Some Bits of India February 2025 This holiday didn't work out at all as we planned. After a short stay in India we intended to travel by ferry to Sri Lanka and continue there. However, thanks to the ferry company cancelling at short notice several times, we went to some other bits of India instead and didn't get to Sri Lanka at all. Mumbai (Bombay) Weds 29 - Thurs 30 Jan. We flew to Mumbai and got a taxi to Colaba district where we always stay. At first the taxi driver was rather bad-tempered because we refused to pay an extra 100 Rupees (£1) to go on the 'motorway' and had the slower but much more interesting ride through the city centre. We stayed at the 'Abode Bombay', a boutique hotel in a heritage building with heavy wooden staircases and high ceilings, in a great position just shouting distance from the gateway of India. We could only stay one night because it's fully booked for the rest of the week so we set out to beg and plead with the nearby luxurious Taj hotel for them to do us a deal like they so kindly did last year. Along the way we stopped in a tailor's shop and happened to meet the proprietor of a nearby travel agent's, and to cut a long story short we ended up booking and paying for the next 12 days' travel with hotels, flights, cars and a ferry, and including three nights at the Taj at significantly less than the advertised prices online (although still very expensive of course). We bought a SIM card at a nearby phone shop and retired to the hotel satisfied with what seemed like a good morning's work (although it didn't quite unfold as we expected as time went on). We had a walk up and down the shops on Colaba Causeway and passing a restaurant discovered to our horror that because of a religious festival, today is a Government-mandated dry day (no alcohol) in the whole of India. We hastily abandoned our evening plans and returned to the Delhi Darbar, a nice Indian restaurant with a superb menu but no alcohol licence, and had a big and very tasty meal. Fri 31st. We moved hotels to the Taj and it was like coming home! We checked in at the elegant lobby .... ... where they kindly upgraded us to a sea-view room high in the Tower block, with a view of the Gateway of India and small ships in the harbour. Sheila just happened to mention that her birthday was coming up soon, and lo and behold, they decorated our room with birthday balloons as well as a delicious 'welcome to the Taj' chocolate cake! We spent the afternoon settling in then a bit of shopping on the way to the Woodside Inn, where we had some nice wines and a meal of homemade potato crisps and a tasty veggie dip, then fish en papillotte and fillet steak and eggs for main course. Sat 1st Feb. Breakfast at the Taj was a very Indian-style buffet - as soon as you stood up to go and get something, a waiter would appear by magic and ask to go and get it for you. Between us we had a tasty mix of eggs benedict, akuri (spicy scrambled eggs), pav bhaji and other bits and pieces that our friend Prakash the waiter (who remembered us from two years ago) thought we might like. We went for a 'heritage walk' past the Yacht Club (built 1898), the Royal Alfred Sailors' Home (1876, now Maharashtra police HQ) to the Lion Gate, the main entrance to the naval dockyard, founded in the 1730s. At this point we digressed into the lively and crowded Kala Ghoda (black horse) arts and crafts festival, an annual event with stalls and horse-related statues running the length of a nearby street .... .... where Sheila immediately homed in on a colourful dress shop and made her traditional start-of-holiday purchase, in this case a dress made of banana-leaf silk! After a rest at the hotel I continued the walk along Apollo Bunder promenade or Strand Road (now Ramchandani Marg) with the boats in the harbour on one side and the row of fine colonial-style 1940s villas on the other, up to the Radio Club (established 1924) at the end of the Promenade. In the evening we joined the queue on the crowded pavement outside Mondy's café and after a short wait, got one of the 'high tables' at the back of the crowded and atmospheric restaurant and had another delicious meal, along with half-bottles of Prosecco and Sula's excellent Dindori red wine. Sun 2nd. For today's walk we got a taxi to the Flora Fountain .... .... and walked down MG Road under the colonades by the shops, looking at the fine historic century-old buildings along the other side of the road. We reached the Kala Ghoda arts and crafts area and browsed round the stalls again, before continuing on past the grand museum building. After a cup of tea at the hotel I continued yesterday afternoon's walk round Coloba, past Buckley Court, the Cathedral, the Majestic Hotel building and Mercantile Mansions. After a nice couple of drinks at the Woodside we had another wonderful meal at the Delhi Darbar. Badami, Pattadakal and Aihole (Ay-ho-lay), Karnataka state Mon 3rd. Up ridiculously early for the 3am car to drive us through the deserted streets of Mumbai to the airport for the one-hour flight to Hubli in Karnataka. Then a two-hour drive