The Not-So-Sexy Infertility Adventures of a Girl in the Big Apple

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Some Thoughts on India

I promised a post on our India trip, so here it is.  Just by way of background, this was our second time to India - 7 years ago we traveled in northern India (New Delhi and Rajasthan), so this time we decided to go to south India (Bombay and Kerala).  We have several good friends in India which is why we keep going back - not only do we get to travel to a fascinating place, we also have plenty of help navigating a potentially difficult country for Westerners and get to spend time with our lovely friends to boot.  A winning combo.

We landed in Bombay (now Mumbai) to start, and spent a few days there wandering the streets with our friends.  Compared to Delhi, Bombay is more modern (less cows and camels walking down the streets), architecturally interesting (lots of Art Deco and Gothic buildings, albeit mostly in a decrepit state), and has more of a tropical feeling (palm trees, views of the sea).  It is also, like most of India, chaotic, dirty, vibrant and full of life.  Wandering the streets was downright dangerous sometimes, due to a serious shortage of crosswalks and driver etiquette.  Drivers do not slow down for pedestrians - if anything, they speed up and hope to mow you down.  I found it stressful, if not terrifying, getting across the street most of the time.

But walking around really gave you a sense of street life, so it was worth it, even if it was challenging at times.  I'll pause here for some pictures, because as they say a picture is worth a thousand words:
Bombay street life.

Two stray dogs (which were everywhere in Bombay) taking an afternoon snooze.
An indoor market, selling nice-looking fruit.  Unfortunately we accidentally walked past the meat market as well (which we were told to avoid at all costs) and that was absolutely FOUL.  
An example of the type of streets we had to cross while walking around Bombay.
A view off Marine Drive, fronting the sea.  

Victoria railway station, one of the nicer examples of Gothic architecture.
This was one of the most remarkable sights in our whole trip.  This is the world's most expensive PRIVATE residence, owned by the Ambani family.  It is estimated to be worth $2bn, has 27 stories, 400,000 of living space, 9 elevators, 3 heli pads, an ice-skating rink, and a 600 person staff to take care of it.  You have to see it to believe it!


I just realized that I'm going to have to do multiple posts on our trip or this will be the post that never ends.  Next post will be on Kerala - you guys are going to be sick of hearing about this trip by the time I am done!

5 comments:

  1. The dogs look well fed, so that is good! It certainly looks congested on the streets. Tell me about the food you ate there! I'm enjoying being an armchair traveler.

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  2. Great pics! Thanks for not posting the meat market ones - from the sounds of it, my poor vegetarian heart couldn't handle it ;) Looking forward to more. It's great hearing about your trip!

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  3. Hey Newbie - The first trimester screening consists of u/s at 12 weeks to measure the nuchal translucency (NT) which is like a skin fold on the back of the neck at 12 weeks. If it measures higher than 5 then the fetus is at higher risk for Down's and other chromosomal disorders. They also pair this with a blood test at 12 weeks and then one at 16 weeks and measure a protein level in the blood that is indicative of chromosomal problems. It is 90% predictive and if they do find a problem, then a woman would undergo the more invasive CVS or amnio. Apparantly, they are coming up with a new blood tests for downs that might be on the market in 2012.

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  4. Thanks for posting this!! I wanted to go to Bombay but believe it or not I didn't have enough time and I was there about 4 months! Keep posting photos! And yes, they are CRAZY drivers! I thought I was going to die, lol

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  5. You're so lucky! My husband and I have been dreaming of a trip to India for years! I'm sure we would have been able to afford it, too, if not for the 3 IVFs we've had to pay for - lol. Maybe after the (imaginary) baby?

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