Somewhere along the road to Udaipur, we learned that the first leg of our flight from Mumbai to Frankfort, Germany, had been canceled. However, Frankfort’s connecting flight to Miami, where our car was parked, was still a go. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t do us much good without a flight to Frankfort.
By chance, our original flight research pricing made the booking through the tour company roughly the same cost as the flights we found. By booking through Gate 1 Travel, they took care of all the hassle of rebooking our flights. Before we left Udaipur for Mumbai, the entire thing was taken care of.
Arriving In Mumbai
We landed at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shiva Maharaj International Airport mid-evening to, what we would later learn, would be a new normal.
Up to this point, we had traveled by charter bus with eighteen of us, our tour manager Alok. Upon landing, we learned that restrictions had been put in place regarding public gatherings.
There were now no gatherings of more than five people. So, our tour manager had arranged for a fleet of minivans. Each would take three of us and our luggage on a thirty-minute trek across town.
Trident Nariman Point Hotel – Mumbai
The Trident Nariman Point Hotel was the third, largest, and most cosmopolitan of the Trident Hotels we had stayed at. We began with the usual temperature and health checks before checking in.
The hotel rooms were modern and very comfortable with great WIFI.
This was HUGE given that travel restrictions had not only eliminated our 18-person group from traveling, but a majority of the attractions we had anticipated seeing had been closed.
We gathered, socially distant, four to a table, in the hotel’s Frangipani Restaurant. A full-service restaurant where we would have our dinners and breakfast. The restaurant’s buffet selection offered Indian foods, Continental cuisine, and healthy options.
We spent most of our time in the room downloading photos, getting a few blogs we started on the road finished, and catching up on our sleep. Which was fine, considering both the pool and spa were closed.
We ventured out only once, walking around the corner from the hotel to find a street vendor with Diet Coke bottles. The hotel was lovely, but pricing was similar to five-star hotels in New York.
The views across the back bay were limited the night we arrived, however, due to the overcast skies and, to some extent, the pollution. It cleared just enough for us to see the buildings before departing for the airport two days after we arrived.
Usually, two days in Mumbai would be way too short, but we were ready to head home under the current circumstances.
Be sure to check out our Home Sweet Home blog post we dropped in back when we got home back in March.