Sunday, April 6 & Monday April 7
What a surprise! After Goa we were not expecting anything terribly different in Mumbai but we were very mistaken. Mumbai is still India so very different to what we are used to but it is so vibrant. The city really pulsates with honking horns, voices everywhere, fabulous colors, crushing crowds, a myriad of smells, huge smiles, cricket being played anywhere there is space (often with a chair for a wicket) and absolute mayhem on the roads but through it all there is a sense of "system" - everything is happening for a purpose.
Cricket in the park
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| Gateway to India |
Gateway to India
We started with a brief overview tour called "The Marvels of Mumbai" and, in complete contrast to our Goa tour, we had a wonderful guide who spoke excellent English and was very well educated. She gave us the history of Mumbai - it's Portugese roots, then handed over to the British and we could see evidence of this in many of the lovely old English style buildings. The main train station where 6 million people go through every day was a fabulous example. We went to the Gateway of India then crossed the road (quite an experience) and went into the magnificent Taj Hotel (where many lost their lives in a terrorist attack several years ago). The Taj was everything you would expect in colonial India but now charges $10 for a coffee or tea.
From there we went to Gandhi's Bombay base - now a museum and memorial to him tracing his life and work in bringing independence to India.
Gandhi's room
Then the most fascinating place - the huge outdoor laundry, the Dhobi Ghat. Indians send all their sheets and tougher laundry to it and girls, only men can work there!! The area is huge and how they can find your individual items is a mystery but they have a 99.9% success rate - amazing. Also amazing was how clean & bright the laundry was and how very white the whites were considering the filthy coloured water & primitive methods being used - maybe we are being hoodwinked by Omo and the likes!
Dhobi Ghat, outdoor laundry
We also spent some time in the Prince Edward Museum. Back on board we were treated to an Indian BBQ followed by a local Bollywood show.
For our 2nd day, we decided to walk to the Colaba area for a bit of shopping - nasty souvenirs, cheap cotton tops and all manner of wooden things. It was very humid so we caught a taxi (bravely) back to the ship. After lunch we ventured out again and hired a taxi for a couple of hours, which only cost about $6! We headed for Marine Drive (known as the Queen's necklace), past parks and Chopaty Beach and onto Malabar Hill, where you get a great view over the bay and there are some lovely gardens to walk around as well. It was also cooler up there with a nice breeze, and after the ride through the traffic in a non air-conditioned taxi the breeze was appreciated.
View from Malabar Hill
Peak hour was underway and despite what appeared chaotic, noisy and crazy driving/riding/walking to us we returned safely and didn't see any accidents, which amazed us for a city of 22 million people. Ducking and weaving is an art form in India!
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