What a manic couple of days….I am finally in Mumbai, and not really sure where to begin…..

My last weekend in London: incredible and hectic, ….basically just spent it catching up with friends and sorting out the last bits and pieces. After a week of getting to bed at 1.30 am every night I finally crawled into bed at 4.00 sat morning having packed and sealed my boxes for shipping….I had been told they were going to be picked up in the late afternoon on sat…but they ended up coming at 9am. So was massively relieved that they were all done and ready….lol I think the poor shipping guy was a bit overwhelmed by my excitement to see him.
So armed with my last to do list I set off for my last day in London I decided to take my new camera with to take some photo’s of my friend Alice. Imagine my ‘horror’ to discover it wasn’t working. I was gutted as it had worked the night before when I had plugged it into the mains to charge…..randomly spent 20 minutes trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with it…and distraught packed it up to take to Dixons….maybe the more ‘photo savvy minds’ could sort it out!! (Dad why didn’t you give me those genes?)
So first stop Dixons….very sweet looking girl looked about 12, seemed a bit perturbed as to what I actually wanted her to do, as I hadn’t even bought the camera there: “Just look at it please I begged it’s not working”
She opened it up…took one look and said:” um it will probably work if you put the battery in the right way,” yep….enough said. I was still completely confused as to how it had worked the night before if the battery was the wrong way around??? …until my ever so sensible and logical flatmate Stella pointed out hours later……” it was plugged into the mains, Gayle!” Um…..ok…again…enough said! (I would just like to add its hard being a victim of a non logical mind…but it does bring so much amusement to my friends so I thought you would enjoy that one;-)

I finally arrived in Mumbai after sleeping through my entire flight….which seems such a shame especially since Alison, aka Midgit, somehow managed to use her magic charms on the check-in guy and got me upgraded to a club class seat .(go Midgit!!) Not quite business class mind you …but definitely more comfortable than economy class. I vaguely remember seeing them starting to serve the food, closing my eyes for a few seconds and then opening them to find I was still waiting for my food….it took about another hour for me to figure out that I had actually slept through the entire meal, and no the middle, aged grumpy air hostess hadn’t woken me up. I then proceeded to spill my drink all over myself, seemed unable to get my video control to work and eventually just gave up and went back to sleep happily thinking about the wonderful send off I have had from all my UK friends.

Arriving in Mumbai I checked my email from the hostel only to discover a section that said you needed to send them your flight details as a confirmation of your booking. Which of course I hadn’t done. Typical. So I walked out of the station just hoping that by Divine intervention the guy from the hostel would still be there to pick me up. He wasn’t. I had only been standing there looking a little lost and forlorn for about 2 minutes when this Indian guy, who looked official enough, came up to me and asked where I was going. I showed him my hostel booking print out and he started phoning the number for me. My relief soon turned to paranoia as he started talking to the guy in a way that just seemed a little too friendly. (Due to the fact that my lovely father had begged me to google Indian scams before I left: which I did…I remembered reading that they would often pretend to phone the hostel and then phone another place…. every inch of my gut told me that was was he was doing) Low and behold he got off the phone and said I didn’t have a booking. I wanted to grab my Little hostel printout and run away AS FAST AS I COULD but seeing as he was the only friend I had in India, and I was lugging 18kg of luggage…running away wasn’t really an option. After remaining reasonably calm I insisted on speaking to the guy at hostel myself…and after much insistence, he called back and let me speak to him. The guy on the other end said he did have a booking for me but he just needed my flight booking number…I started to give it to him and my new found best friend suddenly grabbed his phone off me and basically just ummm…. ran away.

So I stood there for about 2 minutes obviously looking more forlorn than ever, on the verge of jet-lagged emotional ‘Giant’ Gayle tears and another guy came up to me and asked me where I was going. Take 2, Luckily he had a name tag: “James” and my gut didn’t lurch when I spoke to him. He took the number from me and I watched him type in the number so I knew it was legit…and low and behold I had a booking. 20 minutes later I was picked up by a lovely guy Raj and taken to my hostel the Anjali Inn. Saved from my first – but no doubt not last scam attempt!

I spent the day walking around the outskirts of Mumbai with a guy from Manchester called Simon that I met at the hostel…..absolutely surreal experience. The extreme poverty everywhere you look is just heartbreaking, India kinda makes South Africa look like a 1st world country. People sleeping on sides of the roads in little makeshift tent houses, dogs, goats, even saw a horse just eating out of the trash….(Chickens packed in hatches that can barely even move). And while taking all of this in you surrounded by this intense, completely INSANE traffic. Continuous hooting, no road markings…no traffic lights. Pure mayhem! A small child followed us for about a mile begging for money…..it was heart-wrenching…I would have actually given him something for his persistence and determination….had I had any change on me but I didn’t. We eventually found a tuk-tuk to take us to Andheri Station only to have this same child run with the tuk-tuk for as far as he could.

At one point we sat down on the side of the road just to watch…….(well, and for me to have a cigarette….:-) This guy came up with his phone and wanted to take a picture of us…..before we knew it….this massive crowd of people just surrounded us, easily about 15….all just looking and staring. Everywhere we went we were just stared at. We didn’t see as a single tourist the entire 3 hours that we were out. Oh yeh, did I mention that its monsoon season here? And to think I threw my umbrella away in London with so much joy! So to my dismay, I decided that I would have to buy an umbrella. I managed to barter the guy down from 100 rupees to 70. I was still muttering to Simon about how much I had been taken for when 3 minutes later the sky literally opened up and drenched us. Never in my life have I seen rain come like that….it was literally like a bucket of water was just tipped over us….. I think it was Gods way of saying…” shut up Gayle and be thankful you have an umbrella” Needless to say I did, and I was 🙂

All I can say is I am soooo glad I was with a guy for my first day out because it was so completely and utterly exhausting and overwhelming, and had I been alone it probably would have been way too daunting. Of course, that said it didn’t help that I was wearing my newly renovated short denim skirt (thanks Rowshan- I love it!) and sleeveless top either. Simon didn’t really seem to mind though because he had all the men smiling knowingly, winking and giving him thumbs up signs. So note to self: while in India cover up Gayle!!!

