So we’ve been in India for a full day now, and so far Mumbai is full of hectic honking traffic, stray dogs, big piles of rubbish being harvested by wild cows and goats, paanwalas with chickens pecking around them, sweltering heat, friendly people and odd smells. So far India is exactly as we left it.

Mumbai is celebrating Eid, a festival dedicated to the Hindu god Ganesha – he of elephant head. So we started the day with a visit to Elephanta Island just off the Mumbai coast. This is an ancient temple carved into a mountainside with hammer and chisel over thousands of years. Very impressive. When the Portuguese found the island they used the Hindi statues for target practice, according to our guide. We ate (for the second time) in Leopold’s cafe – well known to anyone who has read Shantaram. The food everywhere had been delicious.

As part of the Eid festival, Hindus from across the city drive around with bright pink statues of Ganesha in the back of vans, with music pumping or drummers following, and a big crowd of dancers. We passed at least 100 of these mini-carnivals on our way back to the hotel in a taxi until the traffic became too dense, and we had to get out and walk through the madness for an hour back to the hotel. It was brilliant – millions and millions of people everywhere, and different music every few steps. Over 50,000 Ganesha statues were taken to the beach – through only 8 authorised points throughout the city – and immersed in the ocean to end the day.

On to Kochi…