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The taxi we rode in from the airport to our hotel in South Mumbai felt like it could literally fall apart any second. It was a thin piece of metal on wheels and kind of old-fashioned feeling. The driver drove crazy going in between other cars and around traffic through back streets etc. The city was really crowded with people covering every square inch of space.
We arrived at the JW Marriott and after the guards and dog checked the car and we walked through the metal detector, we got settled into our room. Since it was already the evening , we explored our hotel resort a bit, looking at the multiple restaurants and had dinner in the lounge where they had all kinds of complimentary finger foods and drinks. The hotel itself was sitting on the Juhu Beach, one of the most popular beaches in Mumbai which overlooks the Arabian Sea.
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Our first full day in Mumbai, we jumped on a tuk-tuk and had it bring us to a main shopping area nearby. We spent some time there looking at the different shops and area. It was action-packed with a constant buzz of people going about their day. We noticed a ton of jewelry shops selling both costume jewelry and all kinds of gems. We had fun sitting down to see what they had but also being careful, because they can make fakes look real. There were also numerous food vendors on the streets but in India…it’s definitely a gamble to eat off the street and to us wasn’t worth the risk of being sick…we stuck to nice restaurants in this country.
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Our last full day in India we hired a driver to take us down to Bombay which was a good hour from our hotel. The architecture was pretty modern looking like a typical city. We drove across the huge bridge admiring the skyline but noticing the very smoggy air around us. The driver took us past Gandhi’s house, and then through various parts of the city to get an overall view of Bombay before dropping us off at the Gateway of India. We told the driver to meet us at a certain place at a certain time and went off on our own to walk around for a bit. The gateway of India is a giant archway sitting right on the edge of the water…it is a major tourist attraction although there really isn’t so much to it. What was interesting while we were there was the fact that so many Indian people wanted to get pictures with us!! It must be what the stars feel like…people kept coming up one after the other asking if they could get a picture with us…we definitely got a kick out of it. We had people approach us in other places in India too but this was non-stop, we had to turn people down and walk away.
We walked around the area through the old stone streets…stopping in one of the top hotels to see the inside of it, as well as shopped around at various little stores…there again were many jewelry shops. It was like searching for treasure…the stores had drawers and drawers full of all kinds of jewels. We were hungry so went up a tiny stairway to a small restaurant which ended up having horrible service and pretty bad food. Our time was up after our early dinner…in fact we were late and needed to get going. Traffic was pretty bad driving back up to our hotel but the view was nice along the water where people were lying around in the sand.
We got back up to south Mumbai where we had time to eat some dinner and then took a taxi back to the airport. Our flight leaves India for South Africa tonight!!! India has been an experience, that’s for sure! We’ve seen many rats, lots of garbage and real poverty…but also amazing food, historical palaces and really cool handmade crafts/art. We did not get to see southern India and we didn’t get to experience the yogi/spiritual side of the country which would be a whole different thing…that said, we were glad we added India to our itinerary but were also happy to be leaving it behind.
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Published by Giff Kabat
I grew up in Ohio as a kid, so of course I went to college at “THE” Ohio State University. I graduated in 2001 with a major in business finance. A month after graduation, I moved out to California with my college girlfriend (whom I married in 2005)…and started my career in sales (industrial sales for 5 years…then moved into medical laser sales for 4 years).
In 2009 I was 31 years old. I had a great job, a new house, and a beautiful wife. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better…my wife and I found out we were going to have a baby. Everything was going according to plan…and I couldn’t have scripted a better life for myself.
Then in the same year…everything changed. My wife, Brandey, called me when I was on my way to work and told me over the phone, something I never thought could be possible in a million years. My beautiful 30-year old pregnant wife was just told that she had breast cancer. At that moment, everything stopped all at once. I immediately went to her…and learned of our new plan…which began with her needing surgery immediately…and the rest we would find out later.
The day we returned from the hospital after Brandey’s surgery…my father died. He had been battling an aggressive cancer of his own…and although he was the one person I wanted to speak with about Brandey having cancer…I never told him. My sister, Brooke, had just gotten married a few months ago, and although he was weak, he was able to walk his little girl down the aisle of her wedding. On the night before my sister’s wedding, Brandey and I told him that we were pregnant and about to make him a grandfather. It made no sense to tell him that everything had changed for us…so he died in peace knowing everything was “the way it should be” for his only 2 children.
2010 was the worst year of my life. We had lost our baby…and for 12 months I watched my wife fight cancer with multiple surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation treatments, and drug therapy. It was a difficult year for us…but we made it. When you go through something like this in life, you learn a lot about yourself and the people around you. I was amazed at the strength and courage of my wife…and how many good people there are in this world. I will be forever grateful for the ones who never ceased to amaze me with their kindness during this hard time. Family, friends, and sometimes complete strangers…helped us make it through this. I am, and will always be especially grateful to my mother, who was with my dad at the very end, when I couldn’t be there, and when things were at their worst. She has been so supportive throughout all of this, and without her everything would have been so much harder for me.
It’s 2011 now…and the plan we have for our life this year…is to make it the best year of our lives. Brandey is officially in remission from breast cancer and she has a 95% chance the cancer will never come back. Besides the love that I have for my wife and family, the loves of my life are food, wine, and adventure travel. My wife and I love traveling to new places, seeing natural wonders, and meeting new people from different parts of the world. So for the next 400 days…we’ve decided to travel the world…and celebrate our lives. There are so many things I took for granted in life that I will never take for granted again. My father worked for over 30 years at the same job with the same company…rarely took time off…and died at 64 years old right after his retirement. For me, this trip is a combination of a tribute to him, along with wanting to spend the time of my life with the “love of my life.”
* The only thing I will miss while we are gone is our family and friends (who we hope will meet us somewhere throughout our trip) and especially our 3 little kitties we left with my mom in Ohio to catsit for the next 400 days. I will also miss watching “American Football” over the weekend…but I’ll do my best to check the scores in the middle of the night.
GIFF
View all posts by Giff Kabat
Spinning Around The World 
I want my picture taken and autographed by the famous Brandey Kabat!