Feeling refreshed after sleeping in a real bed, even if the Salvation Army provided it, left me ready for an early morning outing to the Mumbai docks. The scene was a riot as the boats jostled for position in the water while the vendors did the same on land. Most docks I have seen maintain some kind of order and cohesion, but in India everything is a free-for-all. It looked like whole families were operating as a unit as fathers bargained with fisherman, children caught baskets of fish thrown from the boats, and mothers watched over the purchases.

I later went on a walking tour of the city to take in all the sights, and get a feel for the architecture. As the metropolitan capital of India, there is an interesting fusion of old-style British buildings mixing with new-school Indian growth. More importantly, there is as sense of sanity on the streets. I met an endless variety of people, all of whom were happy to show me in for tea. I began realizing I may have judged India a little too harshly, as the people have an uncompromisingly generous side when you show them respect.

One of the highlights of my day was wandering into a session of the High Court. I was admiring what I thought to be Mumbai University, and in the process found myself in an open courtyard surrounded by offices. Plaques with names like "Honorable so-and-so" quickly gave it away, but a judge said it would be no problem if I watched a session. The scene was straight out of Charles Dickens - slowly revolving fans, open paneled doors, judges adorned in elaborate black robes, and even uncomfortable wooden benches that cut short my stay. Although English was used, there were no microphones and I had a difficult time understood what was being said (it did not look very interesting from the face of the judge).

Later in the evening I walked the Indian equivalent of South Beach with a couple of French girls. It is a shame, but I am forced to spend all my time with Europeans because Americans do not travel as much. I suppose Europeans grow up bouncing from country to country because they are so close, and over time they graduate to more exotic places. One of the things I have a hard time getting used to is all the men who hold hands in Asia. The beach was lined with what appeared to be couples, but in reality were only good friends having fun together. There are no stigmas against homogenous body contact, and I have even seen Koreans washing each other in the shower.