through a flat agricultural landscape to Badami where we stayed at the Mavi Retreat, a nice, very new hotel on the outskirts of town, with a swing for relaxing on outside the restaurant. After unpacking we went on the auto-rickshaw (tuk-tuk) tour of Badami, visiting the fascinating 8th century Buddhist caves carved into solid sandstone cliffs. Sheila armed herself with a stout stick to ward off the thieving macaque monkeys, we've been caught out before. After that we went through the older, more traditional part of the town with old houses and narrow streets to the lake, for nice views of the cliffs and lakeside temples. And finally (taking care to avoid the monkeys who stole a bunch of bananas from another couple of tourists) to the museum and a look at (but not a climb up to) the fort. When we checked in they told us that the hotel restaurant had beer but no wine, so during our tour we stopped at a bottle shop to buy a bottle of local Elite Vintage winery Karnataka Cabernet Shiraz red wine. However, when we went to the hotel restaurant it turned out that they did have wine, but they kindly let us bring our bottle (ours was of course a fraction of the price, good move Sheila!) and we had a nice Manchurian curry to finish a long day. Tues 4th. We had a nice day out in a car to Pattadakal, a group of interesting 8th-century temples created by the Chalukya civilisation that ruled a large part of central India for several hundred years. From there we went to Aihole to visit another group of temples from the same period, a big step-well and a fort (that we did climb up to). On our way back to Badami the driver mentioned that there was the Sri Banashankari fair at Banashankari temple just outside Badami so we went there and mixed in with the seething crowds of happy pilgrims in the temple and along the market stalls in the approach roads .... .... and around the massive wooden chariot that will be hauled around the festival grounds carrying a representation of the deity as part of the celebrations. We had another nice meal at the hotel in the evening, very good value. Weds 5th. We went back to the festival in the afternoon - such fun, endless photo opportunities and Sheila had a horse ride (it took two of us to get her up there!) Pondicherry (now Puducherry) Thurs 6th. We set off at 6am for the 14-hour drive to Pondicherry. With just two quick stops for breakfast/lunch, we were exhausted by the time we arrived, so the driver must have been shattered although he showed no sign of it. We checked into La Grrande (yes, two 'r's) Malar hotel which was a disappointment, rather run down and not very clean. Had a nice meal and glasses of wine across the road at the Italian Pasta Bar Venito. Fri 7th. We had a pleasant walk around Pondicherry, stopping at a dress shop for yet another birthday present for Sheila, and walking along the prom by the sea to Villa Cavi where we stayed before but it was full up and ridiculously expensive, about £200 for our favourite room with a nice view of the sea, but no facilities. We had a nice lunch of crostini and wine at the Pasta bar. For dinner we went back to Les Saveurs where the lovely lady waitress remembered us immediately from our visit two years ago, and welcomed us back even remembering our favourite wines and table. We had our favourite lobster thermidor and prawns thermidor, delicious as ever. Sat 8th. When we checked in at the Grrande we were disappointed and kicked up a fuss and said we were moving out. Now we've rather grown to like it but they've already sold our room and are full up, like all the hotels in town, so today we had to move to a much worse hotel way out on the edge of the city, about two miles from the seafront. We had to ask for toilet paper, and the nice lady turned up with a newly-bought roll from the shop, followed by two men with a toilet roll holder and some glue, who fixed the holder to the wall! We went back to town for some shopping and a walk, past the Kalakeeshwara Shivan Temple and round the big Goubert market. We returned to the hotel's rooftop bar for a refreshing cold Kingfisher beer and some fried onion pakodas for lunch. In the evening we auto-rickshawed back to the French town and walked around till we got to Madame Shanti's restaurant, where the food had made us ill on TWO previous visits. The location is excellent with an open-air balcony over the crossroads so we thought we'd give it a third try and we sat on the balcony and ordered a beer to watch the world go by below. It was still a useless place though, the waiters were slow and rude and the beer came in two coffee mugs with no sign of the bottle, and one of them was flat and clearly out of someone else's unfinished bottle. We moved on to our favourite Les Saveurs and had delicious steak with pepper sauce and fried fillet of fish. We ended the evening with a wild ride back to the hotel in an auto-rickshaw that was crazy even by Indian standards. Sun 9th. We were dozing having a lie-in when the phone rang and the hotel man said 'your breakfast is ready'! Nobody had mentioned a time constraint