Found I was too exhausted to meet Uday at 6 AM to walk. However I made it out of the hotel early, and he had brought my stuff with him, which I dumped in the hotel. I was hungry, and tired, so we went to the Trident, the Five star hotel for breakfast.There were amazing fruits there, and Uday was on an all fruit diet to lose weight. I tasted the local custard apple, which looks like an artichoke, and it is in many sections, each of which has a seed. I enjoyed it. We had lots of fresh juice: watermelon juice, pineapple juice etc. It was expensive, but very good, in AC, and I enjoyed the fabulous brunch, which was amazing. Then Uday took me to the GPO, and spoke in Maharati to the packers under umbrellas right near the GPO. Thank goodness he did, and he asked the packers to really look after me when I returned with my things to pack. We left for his commuter room, where he stays during the week ( weekends in New Bombay with his wife ) and he dressed for work. The taxi, which is cheap, dropped me at the hotel, and he went to work. Then I packed all my stuff to leave the hotel by noon, and also packed a separate pile of things to send back to Canada, as I have way too many things already. I took a taxi to the GPO, went to the packers who did an amazing job. They got Visa and passport photocopies organized.....and it was a seamless process, and one which would have taken me all day to do, had Uday not shown me where to go. Language is often a problem, although English is widely spoken. I was surprised that my parcel in a box, was wrapped in linen, and then sewn up with a large needle. Matthew and Carla will be amazed at the parcel when it arrives!! From there I sat in a restaurant, pleased that I had less weight to haul, and less chance of being dinged with overweight charges on the internal flights I still have to take in India. Then I called Uday. He suggested I come to the Veterinary College again, and we meet for supper. He sent Swapnil, his Masters Student to host me as I got off the commuter train, which I now know how to navigate successfully. I had seen the whole place before, so I spent pleasant time talking to him, and his PhD colleagues, Dr. Vijay......( forgot the last name ). Great discussion etc. I went in to take pics of the kitchen for the canteen. You would have been shocked, but everything works here. I had a few snacks with these guys, and met more of them as friends wanted to see the foreigner. Got my phone charged too, and then we met Uday. He and I went to an amazing Juice Place for supper. I was not hungry, but tried some very unusual Indian dishes that I hadn't come across before. I had fresh pomegranate juice, which was delicious. ( Carla would be envious, as she loves this!!) I tried Falooda, which is an ice cream delicacy with seeds in and noodles!!!!!LOL!! Very nice!!! Then we went in the underground connective tunnel in Mumbai to avoid the traffic, and it was a shortcut to the hotel. I thanked Uday for his help in Mumbai. I would have found life way more difficult, and not as rich, had I not met him. Said goodbye, and walked around the interesting side streets in Mumbai. Local Indians told me to ignore the beggars as it only encourages them. Your heart bleeds for the handicapped who limp, and crawl, and hop their way through life. We went to the station by taxi at night. We were to leave by 9PM or so but the train was delayed 3 hours so we never left till midnight. Some of us walked around the amazing Victoria Rail Terminal, which is a tourist attraction, and experienced the life of those catching trains. Most people put blankets down, and sleep at the station to wait for trains. The rail system is the largest in the world I believe. Fascinating to watch the people. After midnight we left on the train for Goa. It was delayed a further four hours, and we only arrived in Goa at 1:30 PM to check into our GOA hotel. About 2 we left for the beach, and had lunch ( as we had no food on the train) at a great restaurant right on the beach. I had King Fish steak, which was very good, and very reasonably priced. On return, I slept, and recovered from the journey, and then we left that night for a beach resort dinner. It was great. I had King prawns, and I spent some time walking on the beach. There was loud disco music going, and lots of guys were dancing ( no women ). Most of them were a bit drunk, but quite harmless as opposed to aggressive drunks we know. Most of our group got up and we all danced, and had fun with them. The some of our group went to a different night club, but a lot of us stayed at the beach to enjoy the fun. A late night.
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