You can read about day one of my India trip here, day two here, and day three here.
Today was a travel day from New Delhi to Mumbai, though timed in such a way as to minimize stress and maximize productivity.
When in the USA, I tend to take redeyes when flying east and reverse-redeye when available when flying west in order to maximize my time on the ground. But if time were not stretched so thin, I prefer afternoon flights. That removes the stress of getting up early. Even though I would call myself a morning person, I like to write this blog, get my other work done, savor coffee, and workout during the first half of the day…it is inherently stressful for me to fly during that time unless I know a flight has Starlink Wi-Fi onboard.
My favorite time to travel is in the late afternoon. If I’m traveling domestically in the USA, that means I can enjoy my leisurely morning and still be in my own bed at night. Internationally, a late afternoon flight or early evening flight allows me to eat dinner and get to bed early, as I try to do every night.
Anyway, my day started with a workout in the Andaz Delhi gym, a trip to the sauna and steam room, then breakfast…which I would give a mixed review. The food selection was excellent, including a wonderful assortment of baked goods, Indian food, and Western choices, but I did not care for the coffee…the beans were too bitter for my taste and the milk was ultra-homogenized (it boggles my mind how people can drink that stuff and I hate that we are seeing more of that in the USA).
After breakfast I got some work done and then I decided to walk over to a place called Looks Privé for a facial. A facial? Yeah, a facial. I started my skincare routine a bit late in life and the fine lines and wrinkles are annoyingly present…but I’m trying to take care of my skin and that includes mostly preventative measure now but also some remedial measures like these facials that are supposed to reverse aging…it’s all vanity, but as I approach a round birthday, I’m trying to ensure my skin is in order.
This was the sort of salon that has a barista…the coffee was much better than at the Andaz!
Back at the hotel, I got some more work done before heading to the airport.
I won’t rehash my first class ground experience, but Air India impressed me. Even more, I appreciated the fight to Mumbai on the A350-900 in business class, a flight I will share more details about in my next installment of this trip report.
As we approached Mumbai, it was clear the heat of Delhi was behind me. It is monsoon season in Mumbai and it had been raining for four days straight ahead of my visit…nonstop rain. As we touched down at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, the rain was pouring down.
I sat in the arrivals hall for a bit to get situated and get some work done just in case my “hotel” had no Wi-Fi. What did I mean?
Well, it was Saturday evening and regular readers know I like to attend church on Sundays wherever I am in the world. Rather than check into a fancy hotel like the Four Seasons (as I will do on Sunday), I decided to book a budget hotel just a few blocks from the church, St. Thomas Anglican Cathedral.
Why? I knew I was arriving late (even later had a I stuck to my original flight) and I knew it would be raining very hard. I figured it made no sense to book myself somewhere that required a 30-45 minute cab ride to church early on Sunday morning…too stressful.
So I booked this place called The Fountain Inn for $30/night in the Fort neighborhood, a very cool South Mumbai district.
I ordered and Uber and we made our way to the hotel, which took about an hour…the rain was incredibly fierce!
The hotel was indeed the sort of place I used to stay in my youth and thought I had graduated from, but every expense we make it a cost-benefit analysis and I’d rather the $200 and take my wife out to dinner or put it in my kid’s 529 plan when I just needed a place to lay my head that night (am I alone in thinking this way?).
While not fancy, it was clean and the internet worked. With the rain pouring down, I ordered dinner on my phone to be delivered…Mexican of course. Turns out there was a restaurant called Maiz Mexican Kitchen directly across the street from The Fountain Inn (in fact, I probably would have darted across the street had I known exactly how close it was).
The funny thing was that I ordered the food on the Swiggy app and it said delivery would be in 45 minutes. But 10 minutes later there was a knock on my door and the food had arrived…piping hot. My protein bowl, tacos, and quesadilla were absolutely superb…bravo to Maiz Mexican Kitchen.
And that was my day…I went to bed and slept soundly (with the steady sound of rain coming down outside).
Enjoying these “Day X” mid-trip updates! How cool that Air India is operating their a350 with those new suites in J on such a short hop (DEL-BOM). “My favorite time to travel is in the late afternoon.” (Great way to get delayed, though.) Facial and more Taco-Bell-like cuisine. What a mix! At least the hotel bathroom has multiple buckets…
Nice trip so far… Although I will tell you that main picture you look absolutely miserable so I did not expect a good write up
I’m getting old, but Air India Business Class was stellar!
Nothing like Mexican food in India. That’s a recipe for a late night spent on the toilet.
Technically, safer than Taco Bell in the US these days… *explosive diarrhea*
Is this a comment on restaurants in India or Mexican food, because I don’t get this comment?
Name two things that will cause fecal urgency.
its india, no toilets
just defecate on the floor, preferably in front of a few dozen people
All the people I’ve worked with in my career in the USA that were from India but lived in the US temporarily all loved Mexican food. I think the simplicity of ingredients along with the spice are very compatible with Indian palates. It doesn’t surprise me at all to see good US-style Mexican food in India. In fact, the guy who founded this restaurant likely lived in the US at one point and just missed Chipotle.