Spent my last full day in India by wandering up Marine Drive towards the Malabar Hills area. Visited the house where Gandhi stayed when he visited Bombay. It`s now a museum full of memorabilia, including his letter to Hitler suggesting he call the whole war off. I surpose it was worth a try. Getting ready to leave. It will be a shock to get back to London, where no one shouts hello as you walk down the street. I`ve got quite used to it.

After a quiet day in Paniji, caught the overnight train up to Mumbai. It was all incredibly efficient and reasonably comfortable. We all had sheets and a pillow and it was quite soothing being rocked to sleep. Met an Indian couple who were going back to Delhi where they work for New Delhi TV. Their heroes are Lyse Doucet and Manisha Tank. Arrived in Mumbai at 6am, bang on time. It was still dark , so I dumped my stuff at the station and went to explore Bombay waking up. It was amazingly quiet, although all around there were signs that the city was waking up. Got to the Gateway of India just as dawn was breaking and saw the sunrise over the arch. Mumbai hasn’t changed that much since I was last here in 1996. The city is still very different to the rest of India. A real contrast of the haves and have nots. You can be watching children in posh school uniforms play cricket on the Oval Maiden, and suddenly feel a tap on your leg from a three year old beggar who wants money so he can get something to eat. As the sun went down I walked up to Chowpatty Beach and had a head massage. It was intense.