Finest sight in the east ...

Woke at 0600 to find us alongside at Mumbai. Water is not only murky but filthy with garbage. Outside temperature makes your hair stand on end before dropping limp and wet. I do not have a visa – so I am marooned on the ship. I dreamt last night that we were here for a week and that I’d be sleeping in a caravan on the wharf because I’d asked for room 210!!

The Indian immigration officials took 3 hours to process passengers going ashore. Security is high – armed soldiers patrolling the wharf and roofs of adjacent buildings.

On the other side of the wharf I was surprised to see HMS Ark Royal of Falklands fame. It is now a museum and appears to be rusting at the same rate as the Indian Navy ships close by at their own version of Garden Island.

The welcome to India sign is well maintained!

I have discovered that crew on board the ship – doing the same job – say bar tender – are paid at differential rates equivalent to the standard of ;living in their country of origin! Wow – maybe I should call Julia!

I’ve begun to write pen pictures of passenger types on board the ship. I’ll publish these in a later version of the blog.

Meantime at 2300 we head out of Mumbai (finest sight in the east – Bombay from the stern of a ship!) and head across the Arabian Sea to Oman and Dubai.