Mumbai — fun like a house on fire

Second time in Mumbai and second time that I'm just in transit and don't get to explore the city. Funnily enough, by trying to stay somewhere cheap not far from the airport I end up in the same hostel I stayed in 2017 while in transit to Rajasthan along with 5 other friends. Weird to think how things have changed since then.

I landed late in the afternoon and was going to leave very early the next day, which didn't give me enough time to do sight seeing. After checking in, I left to meet Valia, an Indian girl I had met 3 months prior in Bali. This time I also met her new boyfriend, Raj.

In her own words, we got along "like an house on fire"! 😂

We had a few beers at the British Brewery, and then they took me for a round of street food. They introduced me to momos, a kind of Indian gyoza or pierogi, an Indian chiken kebab and my favourite discovery of the evening - pan, a digestive cocktail of seeds spices and chutneys that refresh the palate and help with the digestion after a meal. It felt like there was a party in my mouth and everyone was invited.

They didn't let me pay for anything! Ridiculous!

Unfortunately the night had to end there. I thanked Valia and Raj and said my goodbyes before taking the train back to my hostel.

While getting ready to go to sleep I still had a very interesting conversation with my bunker bed neighbour. He was part of the Osho community, and was a curator of small spiritual festivals, his favourites were tantra oriented. I found it super intriguing, and would've loved to delve deeper into the subject, but just there wasn't enough time.
I had just enough time to get 4 hours of sleep before going to the airport and take my flight out of India.Read more