for breakfast but next thing there was a knock on the door and he came in with masala omelettes and tea, which were quite pleasant once we had adjusted to the situation. We then checked out and moved again, this time to the lovely Le Dupleix hotel in an old colonial mansion with high ceilings, lots of heavy dark-wood furniture, shutters on the windows and luxury of luxuries, a bathtub! We had a nice pre-dinner drink at our customary table by the Prince of Wales palm at Coromandel café, then another lovely meal at Les Saveurs. Mon 10th. Kavitha, the lovely lady at Le Dupleix, spent a lot of time and effort with us arranging our ferry tickets and our onward accommodation for the next few days which was extremely helpful. The Dupleix is full tonight so we moved (yet again - four hotels in five days in the same city!) to their partner hotel, the Promenade, where they very kindly upgraded us to a sea-view room. Very pleased with all this, we had our usual pre-dinner drink at Coromandel café .... .... then walked along the beach to Les Saveurs for another super dinner. Earlier, moving between the two hotels we passed the police HQ, where the stern-looking guard was happy to pose for a photo! Tues 11th. After posting letters and postcards at the Post Office we went for a walk around Goubert market and picked up Sheila's mended necklace from the nearby jewellery shop, then walked down Nehru street looking in the clothes shops and along Mission road to buy more popsocks at the Jockey shop. Satisfied with this we returned to the hotel to relax. I had a walk around in the afternoon past the old French colonial buildings like the ninistry of public works .... .... and a coffee at the India Coffee House, part of a chain first opened in 1936. When we set out for our pre-dinner drink we found to our dismay that today is another dry day because of a religious festival in Tamil Nadu, so we went on to Les Saveurs and had a delicious meal again, but only with lime sodas. Two dry days in less than a fortnight, we hope there won't be any more! Tranquebar (now called Tharangambadi), Tamil Nadu state Weds 12th. At 8 o'clock the Promenade hotel's room service suddenly appeared with a birthday cake for Sheila, her second one this holiday! After a nice breakfast of eggs benedict (again) followed by channa with paratha and aloo muttar, we checked out and drove for three hours to Tranquebar, where we stayed at the Bungalow on the Beach - not so much a bungalow as a three-storey historic 300-year-old mansion with solid pillars and soaring ceilings, four-poster beds and a verandah all the way round, and not so much on the beach as adjacent to the seaside rocks. Nevertheless it was lovely, with views of the main square, the sea and the nearby seashoe temple. We had a bit of lunch and then I had a stroll round the old Danish town full of 17th and 18th century churches, Danish governor's mansion and still relatively complete Danish fort. I didn't know that Denmark had a presence in India among the British, French, Dutch and Portuguese enclaves but here it is, relatively untouched by tourism or the modern world. We chose a table on the first floor wrap-around verandah for dinner and had a very pleasant meal of prawn and roasted garlic chowder, chicken Chettinad curry and an egg masala, with a couple of Kingfisher beers. The sun went down on one side and the full moon sparkled on the sea on the other side and it was all very pleasant. Thurs 13th. Because the Bungalow is full tonight we walked up the road to Coconut Alley, a nice small hotel around a path shaded with palm trees. We were just settling in when Kavitha rang with the unsettling news that tomorrow's ferry has been cancelled (again). I had a walk to the harbour and around the town and we went for another nice dinner at the Bungalow. Vailankanni, Tamil Nadu state Fri 14th. We got a taxi down the coast, through the enclave of Karaikal, a detached part of Pondicherry with lots of bars and bottle shops to attract thirsty residents of surrounding Tamil Nadu, to the very nice MGM hotel on the ECR main road at Vailankanni, a bit nearer to the ferry terminal where we keep hoping to sail from if one of our ferry bookings sticks. In the evening they put on a special Valentine's day buffet by the swimming pool which was decorated with heart-shaped balloons and the bushes were festooned with lights. A member of a party who were staying at the hotel suddenly appeared with a set of bagpipes and entertained the assembled guests. It was all very nice, washed down with a glass of excellent Misty Vineyard Tamil Nadu red wine from Cumbum Valley, west of Madurai. Sat 15th. The ferry company cancelled again and told us they would not be running until the 20th (if then) so we finally abandoned the plan to go to Sri Lanka. Vailankanni is a Christian pilgrimage town so in the afternoon we went by auto-rickshaw into the town to the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health, which was a huge white church surrounded by large crowds of pilgrims waiting to see the statue/idol of Our Lady carried