Out and About

Day two of shopping in and around Mumbai took us to Linking Road where there were stalls upon stalls of shoes and sandals. A few places selling shirts and skirts much like yesterday but the specialty here were shoes. It was also very crowded perhaps due to the holiday and everyone being off work, or perhaps this is always how it is. I bought a shirt but the merchant gave me the wrong size without my noticing. So I now have a wonderfully small shirt that no one seems to be able to fit into! LOL good thing I only paid $2.

We took a bus today to get to Linking Road which was an experience. It was quite crowded, as in standing room only and even then it was two sometimes three people in the aisle between seats. I've come to realize how nice most Indians are. We didn't exactly know what stop was ours but the first person we asked said "no problem, in about 20 minutes or so will be your stop - I'll tell you when we're close" and sure enough a stop before she told us to move to the front so we can hop off. Turns out she was getting off there too so she showed us where to get the return bus. Such a nice lady.

Today also brought the first real encounter with beggars. They weren't too numerous but they were sad to see. The little children come up to you and put their fingers to their mouths in a feeding gesture and say something in Hindi. It is sad and you want to help, but I found it is much easier to just not look at them, they quickly go on their way. There was one boy who had what I assume to be his little brother with him. His brother had no clothes whatsoever and they were so dirty. It was sad, but really what can you do because you can't give them money and you really can't give them food. *sigh* all part of the culture shock I suppose.

*Happy New Year!*