Day 15: Thanks a lot terrorists.

Aug 13

We decided to wake up early so that we could go to the fitness center in the hotel. We needed something to battle the ever growing case of buffet belly we had been developing. This was my first run since leaving on this great adventure. Only one resort had a fitness center, and with time and safety being an issue, I have neglected my running. I have missed it. The run was really good even though it was on a treadmill. The humidity and warmth made it a lot more tiring and made me sweat a whole lot more.

We ate quickly after our showers and then checked out of yet another hotel. We went to a really old Jewish Synagogue. Because of all the issues in Israel, the security here was very tight and we were not able to bring in our cameras or any liquids. What has the world come to? No water in a building because you could blow it up? The building was very beautiful. Small, but beautiful.

We then went to a Dutch Palace which was a building that was made by the Portuguese and later fixed by the Dutch. It is now a Hindu Museum filled with idols, paintings, stories, and various other artifacts from a really long time ago. I knew very little about Hinduism and so I was able to learn a lot. The building and the surrounding grounds had not been kept up much at all. I think they need the Dutch to come again and fix it up.

Our driver took us down to the beach where we looked at the Chinese fishing nets. They are large nets that get lowered into the water using a large lever system with wooden polls and rocks. It was very neat to see, but hard to explain. We walked through the fish market and were harassed. Everyone wanted to sell us fish and/or cook it for us.

After this fishy experience, we were taken to an old government building. Inside was a high class tourist shopping plaza. They had all sorts of furniture, hand made carpets, fabrics, jewelry, instruments, various do das, and shawls. The pashmina shawl is a very famous item that comes from India. It is the best quality wool, and comes from the chin or belly of the sheep in the Himalayan mountains. These shawls are soft and beautiful, but very expensive. Zab bartered with a man for a long time and was able to get the price down a long ways. It was still too expensive though and we did not buy anything. It is just fun to see what you can get them down to. Cheap entertainment. There were a lot of tourists there. I wonder if Will Smith had been to this store?

We still had more time before we needed to be at the airport, so we drove down the main shopping street looking for somewhere to have coffee. Zab spotted a great place. They served us some amazing specialty coffee’s and played really good western (North American, not country) music. It felt like we were out for coffee on Whyte Ave in Edmonton.

Zab and I did not think that all the drama in London would affect our flights within India, but we were wrong. They scanned our bags and made us remove all our liquids. (again… what do they have against water?) So we quickly removed the liquid items we could remember and put them into our other bags. The security guard got pretty intimate during the body screening process. I had not had a man that close to me since my massage a week ago. They still found items in our bags that we had forgotten. They took my mosquito repellant (it is okay though because I had more in the other bag). They seemed satisfied with taking that from me and Zab’s hand sanitizer, and they let us go. Later I realized that Pepto was still in the bag. He is a suspicious character and I am sure they would have taken him away from us. Close call. That was the tightest security I have ever been through, and so we are a little worried about the international flights we will be taking soon, especially the one through London.

The flight landed an hour late and they did not give us anything to eat or drink on the flight. We had planned ahead and bought cashews at the airport, but we had to buy a water because they took ours away in security (how convenient).

Zab’s uncle picked us up from the airport and we took a small, old taxi through the crazy streets of Bombay to his Ammy (Grandma) and Pappa’s (Grandpa) place. His mother was there to greet us at the door. It was such a neat experience to be there when Zab saw his grandparents for the first time in 6 years. Ammy didn’t even recognize Zab!

Ammy and Pappa live in a lovely, yet humble apartment. They are so friendly and welcoming, and it is wonderful that they speak good English also.

We stayed up for quite awhile talking. It was good to hear stories about Zab from those who knew him when he was young. Anyone for some little Zab stories? *smirk*

It was way past bed time, so we went off to our beds for a wonderful sleep. This was the first night we would be without air conditioning.