I have safely arrived in Bombay and made my home in Colaba, in the far south of the city, right behind the famous landmarks Gateway of India and Taj Palace Hotel.

I am staying as a paying guest with an old Muslim lady in an old colonial building. Colaba is the most beautiful part of the city. It’s got wide tree-lined roads and lots of architecture from the British rule of India, the so-called Raj. A short walk from my home is the main fish market. A place jostling with colour, chaos and smells – just like you would expect from an Indian market. I have already visited and you can expect a few pics in the next week or so, once I have found time to do some basic editing.

Up until then you can enjoy a few boring “postcard” images I took, showing some of Bombay’s landmarks like the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and the Chatrapati Shivaji (Victoria) Terminus.

My first impressions of  Bombay have been great. The southern part of the metropolis (18 million and growing) is actually very atypical for an Indian city. It has far fewer cows on the streets compared to Delhi where I have lived for a year. The few cows that are there, are properly tight up on the pavement so that they can’t walk into the traffic – unbelievable. People, especially taxi drivers, seem far more relaxed compared to Delhi. They don’t even try to take advantage of you by overcharging– again unbelievable.  So overall, Bombay has been quite welcoming and given me a very pleasant experience so far.

So that’s it for now. I’ll soon be back with more news and photographs. Stay tuned.