MissAdventures

On Republic Day, Starting Anew and Moving On

It has been almost nine months since I left India and last posted on the blog. (You’ll also notice I moved cyber addresses – from http://tblogs.bootsnall.com/miss to here.)

I was ready to leave India last April, but now I look back on that chaos quite fondly. Indeed, I was also fond of today’s holiday – Republic Day – mostly because it falls in late January, one of the most pleasant times weather-wise to be in India, and especially Bombay. Oh to feel those tepid “winter” breezes coming off of Chowpatty Beach!

So, as I was reflecting on my time in India, I decided to upload some of my best India photos on Flickr. These pics are by no means my whole collection of India photos; but, I will certainly be uploading more to this album in the coming weeks.

Enjoy!

Look Out, Galliano: Part 2

As I mentioned before, it’s a little difficult finding your way around Mangaldas Market. But, now after two buying visits and a pit stop to show friends, I have mostly figured out where some of the best vendors are located.

The 6th Lane is the best place to start, specifically at Rangeela. The shop specializes in “Fancy Dress Materials” and for me that meant a shimmering, crinkled crepe in mango orange. Across from Rangeela is another shop whose name escapes me, but from which I bought some light, woven pastel fabric to make a spring jacket. I also picked up some irridescent purple fabric with block-printed silver, gold, and black flowers. That probably sounds hideous, but the sheath dress that I got made with it turned out fabulously.

It’s about two weeks since my last posting and about a week since I got my new clothes back from Master Tailor. I was reluctant to post anything until I saw whether the fabric experiment was successful or not. I am more than just a little excited about my new loot.
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Day Trip from Mumbai: Matheran

Over the weekend, we went to a hill station outside of Mumbai called Matheran. Indians like to travel to these hill stations high in the mountains to breathe in the fresh air and escape the heat of the city.

Matheran is the closest hill station to Mumbai. And, were the roads outside of town a bit better, we could have reached there in about an hour. Instead, it took about two hours, through suburban slums, past random socialist-era factories, and in the middle of the morning rush. Although we were traveling in the opposite direction from most of the buses and rickshaw-wallahs, traffic was pretty bad. We had to keep the windows rolled up in order to avoid inhaling a thick cloud of diesel fumes.
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On to India

So, I will let you in on a little secret. In less than three months, I will be moving to Mumbai (formerly Bombay), where for the next little while I hope to derive travel writing inspiration from the Indian metropolis’ mind-boggling array of sights, scents, and cultures. It shouldn’t be too hard. That is, it shouldn’t be too hard to find inspiration.

I’m not so sure how I will handle living in Mumbai, but I’m sure it will be with a sense of absolute wonder.

It’s pretty cool that my first trip to Asia will be when I actually live there. But, if you don’t mind me giving myself a congratulatory pat on the back, that’s exactly how I first encountered Europe. The first time I went there was when I moved to Germany as an exchange student in 1991.
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