Mumbai, Jaipur, Agra and Honking Cars

So, to catch up all very quickly (since we have been very lazy about updating):

1. We were extras in a Bollywood film, with this guy who likes to check his hair every 2 minutes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahid_Kapoor We even got paid! Thinking we were so cool for being asked, turns out they ask any white person they can find, by the end of our stay in Mumbai, we had been asked to participate in 3 different Bollywood movies, and a music video. We said once was enough.
2. Stan got Dehli Belly on Thanksgiving, oh the irony.
3. We made it through Colaba Causeway without buying anything, although it took us until our last day in Mumbai.
4. We successfully bought train tickets, by ourselves. A HUGE feat!
5. We successfully took an overnight train to Jaipur. Stan didn't get very much sleep.
6. The car honking in Mumbai and Jaipur gave us headaches. We both almost killed autorickshaw drivers for failing to leave us alone.
7. We spent an afternoon at Jantar Mantar, a really interesting outdoor observatory. Stan was in heaven and Bevin got to take lots of photos of people who didn't know she was taking photos of them, or so she thought.
8. Bevin did not buy any silver, jewelry or fabric, despite Jaipur being the supposed capital of such things.
9. We survived a very scary 5 1/2 hour bus ride from Jaipur to Agra. Apparently passenger buses like to play chicken with truck drivers on one lane highways.
10. Stan finished "The Stand" and hated it. Bevin is on her third book (ok, they are all like 75 words per page).
11. We saw the Taj Mahal today. It was spectacular.

Mumbai and lovin' it

Arrived in Mumbai about 36hrs after leaving Dahab, Egypt feeling pretty good. Had a bit of trouble finding a reasonable room in the city so we stayed in Chembur, a northern suburb. Took a day to get our bearings and settled in a small fourth floor walkup, The Sea Shore Hotel, right on the water near the Gateway to India. Very convenient, cheap and just next door to Koyla, a posh sheesha bar. As soon as we figure out this blog site pictures will follow.

Are those bedouins sleeping?

A night hike up Mt. Sinai to see the sunrise broke up an otherwise lazy, relaxing stay in Dahab. Leaving the hotel at midnight we took a bumpy, security stop filled two hour journey to the base of Mt. Sinai where St Catherine's Monastery is located. We started up immediately under the night sky which was brilliant. "Shooting stars" were everywhere which we later found was probably the early part of the Leonid meteor shower. Three hours of hiking up the mount skirting camels, their touts and their mess we arrived at the summit to find people sleeping everywhere. A bit confused and tired Stan said "Are those bedouins sleeping"? We laughed and then joined them until the sunrise to find about two thousand people had arrived in the cold night. To this point the best experience we've had so far.