into the church. Its foundation is attributed to three 16th-century events, an apparition of the Madonna to a shepherd, the miraculous healing of a buttermilk vendor and the rescue of Portuguese sailors from a sea storm. We walked down to the seashore where there was a funfair for kids and crowds of pilgrims and visitors paddling in the sea. The most devout pilgrims travel the 500 yards/meters from the sea shore to the basilica on their knees all the way, weaving between the holidaymakers, vendors, cows and motorbikes along the crowded road. In the evening the hotel had set out a single table by the poolside, decorated with a candle and a rose in a vase, apparently just for us. It was very pleasant and peaceful, with only the sounds of the bats rustling in the banana trees behind us, and we had a delicious meal of deep-fried prawns and Chennai fish curry. Daniel the nice hotel manager came and took a series of posed photos of us, probably publicity shots for their web site. Pondicherry again Sun 16th. We set off in a car back to Pondicherry at 10am and arrived at 1:30, half an hour ahead of schedule because the driver went at top speed all the way, although he was otherwise one of the most aware and attentive drivers we have had. We checked back into the Promenade hotel and walked across White Town to the Pasta Bar Veneto for a nice snack lunch and a cold glass of white wine. In the evening we had a tasty Lebanese dip starter with drinks in the garden at Coromandel café then by chance chose the Bodega restaurant for a very nice meal of prawns masala and fish and chips. Mon 17th. We went out to find a mobile repair shop to get the phone's screen replaced (Sheila stuck it through some railings to photograph the shore temple in Tranquebar and I said 'mind you don't drop it' and two seconds later she did!), but after two auto rides through various outer reaches of the town we got nowhere and returned to the hotel for a nap (Sheila) and a coffee (me). In the evening after a drink in a nice courtyard at the back of the Coromandel café .... .... we went back to see Kavitha at the Dupliex and had a lovely meal of gumbo (soup) followed by Cajun shrimp and king prawns wrapped in bacon. Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal Tues 18th. We had another shopping excursion for Sheila to buy another summer dress and to a hole-on-the-wall tailor's to alter it, then got a car for the short ride to Pondicherry airport. It's only a small airport and at one point we had to drive on a dirt road across a field to get to it. It was a nice new terminal building but it was basically one big room with the luggage pre-scanning, check-in desks, security check and departure gate all in the same place. There was a pop-up cafeteria where a man had a table spread out with sandwiches, pastries and a flask of hot tea with paper cups, and we had a light lunch while waiting for our turbo-prop Indigo plane which was an hour late arriving. This meant that we and several others had tight connections in Bangalore and it was a bit of a rush to our next flight to Calcutta, which started boarding as we arrived at the gate. It all went smoothly though and we arrived at Calcutta at 11:30 pm. We didn't want to waste a late night on a good hotel so we got an exorbitant taxi to a cheapie called Welcome Regency about a mile from the airport where we got an ensuite room for £18 (there were lots of much nicer hotels in the vicinity as we saw in the light of day but we were too tired to bother last night). Weds 19th. We got a taxi all the way to Howrah railway station for a much more reasonable 400 Rs (£4), walked about watching the crowds waiting for trains and by 11:30 we were in the food court for a big egg thali and a huge veg thali all for £4 plus a couple of cups of coffee for 30p each, our first food and drink since 4pm yesterday. Then we went by taxi to the historic Lalit Great Eastern hotel where we stayed nine years ago .... .... checked in through the imposing modern lobby .... .... and settled into a lovely big, quiet room in the heritage Edwardian wing. At 6pm we went to the Heritage Lounge, with free access included in our room deal, and had nice complimentary glasses of wine and nibbles including three types of hummus, ceviche and smoked salmon rolls plus two hot dishes. Thurs 20th. We had an excellent buffet breakfast at the Great Eastern then set out and walked to the Esplanade and past the Oberoi to the 'New Market' which is actually the old central market of Calcutta. The sky became ominously dark and just after we got there a thunderstorm broke and rain poured down all around the market and through various holes in the roof. We wandered round for as long as we could and Sheila bought some cosmetics but eventually we had to dash through the rain to a nearby taxi and pay his exorbitant fee for the short ride back to the hotel. As it turned out this was the only rain and almost the only clouds of the whole holiday. The hotel was abuzz with a wedding party and later when the groom arrived in an open-topped car (luckily the rain had eased