forget. I don't think it's too crass to say that Mumbai smells — like a mix of smoke, spice, incense and diesel fuel. The heat was intense even at 2am under a night sky, and the temperature is due to climb above 95F this afternoon. From what little of the city we've been exposed to so far, the inequality that we read about all term is even starker in person, with high-rise apartment complexes towering over tin-roofed slums and the homeless spending their nights on benches along the side of the road. We feel incredibly lucky to be safely ensconced in such nice hotel accommodations, where today we've taken advantage of a delicious and complimentary continental breakfast.
This afternoon, we embark to meet with one of India's top development economists and will later rendezvous with some Dartmouth alumni at one of Mumbai's newest eating and drinking establishments. We'll be posting pictures as soon as wifi in our hotel lobby allows.
The London-Mumbai leg of the journey was particularly interesting and eventful. Of the five meals we've now been served on this trip, three of them have been curry (thanks British Airways!), yet we've only been on the subcontinent for about 12 hours. Our flight attendants have ranged from chipper Brits who warned us of Diet Coke's dire dietary effects to a sneaky Indian woman who raised our seats back into the upright position as we slept. As we descended into Mumbai, the attendants sprayed our cabin with what they announced was an antiseptic designed to prevent the spread of disease. We suspect, however, that it was merely meant to mask the odors of the city itself as the plane lost altitude. True to form, the Indian customs officials were predictably taciturn and even made Ashneil complete another visa form because he'd made the egregious error of filling his out in red ink.
Walking out the airport doors to meet an unknown city (and entirely new continent for most of us) was an experience none of us is likely to soon forget. I don't think it's too crass to say that Mumbai smells — like a mix of smoke, spice, incense and diesel fuel. The heat was intense even at 2am under a night sky, and the temperature is due to climb above 95F this afternoon. From what little of the city we've been exposed to so far, the inequality that we read about all term is even starker in person, with high-rise apartment complexes towering over tin-roofed slums and the homeless spending their nights on benches along the side of the road. We feel incredibly lucky to be safely ensconced in such nice hotel accommodations, where today we've taken advantage of a delicious and complimentary continental breakfast.
This afternoon, we embark to meet with one of India's top development economists and will later rendezvous with some Dartmouth alumni at one of Mumbai's newest eating and drinking establishments. We'll be posting pictures as soon as wifi in our hotel lobby allows.
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