Last night I went to Leopold's, the most popular restaurant for travelers in Bombay since 1871, to find a friend. In no time a nice British man asked to join me. Terry has just begun his third trip to India, this time it's five months in the South. He's retired and now works half the year and travels the other half. Now that's the life! We arranged to meet this morning to take a boat trip to Elephanta Island.
Terry and I bargained for a boat and took the 45 minute ride through the harbor over to the little island famous for rock-cut temples. I don't have any photos of the Gateway to India from the water, which was spectacular, because the Indians are paranoid about photos anywhere near military installations. The whole harbor is off limits to photos!
The temples on Elephanta Island are extremely elaborate carvings in caves. The carvings, which were probably done around 600 AD, are primarily of Shiva, a popular multi-armed or headed Hindu God. It was amazing to see what looked like ordinary caves from the outside explode with detail when you got inside!
We got back to Bombay before sunset so we headed over to have dinner on Marine Drive. Marine Drive is lined with old Art Deco buildings and is one of the most popular promenades in Bombay. It was great fun to watch the colorful men and women walking by. We found a little Italian cafe and had dinner watching the sunset over the Arabian Sea. It was a Bollywood ending to the day!
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