After walking around for 2 hours we eventually found the so-called Andheri station (can’t remember why we were actually looking for it in the first place- but we found it.) Only to realise we had walked right passed it and hour and a half before. The station itself was mad. British “Health and safety”  eat your heart out. The trains pull in, with no doors on them and so full up that people were just hanging out of them. Before it has even stopped everyone starts jumping off the train. Made me sooooo excited to take my first train trip! NOT!

We then tried to navigate ourselves home until it dawned on us that we were as clueless as each other. After spending 10 minutes just trying to cross the road safely we realised that we actually had to be on the other side of the road to catch a tuk-tuk. Another 10 minutes later….we eventually found one to take us home. And low and behold who do we almost run over but the same little boy who had been following us earlier. The shock of nearly being killed quickly wore off when he realised it was US!!!!….and the determined little bugger start chasing our Tuk Tuk again. This time I had some cash so I figured what the hell…..he scored 10 rupees for all his efforts! And I think Simon and I felt just a little less heartless than before!

Got home at 6, and slept for 2 and a half hours solid. Watched a movie and am now awake again at 2am….this is a bad habit I will need to break!!!
And thus ends my first day.

So am exhausted and have to get to sleep…..but before I go bare with me because although the next part might be tedious.. I just HAVE to do it!!!

I have done a lot of travelling before and never in my life have I felt so loved and so safe. I was just so overwhelmed by the send-off I got in London from all my friends. I feel like I have little things all over the place that are constant reminders of everyone.

Melissa thanks for just being there, especially on Sunday morning when I had my mini-meltdown and couldn’t finish my packing due to the hyperventilation and floods of tears!

Ollie thanks for sorting out my cash passport online (mid-mini-meltdown) and for eating my food for all these months, and loving it!! Stella thanks for just cleaning up after me and my friends the WHOLE weekend and for spoiling me so much. You are such a honey!!

Salaha, Ollie and Stella I love the gorgeous necklace you gave me and I am going to miss living with you guys!!! (Salaha, so happy for you and Hesham (spelling?) and that you are both getting the happy ending that you so deserve!)
Thanks to all my Old Ford friends for my fantastic camera…(that is now working;-)

Thanks to ALL my Coda friends (you know who you are) for your love and support these last 9 months….I couldn’t have got to this point without you! (Lewis, Anita, Vanessa, Deborah and Nancy I’m going to miss ALL our chats but look forward to resuming in 5 months)

Alice thanks for posting my last package for me and for all the wonderful coffee dates we have had….I’m going to miss you!

Stevie and Irina: Thanks for giving me a home the last couple of years and for making me part of your family…literally! I love you both and the little ones!!

Harvey and Kate…..thanks for just being sooooo cute together and making me sooooo proud to have set you up!!! And for my lovely fair well dinner and for flying me back to London next year for your wedding, and for making me YOUR best Man and for naming your first child after me! Geeeeees Im sooooooo excited!!! 😉

To all my other ex-flatmates..(Hugh, ray, Amelie, Lee and Grant!)who lived with me and still loved me, (despite the manic-depressive/paranoia moodiness!) each of you made my London time special….and I love you all!

Midgit…oh Midgit…..where to begin. Thanks for arriving at my house on Sunday in floods of ‘Midget tears’. It was the sweetest, most loveliest thing ever….especially since for the last 4 years you have been mopping up the Giant One’s tears!!:-) And thanks for spending my last day with me and taking a kazillion photo’s of me continuously, in every single position you could possibly find. I think you might just miss me! It was so lovely having you and Mark at the airport and I know I’m already missing you!

Now I am getting paranoid that I am leaving people out……To all my old friends that have stayed in touch for all these years Kelly, Bronwyn, Simone, Kirsty, Collete and Ilse and Lisa, (and Kristie) ….I LOVE you guys and can’t wait to see you all soon!)

I used to think I was deprived in life because I never had One best friend……now I realise how blessed I am because I simply have so many awesome friends…..and I’m truly grateful for each and every one of you.

And last but not least my lovely family. Mum and dad, I wouldn’t be blogging if it weren’t for your constant praise of all my emails so thanks for your belief in me and for all your love. (Thanks for my bracelet mum, I think of you every day when I wear it and I can’t wait to get home and start my life with you in SA) Lloyd how are you going to survive 5 months without me???? Lol, How and I going to survive 5 months without you!!! Brucie who is going to give you such great coaching advice?? (I look forward to working as your Tea girl when I get back) Tez thinking of you, especially at this time and love you lots. Yaai- paii So sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye to you but look forward to seeing you at the end of the year!!! Stella…3 BIG boxes will arrive in 6 weeks with my life in them thanks for looking after them for me and a BIG thanks for being the instigator in me getting my drivers licence!!! ! And lovely Dee…thanks for finding me a great Job in SA!!:-) I know you can do it!! Look forward to catching up in Cape Town.

And I think I am finally finished…..its now 3 AM I’m still awake….no surprise there…so I think its time I went to bed. Going on a paid tour for the whole day tomorrow mummy so you can rest assured that I will be safe and with lots of people! (If you didn’t worry about me travelling alone I would be worried…it shows that you care and I love you for it!!)

I’m exhausted…but before I go to bed I am going to have to go clean all the melted chocolate out of my rucksack! (Bless you midgit!;-)