checkout

checked out of hotel (porters so eager to help me to a taxi, which suggests that I have been overgenerous with the baksheesh); dropped bag at mumbai central station clockroom, after fighting my way through hoards of touts desperate to show me where the ticket office was [i) I could see where it was ii) I did not need to go to the ticket office]; then took suburban train to the beach and sat in a branch of a bombay chain of coffeeshops (there are a couple of chains here -- maybe getting big enough to be purchased and rebranded by the mermaid with the nice titties?). On the way I walked through a little shanty town that had grown up by one of the suburban railway stations - lots of little kids for saying Hi to but they also want backsheesh... I can just imagine what would happen if I started handing out rupee coins in the middle of fully populated plastic-sheet city... at least there aren't the crazy mountains (well, car-sized heaps) of rubbish that I found in Calcutta.