off) a drumming band struck up with a pulsating rhythm to welcome him in. There were brightly-dressed wedding guests everywhere and the lounge had been taken over for one of the pre-wedding events so we went for our nice wine and nibbles in the ground floor café. Fri 21st. The hotel was so full that the breakfast room was completely full, so we were diverted to The Bakery / Watson's Pub, where a cut-down buffet and live cooking was available, which was fine. The Mr Watson's bakery was the original building on this site in the 1800s and the hotel grew progressively out behind it. We were a bit wiped out by a bug (which grew a lot worse over the coming days) so I had a stroll down to the riverfront - only three blocks away but blocks are very big and crowded in Calcutta. There doesn't seem to be any riverside walk or park but I found a 'Floatel' in a big square boat with four storeys with a restaurant and bar at the top which would have had a good view up and down the Hooghly river if the river had not been obscured by a misty haze. Halfway back was St John's Cathedral, the original church of Calcutta from the 1700s, which was a haven of peace inside, away from the hooting traffic. Back at the hotel I went for a cup of tea and cookies at Alfresco, the ground floor restaurant, which was complimentary with our room deal. Sat 22nd. We got an Uber to Khalighat to visit the Khali Mandir, a very popular, crowded and chaotic Hindu temple. There was an orderly queue outside but once inside the temple itself the crowd degenerated into a seething mass of pushing, jostling, shouting humanity, wedged together in a writhing mob. We declined invitations to bypass the queue for a fee and enter the temple, but by strolling around the outside through the brightly coloured market of religious artefacts, we found a back way into the courtyard where we could approach the windows to see and hear the mayhem inside the temple as 'priests' with baskets of unidentified offerings clambered over and around us through the windows and up the walls. It was fascinating. Back outside with our ears still ringing from the noise we got another Uber to the Fairlawn hotel on Sudder street, more or less the first place we stayed on our first full visit to India 19 years ago. Back then it was still owned by Violet, a lady who could remember being part of the pre-independence high society in Calcutta and who entertained us with stories and gin-and-tonics on her verandah. Now it is part of a hotel chain, but is still atmospheric and interesting although a bit scruffy and run down. We walked past the 'new market' .... .... to a nearby shopping mall and Sheila had her nails and chin done, and we strolled back along the crowded pavements to the hotel. In the evening the drinks and nibbles were back on in the lounge, but we were the only people to take advantage of them. Sun 23rd. It was a bit quieter than usual outside, about half the shops and both of the markets were closed on Sunday, but most of the pavement traders were in full swing as always. I did our standard walk to the Esplanade, past one of the imposing gates of the Raj Bhavan (Raj-era government house) .... .... to the fabric and tailors' shops where I picked up some shirts we'd ordered a couple of days ago, and went past the Oberoi and the Fairlawn to the Blue Sky café in Sudder street for a coffee. I was looking for bookshops because we've about run out of reading matter but all the shops were closed - I mentioned this to one of the pashmina shop touts that picked me up and he kindly took me to a street book merchant who was operating, then he was most disappointed when I wouldn't come into his pashmina shop. Mon 24th Feb to Sun 1st March. We were now feeling pretty bad with this bug (which we later realised was probably RSV, the latest respiratory virus to sweep the world) so we did very little for the next several days, apart from a couple of trips out (see below). One day we went out to achieve some chores - Sheila bought a new glass screen to replace the broken one on her mobile (£1), got a fancy new lavender cover for the phone (£1.50) and extended the life of the SIM card. As we were standing at the mobiles street stall an electric tram suddenly trundled past on the 'heritage route' from the Esplanade terminus, past Tipu Sultan mosque and along Lenin Road, which was pleasing because people had said that the trams had all gone. We walked on to the Fairlawn hotel and did a two-for-one book swap in their library. We had refreshing lemon sodas in the nearby Blue Sky café, a longtime favourite, then got an Uber back to our hotel. On other days Sheila had a pedicure and we had another walk around the market, but mostly we just relaxed in the room, coughing and feeling sorry for ourselves. Chandernagar, Chinsurah / Hooghly, Kalna and Mayapur, West Bengal Tues 25th. We started early at 6:30 for a big drive out to some towns up-river from Calcutta to see the sights. Chandernagar, 30km up-river, was a French enclave until it became part of India in 1951 and there was still some French ambience. We