The Last Day

And so, on the 19^th December 2012, it was our last full day of travelling before flying back to England and home. One more final push to get everything we needed before jumping on the plane bound for London. A quick breakfast set us up for the day and then we were off to scour the markets for a last few trinkets that were still on our shopping list.

Another hot taxi ride and we were back at the No 2 Market we went to the day before. We knew exactly what we were after and how much we should be looking at to make the deal. We headed upstairs in one of the shops we had visited the day before and the portly gentleman welcomed us back with a smile and a handshake. We set about bargaining with the man and eventually got the price we were looking for, and he even got a small Chinese coin into the bargain to give him good luck. We still had a few Yuan left over from our tour of China and James had discovered that these little beauties could be easily introduced to a deal to lower the asking price, with the seller looking at the shiny little coin in awe. I wish I had whipped out a few Vietnamese Dong, we could have probably got everything half price!

Next up we headed back to the Colaba Market near to the Gateway To India and waded through the tourists looking for a few choice items. We managed to get a pretty much clean sweep of everything we were after, so there was just Fashion Street and the Thieves Market to go. The sun was still pretty hot and giving us one last chance of a tan. Topping out at 30 degrees (according to my laptop gadget) but not being overly uncomfortable means that we have probably acclimatised to the hot weather again, so it looks like all the cold-weather clothing we bought in China will be making an appearance once again.

Colaba Market...again!

With success at Fashion Street we then set our sights on the Thieves Market. It was a fair distance away but as we had time on our hands we decided to walk it and drink up that last few moments of the Mumbai street life.

After the lengthy trek we believed we had found the area where the Thieves Market would be, and after a short sharp trip into a covered market area that smelled like death we asked a young chap nearby where the market was. He pointed to the road across the street and we wandered down it. It wasn’t really what we were wanting. Not at all. If you need parts for your motorbike or such-like then you would be in heaven, but we didn’t really need any of that kind of stuff so we set off in search of a taxi back to the hotel.

Inside another dodgy, dirty, cramped Fiat taxi

It was early enough in the afternoon for us to get back and have a nap. It is another luxury that we will miss when we are back to normality in a few weeks time. And after that it was time to begin the packing of the bag for the final time. Trinkets were safely tucked away inbetween clothes and coats to shield them from the brutes at British Airways baggage handlers. It was the most emotional re-pack that we have done considering that most of the things within the bags have been with us for over 6 months and have become close friends along the way.

Once we had Skyped mum and dad for one last time we headed downstairs to the hotel restaurant that had also become a good friend in our time in Mumbai. Another cracking meal set us up for a nice relaxed evening with a couple of large, celebratory Kingfisher beers and undoubtedly another round of cards.