Friday morning I took a local bus 17 km north to Kashid Beach, which was actually much nicer but swarming with Indian tourists. As the lone token foreigner on the beach I think I must have posed for something like eight photos over the course of the day. It's tough being a big Bollywood star.
Anyway, I must have drifted off for a few hours because I woke up to a setting sun and an emptying beach. I saw that it was 7:00, decided to relax for a bit and take one photo of the sunset, then pack up my things and walk to the road. But a minute before I reached the bus stop, I saw the bus toward Murud rumbling away.
I figured I'd only have to wait another 20 minutes or so. An hour later, it was getting pretty dark, and finally I saw the headlights of another bus, but it didn't even slow down, let alone stop. And I could see why - so many Indians were already wedged into the rickety little bus that my added weight might have cause the thing to stall out. So I waited. There were only three Indians at the bus stop. I asked the group, "When is the next bus?" and received some grunts in response. Another hour went by. Four buses had passed in the opposite direction and all of them had stopped. I really loathed myself for taking that picture and as a result, missing the bus. Finally, at 9:20, another crowded bus rumbled up, and I forced my way on and got wedged into the center with just one foot on the ground as the bus started moving again.
There were easily 80 people piled into a 48 seat bus that's probably twice as old as I am. I'd say it was as bad as Seoul Metro at rush hour, only on a bus with still air rumbling down an unsealed road. But I was finally headed toward Murud, and after waiting nearly two and a half hours this was enough for me.
I got back to Murud after 10 and went to the only restaurant still open for some nice Vegetable Korma. I haven't spent much time talking about food recently because it's really not an issue at all. I can basically eat all Indian food, except for the obvious exceptions like naans, chapatis, and samosas. As long as everything is made from fresh ingredients (no double cream in curries) then it's probably gluten-free. Indian food was already one of my favorites even during my Gluten Years so it's a nice blessing that I can eat well here without worry.
I was woken up this morning by a family of seven Indians knocking on the door of my room in the guesthouse. I answered and they didn't speak a word of English, but I gathered that they had booked the room for tonight (Saturday) and were trying to move there things in. At 6:30 A.M. I guess that's what I get for paying seven dollars a night for a room...a 6:30 A.M. checkout time. After sleeping for a few more hours on the beach with my baggage strung around me, I'm now back in Mumbai after a much appreciated uneventful bus ride.
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