London - Hyde Park & Around 2

We carried on walking and got to Knightsbridge and the beautiful building that is Harrods, but have a look at the quaint little street we passed on the way.
Eventually we arrived in Sloane Square just as it was getting dark.

London - Hyde Park & Around

Back in Great Britain...
We decided whilst travelling that when we were back in The UK we would explore our own country a bit more.
Having cut short our world trip we thought it was due time to embark on our promise to ourselves. So here we go....
We bought ourselves a guide book for London and started off in Hyde Park taking a stroll on what was a bitterly cold but wonderfully clear day.
You'll see in the photos The Victoria & Albert Monument, The Royal Albert Hall, Peter Pan Statue, Serpentine River, Marble Arch and some of the local wildlife.
Did you know that Queen Victoria never really recovered from the death of her loving husband Albert and so built the extravagant monument in his memory.

Mumbai Calling

We visited the famous Leopold's Cafe, another victim of the Mumbai Terror attacks, where sadly 7 people lost their lives. We spoke with the one of the Managers, who was there that day and described what happened to us. You can see him in the photo next to Andrew. Also notice the bullet holes in the column behind them, the taped up glass in the windows shattered by bullets and what you can't see - the bullet hole in the table where we were sitting.
The last two photos are of Harish Masa with Shivani at The Victoria Terminus and Charu Masi waving us off from her balcony.
Unfortunately, Andrew had a sight mishap when one of the many stray dogs bit him on the leg. Nothing serious, but it did mean that we have had to return home, so that he can receive precautionary anti-rabies treatment.
This was a real shame as we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves in Mumbai and were due to be heading to Gujarat next for a family wedding.
We must say that we really did enjoy our time in India, especially Mumbai and especially the warm hospitality of Harish Masa and Charu Masi, who treated us like family.

We will return to India and Mumbai in the not too distant future, that's a promise!

Back in Mumbai

We caught a plane back to Mumbai and this time stayed with family friends Harish Masa and Charu Masi, who made us feel very welcome.

We went exploring in Mumbai again, caught taxis to get around around and even got the train, which was an experience in itself. No "health & safety" here.... in fact..... no doors either!! If you want to get from one platform to another? Simple, just cross the track and hope you don't touch the live rail. They have even put steps down from the platform to the track to help you walk across the train lines - how thoughtful! On the train itself was a bit of a squeeze, but one experience we'll never forget.
We arrived at the Victoria Terminus, which is the grand building you see from the outside shot and the busy place you see in the other photo. This is THE Victoria Terminus, which was attacked by the terrorists, but as you can see is back to the normal hustle and bustle.
We couldn't really do another entry on Mumbai and not put in a photo of people playing cricket. People set up a match anywhere and everywhere. The chaps in this photo are playing in a park in the centre of Mumbai, but we saw matches going in any free space we passed in our taxi.

Povar

We arrived at our next destination; Povar, which was our last one before heading back to Bombay.
It did not disappoint! The hotel sent a river taxi to collect us and after a 10 minute journey we reached the hotel, which was positioned just as a backwater river meets the sea.
Shivani made time to do some poses amongst the palm trees and on the beach, whilst Andrew caught 40 winks on the hammock.
Shivani wasn't the only fancy bird on the beach that day.....

The Bottom Tip Of India

Back on dry land we headed for the southern most tip of India, where 3 seas meet at Kaniya Kumari; The Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and The Bay
of Bengal. You can actually see Sri Lanka, which is only 30km away. It is also considered to be a very holy place and many people make the pilgrimage to bathe in the seas, often sleeping overnight in coaches, so as to save money on hotel rooms. Us being "Western Softies", chose not to take the coach option, but the hotel one instead. Our room had dual aspect windows; facing both east and west, meaning we had the best vantage point for sunset and sunrise the next day: Unfortunately it was cloudy for both. The other photos show scenes from the state of Tamil Nadu, a truly colourful place. Check out the chap selling pineapples off the back of a lorry.

The Questionnaire

After we finished the wonderful houseboat cruise, we were asked to complete this questionnaire.
Take a good look at the options! Talk about not wanting to hear any bad news!!