Why haven't I posted in so long?

Well, it has been almost a week since my last post and a lot has happened since then. Between the internet at the hotel not working and me being away all weekend, I was not able to get any posts out. Well enough of the excuses...

Last Wednesday night I went to dinner with Brian and about 6 guys from work... all of the women bailed on us. Vasan, Shailesh, Paresh, Seshu, Rizvi, Sandeep, Kuldip, Rajendiran, Brian, and myself went to an area in Koregan Park called ABC Farms. This little street has 4 or 5 bars that are really interesting with live music and various indian fare. One of the funniest things is this little strip is right off the unpaved dirt road we take to work. And it is next to a place called "Burger King" but it is not part of the chain. The bar/restaurant we went to had a lounge feel to it because there are tables and couches. The big thing to do at this bar is smoke tobacco from a giant water bong. I did not partake but apparently it was a very smooth strawberry tobacco. We stayed there for a few hours and then went to the Den. Same place I went a few weeks back. At the Den we were told last call when it was 11:50. This is probably a good time to mention that last Thursday was Republic Day. On Republic Day, no alcohol is served. Which is why we had last call at 11:50. It was a fun night out and the early ending was probably best for all of us.

Thursday was pretty uneventful as I did several hours of work. I caught a little bit of the parade on TV which was interesting. In addition to having a big military presence in the parade like you would see in a military event, there were a couple of floats and different animals like elephants. I also finished up my 4th or 5th book on Thursday (The Winner, David Baldacci).

Friday turned into a long day at work with a conference call which started at 6pm. Additionally Brian got some sort of flu like bug which knocked him out. So for dinner, Sheila and I went to Mainland China for dinner. We ate outside on the patio because it was a pretty nice night. The food was ok but it didn't taste quite like Chinese that I am used too. This is the 2nd different Chinese restaurant I have been to and I still have not seen a chinese person working in either spot. I think this confirms that Pune is not a true tourist spot yet. When I was at the Taj I saw many asians walking around with there electronic equipment which I think is a sure sign of a tourist spot. Haven't seen it in Pune yet.

Saturday we went to Fort Singhagad (means fort of the lion). There isn't much of a fort left but it was good to get out and see some sights. The fort is way up on top of a mountain so it also had good views. It was similar to being in Colorado (although not nearly as elevated, 1290 meters) with lots of hills/mountains and brown in the area.




Prior to getting to the fort, we stopped at a "beach" area. In the distance is a damn as this is the water source for all of Pune. And camel rides ready to happen for any youngsters... or whities.

Our tour guide for the day was Vasan




I opted not to ride the camel




Sunday we got up early and left for Mumbai at 7am. We arrived at The Gateway to India around 10pm.



The Gateway is the main entrance from which the British built the port. Mumbai itself is made up of 7 islands and was renamed Bombay by the British Empire which had difficulty saying the name. Then in 1995 or 1996, Bombay was renamed Mumbai. From the gateway we boarded a boat to Elephanta Caves which is about 10 km off the coast. Our guides for this trip were Pankaj a coworker from the office and his wife Sonal.




Here is website about the caves...
http://www.tourtravelworld.com/hot_spots/mumbai/elephanta_caves:/

The caves were something you would see in Indiana Jones movies. Carved into the side of a mountain are a wall of pillars. Then within the mountain are rows of pillars with various chambers representing different scenes for the god Shiva.



They were built around 450 - 750 AD. The caves and sculptures are dedicated to Shiva.




Shiva is a hindi god known for destruction (Brahma the creator and Vishnu the preserver are the other 2 main hindi gods).



Legend has it that the Ganges came out of the head of Shiva. Additionally, Shiva held bulls (and thus cows) sacred which is why cows are not really eaten in India. Shiva is also the father of Ganesh the hindi god with an elephant head. Ganesh is the bringer of all good things. So every house in India will have a statue of Ganesh. The catch being that you can not buy a good luck statue for yourself. Elephanta caves meets the tourist spot definition listed above as I did see a few asians. It is also an obvious destination because locals would balance a pot or bowl on there head and demand a $1 for the picture. They could speak enough english to convey this message to us.

After the caves we returned to Mumbai where Pankaj and his wife Sonal took us to fashion road. This resembles a flea market except everything is in a single line. I wanted to buy Short Kurtas as gifts so this is where we went. With Sonal as my guide and negotiator, I was confident in my deals. The proprietor of the shop saw the whitey with his camera, how quickly I picked out 3 kurtas and saw an easy mark. When we inquired about the price, he said 900 rupees. An outrageous opening bid but I read that the shop owners will be mad if you take the initial price (means they could have gone higher) and wasn't sure how easy this would be. Sonal became furious at the offer and tried low balling him at 400 ruppees. As the negotiation took place in Hindi, I merely watched the facial reactions. When it appeared the guy wasn't going to go low enough, I put my 3 kurtas on the rack and walked out. Leaving Sonal to close the deal. She got him down to 500 rupees for the all 3. Came out of the stand and asked me for the 500. So I gave my 500 bill and the sale was closed. Just as an fyi, 500 rupees is about $11 or $12. With the sale complete, I was hungry and we went to a pizza place right on marine drive in Mumbai. I went with a thin crust pizza which was almost as thin and crunchy as a Bayonne bar pie but not quite. This area is the closest I have seen since being here of an international city (rio, buenos aires, etc). And of course the area has a major Cricket stadium nearby.

If I get off standby and depart on Thursday, I will try and write one more entry before I leave.