Overnight train from Agra to Mumbai:

When I Ieft Agra it was pouring. I had the same driver take me to the train station, and on the way, I saw all the children in uniforms going to school: some squashed into vans with their backpacks on top getting wet, some squashed into auto rickshaws, some on scooters with umbrellas and as many as five or six to a cycle rickshaw! I also saw some pigs in the mud, happy as clams, getting rained upon. 

The train ride was gorgeous. I had the compartment to myself for a while until a lady got on. When she saw me taking photos, she offered to share her lunch with me: the most delicious homemade potato and boiled egg curry I have ever had (with ginger, garlic, spices and coriander)  with fresh chapati. She was very nice and turned out her name is Prachi ("I have a friend named Prachi!", I said) and  that she has a daughter around my age. Then, a few stops later, a young man joined our compartment with lots of racquets. His name was Ashok. He had worked with computers in San Jose, California and though he is now in the Indian military, he also coaches people in squash.  I was very lucky to have such nice companions and we all enjoyed chatting and treating one another to chai and biscuits. Men would come by yelling: "soup! soup! tomato soup!" or " garam garam chai" (hot, hot tea!).

The scenery was beautiful through the countryside. I loved seeing all the crops, fields, little temples, men herding goats and cows and water buffaloes having a soak in their ponds. As we traveled farther south, the landscape became more tropical. At sunset, we passed over a river  and the sky was turing from peach, to pink, to purple. Then, after my compartment companions and I shared some dinner, I hopped into my upper bunk. I was as excited as a school child: curled up with a book and in a dark train, with just a night light, and being rocked to sleep. 

My bunk 

We arrived in Mumbai around 7:30 in the morning the next day. Ashok helped me get a taxi to Colaba, where most travelers stay.  A little bit later in the afternoon, I walked to Marine Drive and sat for at least an hour, looking out to the Arabian Sea. The weather was perfect: cool because of the rains. There were people selling star fruit and mangoes with chili and spices and others yelling "Panni, Panni Paaaannniii" (WATTTEERRRR!) or "Chai! chai! chaaaiiiii!!!"

I walked back to Colaba and had some dinner at the famous Leopold's Cafe in which I enjoyed a salad with cucumbers, beets and tomatoes, paneer tika masala and naan.  Until then, I hadn't seen another westerner for almost 48 hours!

Welcome to Mumbai!