Mumbai to Vyara

Wow. We finally arrived in Vyara around 8:30 tonight, ending our epic journey. The nine hour flight to Mumbai was very quiet. Most people slept through it. I was able to pass out for a couple of hours. Then we were here.

First impression from plane – hazy smog. The sun looked red. Second impression – getting off the plane – a wall of hot, wet air that made me feel like I was trying to breathe underwater.

All our bags were here, praise God. But the biggest answer to prayer was that when I woke up on the plane this morning, my neck was healed. I have a little residual stiffness, and nodding sometimes hurts if I go too fast. But other than that I can’t feel a thing. And that is VERY important when you consider the next 8 hours, which I’ll write about next.

Vinay and Kishor were at the airport to meet us with our drivers, both named Suneel. It took us two hours to get out of gridlock traffic in Mumbai. Just like home, only without seatbelts, driving lanes, or really any rules of any kind. The road is packed with motorcycle taxis, motorbikes, giant delivery trucks, bicycles and pedestrians. Everyone drives where they want. When you want to pass, you honk. Actually, almost all the trucks say, “Honk Please” on the back in English and Hindi. Guess it saves them the head check. The motorbikes almost all have a guy driving with a woman sitting sideways in her sari on the back. Sometimes she’s holding a toddler and there’s a kid wedged between them. Even regular bikes have multiple passengers. The trucks are decorated with all kinds of paint jobs, flowers, and tassels.

Mumbai itself reminded me a lot of Liberia. We were on the outskirts. The slums are HUGE. There are people living everywhere. On street corners, abandoned balconies, on top of garbage piles, in doorways. I saw one woman giving a toddler a bath atop a 20 foot retaining wall beside the freeway.

There is trash everywhere. Everywhere. And guys peeing alongside the road every couple of miles. It was a long traffic jam, after all.

Almost suddenly, we were out of town and surrounded by thick jungle on all sides. Traffic lightened up. This is where things got interesting. The speed limit is apparently as fast as you can possibly go until you are about to run into something. Then you slow down, honk, and go around it. This includes trucks, elephants, cows, people, etc.

I have never gone that fast in a car. I’ve never gone nearly that fast without a seatbelt. I’ve rarely had other vehicles so close to me going at such a high rate of speed. Even with the ride – which felt almost exactly like a wooden roller coaster – we didn’t get to Vyara until 8:30pm. We stopped and had dinner (YUMMY!) along the way.

The hotel here is great. Hot water, AC, a working shower & comfortable bed, which is where my head is going now. Goodnight!