We started off by hoping into taxis around midnight and heading towards Saharanpur's train station, which is about 1.5 hours away. We took a crazy, dusty, and windy road that's filled with scary looking trucks. Some highlights from the taxi ride included a leopard that leaped accross the road (i missed it...), lots of honking, passing, and flashing headlights, a truck that was turned over on it's side in the middle of the road (no big deal...), and a bridge that had a chacane so that only cars could maneuver onto it (trucks had to slowly cross the dried up river bed). Here's a pic of one of the scary looking trucks:
We get on the train around 3am. It's dark and confusing, we kick people out of our berth and try to get some sleep. We're on "sleeper class" which is the most typical way of traveling for Indians and only costs about $5 for the 25 hour train ride. I wake up to the sound of the chai-wala (guy selling tea), who runs back and forth along the train yelling, "Chaiii, chaiiiiii, chaiiiii...". It's 6am and we understand that you're selling chai, but we just want to sleep... But overall, it was a comfy ride down, especially compared to the trip back (see last 2 pictures, we had up to 28 people in our berth designed for 8...) Here' what the train looked like:
After lots of roaming around, we finally arrive to a hotel around sunrise. The room we got was funny. The doorway leading into the room was about 5 feet high (I hit my head and it hurt). Also, the door has to be latched to stay shut, and if you latch it from the inside, you can't open it from the outside, and if you latch it from the outside, everyone in the room is trapped, scary.
We freshen up and head out to see Mumbai! Great colonial buildings, this one's the headquarters for the Indian Railway, the world's biggest employer, employing 16 million people (that's almost the population of Australia!)
The new, modern, and expensive next to the typical.
Funny looking steam roller thingy that hit a car...
Us east asians and white boys buying delicious street food.
Typical market street with lots of shops, people, cars, bikes, scooters, soliciting, birds, hanging clothes, etc., I love it
View of the Taj Hotel and the Gateway of India. Lots of tourists in the area and beefed up security around the hotel.
We took a ferry from here to Elephanta island to see some cave temples. The 6th century BC Hindu temple that was originally a Buddhist temple. It costs Indian citizens 20 cents to get in, it costs us foreigners $5, not cool. 
There were lots of monkeys on the island, this one's beating up a puppy
On the ferry ride back, someone dropped a sandal into the the bottom hull of the boat. I thought it would be a good idea to go get it. It was hot, dark, and scary, but after a couple minutes I found it.
View looking back towards Mumbai's beach. In most of India, PDA is a big taboo, but in Mumbai, it's a little more acceptable. The stranger thing is that close friends of the same sex feel free to hold hands and such. On a side note, we were in Mumbai over V-day. The right wing Hindus were "moral policing" to make sure that couples weren't doing anything indecent out in the public (basically showing any kind of affection or even being found with your significant other in a "romantic" spot). There were also massive real policemen and reserve MPs out to make sure that the "moral policing" didn't get out of hand. Later in the week, I read a few stories about people being beat up, arrested, publically humiliated, and even one girl committing suicide. India's changing, but some don't want it to. Anyways, the beach:
View of one of the slums one of Mumbai's many railway stations. This one's where they shot some scene's for Slumdog Millionaire, which we saw while in Mumbai, and I highly recommend:
View of one of the crowded commuter trains. Yes, it's moving, and no, the doors don't close...
The train station where we left from.
At one of the train stations on the way back to Mussoorie, I decided I wanted to get off to stretch my legs and get some lassi (delicious yogurt drink). I found it odd that so many people were pushing their way onto the train long before it stopped, but figured that it's no big deal. It turned out that about 400 people had come to take an exam to get a job with the railway, but the exam was canceled and all 400 people decided to hop on our train instead of waiting for theirs. People were fighting to get on the train, even going through the emergency window to get in. I stood watching and being amused until I realized I actually have to fight to get back on the train. I manage to get on, but I'm kinda hanging out from the side of the door. We start moving, and I wonder how long I'll make it before I fall out. Luckily, Indians often "treat their guests as gods". So someone realizes I'm a foreigner and tells the others to let me in. I make my way a few feet into the train where i see some people sitting on the floor of the bathroom. Anyways, I meet some guys that are eager to talk to me. We have some interesting conversations, I learn how to politely complement a girl by saying "ap sandur hai" (you are beautiful). After about 2 hours of standing in the crowd (I've never been so close to another guy...) some of the guys tell me that since I'm not Indian, I probably won't make it much longer standing in the crowd. They tell everyone to clear a path at the next station so that I can find my seat, and after stepping on some luggage and small children, I make it back to my seat, where I find 27 people in my berth designed for 8!
