Day 1

Arrived into Mumbai at 4am and headed out of airport to get a taxi to Pune. I had been previously advised to expect to pay about 850 rupees. Of course they took one look at me and said 3000 rupees. I explained I didn’t mind waiting and splitting the fare and was told that as it was New Years Eve all the shared taxis were booked well in advance and nothing was available. I stuck to my guns and surprise surprise, there were already 3 people sat there waiting to go to Pune and off we went for 850 rupees (about £8.50). My flatmate was charged 100 usdollars and this didn’t seem like a bad deal after her hotel had quoted her 300 usdollars.

The sun came up as we were driving on the expressway through the dusty mountainous area between Mumbai and Pune. Arrived at 8.30am local time (3am by my body clock) and spent the morning traipsing round to look at apartments – I’d only been granted my place at the institute in mid December so unsuprisingly last year’s apartment was taken. Eventually settled for the first one I’d looked at which is pretty good but a little far away from the institute (15 mins walk) and kitchen is rubbish – just a single gas burner on a bottle of the type you might use when camping (and to be honest even then I’d have 2 rings!).

Saw a gorgeous apartment right by the park that was not available till the tenth, so hope to move in then. Sank into bed gratefully for a few hours rest, feeling a bit lost without Jenny who I travelled with last year