Freemind diary of a local traveler: From Negombo to Mumbai

After my Visa was issued I runned off to Negombo. I spent my last two days in Sri Lanka with Egor, a Russian guy, who also was flying to India the same day I left. This guy is also a couch surfer, friend of another friend.
We met in Colombo train station and from there we traveled together to Negombo. It was lots of fun from the very beginning!

A guy in couchsurfing, posted a message saying that he made a mistake with the reservation in a hotel in Negombo, he reserved the wrong dates, so he offered his reservation for free. Even though, it was the last night of his reservation, I called the hotel before arriving in Negombo and the owner of the hotel agreed in checking us in...so we got a room for free in a hotel....COOL!

We arrived in Negombo late in the night, no busses were in service, and we decided to hitchhike... a tuk tuk driver approached us, first he wanted some money, but then, because we insisted in hitchhiking, he offered us a ride for free...it was sooo unreal!
Who traveled in SL, or in general around Asia, knows that tuk tuk drivers usually rip tourist off, but this guy drove us for 5 km for FREE!
Simply insane :)

Negombo is a lovely beach town, we were there during the monsoon season so there was not too much going on, but the airport is only 20 minutes by bus, so it is better to stay there than in Colombo.

From the Negombo quite and relaxed atmosphere I flew to the Mumbai hell.
The first day I was Mumbai I felt overwhelmed almost scared from this big dirty monster.
I didnt know a lot about it and I was in a horrible part of the city: plenty traffic, smog, trash and slums everywhere...I thought I was used to see poverty but Mumbai, especially in some areas is dreadful...there are mountains of trash, little kids climb these mountains, looking up into the trash, I cannot explain the feeling: my stomach was twisted, nauseated by the smell and what I saw.

Houses in from of the train station

Trash just few meters from the above pict...it was on fire..the smell was awful

The day after I contacted a couch surfer, an Indian girl, and I moved to a nicer area in Bandra West. A little tip: if you visit Mumbai: every area in the city is divided in West and East, the West is the nicest part, on contrary the East is the less comfortable.

Mumbai,as all the big cities, reflects India. It is heaven and hell together, the eternal contrasts live together side by side...
It is an enormous paradox kept steady and compact by the old and absurdus caste system that clashes with the modernity and development the country is undertaking. What makes your heart sinking is to see little kids that are deprived of their childhood, exploited since birth :(
After the first confusing period, I set in the city quickly I learnt how to use trains and buses...to me far better than taxi and tuk tuk. I loved trains for several reasons: