National Hotel, Pune, India

I, Melachi ibn Amillar, being of unsound mind and body, did stay at the National Hotel, in Pune, in October 2014, as I arrived late and it was near the station and in the Lonely Planet guide. The building is a tired "colonial mansion" incongruously behind a row of stores, with an aura of the Bates Motel. Inside, I was shown a "garden" cottage behind the mansion, which I rejected due to the Great Man Size Hole in the chicken wire above the door (the only air) and a mattress in an inappropriate condition (600r). I accepted one on the first floor, which was huge, but had no window at all but a small gap above the door. Doubtless there is some Indian Logick to the provision of huge rooms and bathrooms without the provision of air, air conditioning, or windows. I, myself, do not follow it, though with the fan it was still not that hot compared to Bombay. They provided a towel and soap (which is more than I got in most other places). The bed was very hard and the room, as one might expect without a window, very damp. The paint bulged off the walls as though Pollock had been an early resident. There was a TV but I did not try it. In the morning I ordered a breakfast which was delivered after much shouting and lack of napkins.

Late afternoon I, Melachi, sat on the balcony having spent the day walking around the dismal town which at every turn disintegrates into glutinous dual carriageways of course without pavements and contemplated -- with Mr Kingfisher bought from a shop to the left of the entrance at 110r for 660l -- the driving rain, muddy grounds and sick palm trees to the endless hooting of horns from the road, like the cicadas and birds of some tropical rainforest.

artworks in each room 

chest of drawers placed against door

Gokul Restaurant and Bar, Colaba, Mumbai

Not the healthy option

I, Melachi ibn Amillar, being of unsound mind and body, did dine twice and drink an additional time at the Gokul restaurant in Colaba, behind the Taj Hotel, which I was told was the largest restaurant in Bombay. There are tables at the front and in the back is a large, crowded and very dark 2-floor air conditioned facility with smoking. The food was good, particularly the tandoori chicken, which was sufficiently moist. Rice is a separate dish. The first time I was here I had Kingfisher Premium mild (220r) the second Kingfisher Strong which is about 8% and has a more bitter taste, but not in a nice way so I would recommend the mild, which I later found was cheaper in Goa (about 110r). Of course there was no much point in asking for anything other than Kingfisher. On the TV they played a strange cricket with a white ball and coloured clothes, though at a ground earlier in the day I had seen many hundreds of people dutifully playing in white. In fact, many hotels also showed this coloured cricket, and it might be worth studying if planning an extended stay. The other diners were mainly groups of younger men, not very friendly though quite peaceable.

Tribal museum, Pune

I, Melachi ibn Amillar, being of unsound mind and body, did visit the Tribal Museum in Pune, India, in October 2014. It is a pleasant collection of tribal artefacts in half a dozen rooms of a non-descript building not far from a railway bridge where dedicated people recycle things. No other tribal people are present. The items themselves are quite similar to African ones (masks, fishing traps, combs), as indeed found in the museum of the Lao people I recently visited in Kisumu, Kenya. There is no information given on the historical context of the tribes (i.e. what is known about their history, who ruled them, how they managed in the colonial and modern periods) other than a map with population numbers (or even if these went up or down). The entrance fee for foreigners is 200r, which, in the grand scheme of things is not too much, but is rather high for this, especially as there was nowhere to get a cup of coffee, although it was raining.