Mumbai, India 5/4.5/24

 Mumbai, India

We had an overnight visit to Mumbai after getting back from our Taj Mahal trip. We booked a tour of Mumbai on the first day that included many of the famous sites in Mumbai.

 Our first stop was at a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station, which is renowned for its unique gothic architecture and the busiest train station in India.   And I can tell you, early as it is, it is already very hot here, as it was at Taj Mahal.

    

Note the cow eating at the square.  We saw this all around the town, as cows have acquired a sacred status in the Hindu religion.

This is the Kamala Nehru Park, named after Prime Minister Nehru's wife.   It is also referred to as the "Shoe" park, and you can see why.  It is located on the Marine Park Drive, has great views, but the park is in pretty sad shape - not being kept up that well which is a shame because the grounds themselves could be magnificent.

You can't visit Mumbai without exploring it's amazing, fast-paced markets, and you'll see thousands of wares, from produce and spices to souvenirs and textiles, coloring the streets and dazzling the eye.  We got to the Crawford Market, the oldest market in Mumbai.  The produce is amazing, and lots of bargains to be found here.  As always, we have so many stops on these tours, you really cannot get to much shopping, much to my dismay and Mickey's joy.

This is the Mahalakshmi Dhobi Ghat, the open-air laundry service for Mumbai. This is an amazing operation that boggles the mind on how they manage to keep track of all the laundry they collect and wash. It is located at Mahalaxmi railway station in southern Mumbai, it is also accessible from the Jacob Circle monorail station. The washers, known as dhobis, work in the open to clean clothes and linens from Mumbai's hotels and hospitals, as well as the residents. For 18 to 20 hours each day, over 7,000 people flog, scrub, dye and bleach clothes on concrete wash pens, dry them on ropes, neatly press them and transport the garments to different parts of the city. Over 100,000 pieces of clothes are washed each day. Some of the wealthier dhobis have given up on manual cleaning and have now installed large mechanical washing and drying machines. The dhobis collect clothes from all corners of the city. Their biggest clients are neighborhood laundries, garment dealers, wedding decorators and caterers, and mid-sized hotels and clubs. You will see that most of the dhobis are men but there were also several younger children helping out..

This little girl was having a great time swinging and showing off for us!

Off to the University of Mumbai.  We were not allowed on the grounds but could take photos outside.  It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges.  It is one of the prettier sites we saw in Mumbai.  

On to the Ghandi museum, the Mani Bravan. I admit that I would not have necessarily chosen this stop as part of the tour, but this was really a treat. I learned a lot about Ghandi and his work including reading a letter he wrote to Hitler, as well as a letter he wrote to President Roosevelt.

These are just a few of the dioramas of his life.  They started with him as a young boy and ended with his death.  They were quite extensive, and I did not realize how very influential he was, and also considered a dangerous person, and was jailed quite a few times.   

Haven't heard or seen any Hari Krishna in quite a while, so it was interesting to head to the Iskon Juhu temple, one of the most visited in Mumbai.  There was a service going on, with dancing and music.  Lots of our tour group joined in and were having a grand old time.

We had lunch here, which was one of the local foods, Vada Pav.  It is a deep-fried potato dumpling inside a bread bun and is accompanied by a chutney and green chili peppers.  It was pretty good - the bread especially so.

Our last stop of the day was the Gateway to India.  What was interesting is how many Indian locals wanted to take a picture with us.  We were quite popular and had at least 5 photos snapped!  Mickey was on a facetime with on young man and whoever he was talking to on the phone.  What a hoot!  

This is the Taj Hotel, across from the Gateway to India.  It is as nice as the hotel we stayed in at Delhi and Agra.  They had a brunch buffet the next day that we tried to get reservations for - but it did not start till 1 pm, and we had to be back on board by 2:30 so not enough time to enjoy it properly.

Since we were overnight in the port, we opted to do dinner in Mumbai with John and Mary Ann at the Intercontinental Hotel of Mumbai.  We tried to book the Taj Hotel, but they had no openings, which was a bit of a disappointment.  However, the Intercontinental did not disappoint.  We hit the rooftop bar, The Dome, and had cocktails, listened to some music (a bit too loud for our taste), but more importantly took in the views of the famous Marine Drive, known as the Queen's necklace.  We then had dinner at the hotel and got some wonderful Indian food.  Mickey, as always, let the waiter order for him and he was quite happy.  For dessert, our waiter treated us to a special dessert by the chef as a gift.  A wonderful mousse with dough balls dipped in honey - licked our plates clean...

This was our appetizer.

One final word on our first day, we were lucky enough to hire the first ever female taxi driver in Mumbai. She took us to the hotel and back to the ship after our evening was done. She made it a point to stop at the Victoria Train Station so we could see it all lit up at night and take pictures. It was a wonderful way to end the day.

Daytime and nighttime of the Train Station.  

Our second day was a shopping day, and our tai driver's brother took us around. I needed to replace my camera as it was not auto focusing, and it would take 2 days to repair, which we did not have, so I now have a new camera. Prices were 1/3 of what we would have spent in the US. From there, a little bit of jewelry shopping- found an antique Indian necklace which I loved, and then we just picked up a few souvenirs for the grands and back to the ship. Overall, India had some pretty amazing sights, but the overall poverty of the country is incredibly sad. Little children - 18 months and above are the main hawkers of the goods on the street, and they are incredibly persistent. I may be happy to say I have visited, but this is not a country I would necessarily head back to based on what we saw.

Two days at sea and then we get to Abu Dhabi.