Detour- Mumbai and Gokarna

Traveling to meet Arati in Gokarna did not go quite as planned. The original plan included flying to Goa (connecting flight in Mumbai), staying at the Pancheel Hotel and taking a bus to Gokarna first thing in the morning. The first thing that went awry was missing my connecting flight because of my late Udaipur flight. Therefore I had to stay in Mumbai and catch a new flight in the morning (they almost didn't book me on a new flight).

I had no idea where to stay in Mumbai so I consulted the hotel booth at the airport. Everything was sooo expensive. I stayed in a very run down hotel that cost quadruple what I have been paying for the quaint guest houses. I felt like Tom Hanks in the movie "Big" when he is all alone in the dirty hotel in NY. If any of you have seen the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" (which takes place in Mumbai), the slums exist everywhere throughout the city. From the air you could see miles of slums stretching along the coast.

Overlooking the slums of Mumbai

Slums right next to the runway

The next morning my flight went smoothly and I arrived in Goa. I decided to take a taxi to Gokarna (much more expensive but much faster) rather than the bus to make up time. We headed straight into the monsoon where I was supposed to meet Arati for a weekend at the beach. Once I arrived at the hotel, I was told that my friend had already left (due to the monsoon and the town practically shut down). I decided to stay for the night anyway since I was there already. It poured all night, the wind blew, and the power kept going out (pretty neat experience actually). I had a great dinner at a little cafe downstairs and watched the rain.

Local women delivering fresh spinach to the cafes monsoon or no monsoon

Clamming in the rain

Everyone uses umbrellas even when riding bikes and motorcycles

Waiting for the bus

Bus ride past the flooded fields

The next morning I hopped on a bus to Hubli, where Arati lives and works. Pretty exciting detour if you ask me.