visited the Sacred Heart French church, a big white edifice in prime position looking down the approach road to the landing steps (ghat) on the Ganges river. There is a nice Strand Road running along the riverbank with gardens overlooking the river and historic buildings along the other side. We also stopped at Nandalal Hindu temple but it was closed. Just a few kms further north we went to Chinsurah which had been a Portuguese enclave from 1537, and the site of the first British settlement in Bengal in 1651 before moving downriver to Calcutta. The only obvious sign of the British presence was the clock tower in the middle of a three-way junction. We went down to the ferry ghat where people were queueing to get on the ferries that plied constantly to and fro across the river, which was fascinating. Hooghly is a district within Chinsurah and we went to the Hooghly Imambra, not exactly a mosque but a memorial site constructed in the 1840s. Imambras are built to commemorate the martyrdom of the grandson of the prophet, which is a hugely significant event in the Shia Muslim faith, who regard themselves as the original Islam. We also went to the Basilica of the Holy Rosary Bandel Church and followed a group of Italian nuns who were visiting on a pilgrimage. 50km further north we stopped at Kalna which is famous for its terracotta temples. We arrived about 1:30 pm and the Internet told us that the temples would be closed now until 4pm, but the gates were open so we and a few other visitors strolled in and nobody objected. Shiv Mandir is a collection of 108 small temples arranged in two concentric circles with gardens in between, built in 1809. Across the road was another group of temples all elaborately decorated in terracotta, including the spectacular Laljit temple constructed in 1739. Finally we drove on another 35 km to Mayapur where there is a huge, modern Hare Krishna temple, headquarters of ISKON (the International Society for Krishna Consciousness). There was a big festival or gathering in progress and one of the halls was full of singers and musicians leading the Hare Krishna chant, and devotees swaying and dancing to the music. There was a noticeable number of westerners present, many in the traditional orange robes and hair shaved to a topknot, but while it was all completely fascinating we didn't become converts. Despite the overwhelming sense of peace and harmony in the temple, there was one small sign of revolt against authority outside! As dusk fell we began the long, dusty drive back to Calcutta. Bishnapur, West Bengal Thurs 27th. We went for another big drive out from Calcutta, 145 km to Bishnapur, which is a Unesco world heritage city of temples - well, more of a village really. There are several groups of interesting buildings including the Shaiam-Rai temple .... .... the Jor-Bangla temple, with many elaborate carvings .... .... and the unusual Rasmancha brick pyramid .... .... as well as a gateway of the old fort and the barrel of a huge cannon. Mumbai again Sun 2nd March. Flights from Calcutta to London seem difficult - very expensive and inconvenient timings, so we decided to go to Mumbai where there are more options and we flew there on Spicejet, another of the budget Indian airlines. The airline left one of our bags behind in Calcutta and didn't seem to know what to do about it. Useless. We checked into the lovely Taj Tower hotel and they upgraded us into a 17th-floor sea view room with an amazing view of the Gateway and all the boats. But this wasn't enough for Sheila and she got us upgraded further into a wonderful room with a vaulted roof on the top floor of the original historic Taj Palace wing (built 1903), with a bathtub and nice views of the gardens and swimming pool, and the palace tower and cupola. We discovered we had a 'floor butler' when he knocked on the door and introduced himself. He said to call him if we had any requests and Sheila managed to mention that our wedding anniversary was coming up, and pretty soon we had balloons and yet more cake! Mon 3rd. We booked our flight home. Let's see how that works out. After hanging around most of the day (in a lovely room in the Taj Palace) we finally went back to the airport (at our own expense) and got our missing suitcase from the airline. We celebrated with an absolutely delicious pizza and pasta at Pizza Express a couple of blocks away, and really nice Sula sparkling and Dindori red wines. Tues 4th - Weds 5th. We had breakfast overlooking the harbour in the elegant dining room in the Taj Palace, including Sheila's special treat, strawberries and ice cream. Then, leaving the hotel by the quieter Taj Palace entrance, past the statues of the rearing horses .... .... we pottered around doing a bit of shopping and taking dirty hankies to the laundry. We went back to the Pizza Express for drinks and starters, then had yesterday's leftover pizza in the room for dinner. On Wednesday we had dinner at Mondy's café. Thurs 6th - Fri 7th. We had a good flight home on Etihad Airways. If you would like to see more of our travels just click the map.