Bombay Virgin

Namaste everyone!
I got here safe and sound and am very happy. The flight from Rome to London was delayed by two hours for bad weather in London but eventually got to Heathrow and had just about 30 minutes to board the flight to Mumbai.

The flight went well, I slept pretty much the whole time.
Got to Bombay at around 11am the next day and it was HOT!!! Over 30 celsius.

Determined to leave the city straight away I asked about the 'express' train that I was supposed to take but they said it was all fully booked so I decided to go somewhere else first, completely random place I saw the name of on the map I have, why not? I never ever organise my trips so I would have been surprised if I had this time.

I got a tuk tuk to the bus station and the driver was a very funny man who tried to speak in English as much as he could. 'Your country?' and me 'Italy' driver 'ahhhh...Sonia Gandhi from Italy, nice' then he said 'Bombay Virgin?' ehmmm... I guess he meant is this your first time in Bombay so I said 'yes' and he laughed. After waiting 3 hours at this travel agent sort of shop I got on a VERY local bus, where I was the only foreigner! The bus took 5 hours and I reached Nasik, which on the map look s very near Bombay but nevertheless it took forever and I was exhausted.

Everyone has been amazingly friendly so far and I have met lots of locals who have taken me around and showed me many temples. Nasik is a magic place where lots of pilgrims come from all over to bathe in the sacred banks.
I was hoping to attach some pictures but the internet cafe where I am is very basic and I can't connect my camera to the pc but I promise I will upload some as soon as I can.

I've decided to take my time to reach the Ashram and make my way there slowly and very locally by bus. I have not seen one foreigner so far. It seems like I am the only one in this town....but it can't be, there must be some somewhere.... hmmm.

Speak soon.

Big hug to all, in particular to mum, dad, Riccardo and Lorenzo.

Ciao a tutti!!
Sono sana e salva e sono arrivata a Bombay dopo un titardo tra Roma Londra di 2 ore. Arrivata a Londra ho avuto solo circa 30 minuti per salire sul volo per Bombay.
Il volo e' andato bene e ho dormito quasi tutto il tempo.
Arrivata a Bombay ho chiesto per il treno per Indore (quello che ci avrebbe messo 15 ore per arrivare in un paese vicino il posto dove devo andare) ma era tutto pieno e cosi ho deciso di andare un un altro posto, un po' a caso, trovato sulla cartina! mi sono cosi diretta verso la stazione degli autobus e dopo aver aspettato in un negozietto di viaggio in autobus piccolo piccolo, ho preso un autobus estremamente vecchio e lento, su cui l'unica turista ero io!
Dopo 5 ore sono arrivata a Nasik, un posto molto carino dove vengono persone da tutta l'India per farsi il bagno nelle acque sacre qui. Ho conosciuto un sacco di persone carinissime che mi hanno portata in gir e mi hanno fatto vedere vari tempi. Ho deciso che raggiungero' Omkareshwar con il bus e lentamente, vediamo dove mi porta il vento!
Volevo allegare delle foto ma sono in un centro internet mooolto semplice e non ho modo di collegare il pc alla mia macchinetta. Comunque vi prometto di metter su delle foto appena posso.
La cosa curiosa di quesot posto comunque e' che finora non ho visto nemmeno un turista...sembro esserci solo io, ma puo' essere? bo'.

Un abbraccio a tutti in particolare a mamma, papa', Riccardo e Lorenzo.