Out for a stroll

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Up at 8 to search for our friend's phone that was mysteriously lost the night before ... It was eventually found amongst a pile of clothes. Panic over and time for a delicious breakfast.


We were dropped at the Upvan lake and proceeded to walk all of the way around. Next we wanted to go into the nearby forest (national park). We walked past lots of small industrial units and a bike shop, where we bought a bag of wheel bearings very cheap. (Darryl needs them to fix his bike wheel back home). We were called across the main road by a street seller waving apples! He very kindly gave them to us as a gift.

We started to pass through a residential area. We watched as one man made necklaces and another cricket bats. 


A young man approached us and he spoke just a little English. We started to tell him where we were heading and he led the way. We first visited his best friend's house for chai with the family before continuing to the start of a trail.


Unfortunately, it was too hot to continue up the steep tracks and getting late too. Apparently, after 4pm you cannot go because of leopards!

We said goodbye to our new friend and caught a bus to the train station. On the bus, Darryl was asked to move from his seat because it was a ladies seat. Not by the conductor or the other ladies that had been on the bus since the start but by a new passenger. She pointed to the sign in Hindi and pretty much said - ladies, seat - move! Darryl gave up his seat.

At the train station we needed refreshments so ordered a Punjabi lassi and a mixed Ice cream with chocolate sauce. It was in a busy restaurant so we moved on quickly to an air-conditioned McDonalds, to hide from the heat.


A short while later we met our friends at their language school before crossing Thane to a small, famous sweet shop. We tried some wonderful sweet delights - Jilebi, melai sandwich, pak gulab jamun and basundi!

Partially full, we headed to a small restaurant - which was closed! We changed plan and navigated many of the Thane speed bumps to another local eating hotspot. There are a lot! We tried 2 different Thalis, fish, prawns, 2 different drinks. One made with a small, red local fruit called kokum and the other was a milky, pink curd based delight. Amazing, beyond totally full now!


We travelled home and spent the rest of the evening deep in conversation about world destinations.

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