Its official - we LOVE Mumbai. In the two days that we were there, we did no where near as much sightseeing as we did in Delhi and were far less acquainted with the city, but feel like we got so much more out of it.
Arriving late at night, there was just something in the air, it felt different. Still chaotic driving, but somehow more organised. It was less dusty and had a nice feel of old British Colonialism. Everything seemed a little bit more laid back and it felt like the Jungle was taking over the city. We think that the absence of trees in Delhi really makes a difference.
Tourist wise we did a trip through Dharavi, one of the slum areas, and saw where the all of the industry takes place and then where people live. What looks to the uninformed eye to be piles of rubbish is in actual fact materials for commercial production waiting to be processed. Interestingly, 55% of Mumbai's population live in slum areas and are Doctors, Lawyers, Policeman and Office Workers. We then saw the Dhobi Ghat, where all of Mumbai's washing gets done and went to a Mosque out on the ocean. After a late lunch, we wandered to the old train station, found the post office and unashamedly indulged in cocktails and chocolate cake for dinner!
The next morning we found a random little hamlet of an old Christian homes and shrines n the middle of Mumbai. It had an element of Portuguese - British Colonialism feel and was very quaint and worth the walk to find. However we were very sad that the chocolate shop we had planned to visit in the area was closed. Damn it! I fulfilled my dream jumping onto a moving train. Its all the rage here. Noone bothers to wait until the train has fully stopped to get off, they hang out the open doors and they jump on when the train is pulling away. With much excitment and enthusiasm, I jumped on the moving train, very proud of myself for having undertaken such a feat, however I left Tash behind on the platform. There were an amusing few moments with me in the train and Tash running along beside it saying I cant make it, I cant get on - her hands were full with her camera and tickets and hat and she had no spare hands to grab the train. I contemplated pulling her on, but then thought of the mess that could occur, so I yelled that I would wait at the next station. I jumped off and then everyone who passed me on the train said that Tash would be on the next. Lo and behold. the next train came and I saw a little head poking out of a carriage down the back waving at me, so I jumped on and we spent the last two minutes of the trip hanging out of the train waving at each other like kids! It was funny. Oh did we mention that the train ride cost us 6rupees for a half hour journey Thats 10 cents. Screw you QR!
We then did a walking tour of the lower part of Mumbai (after having completed our local experience of the post office and finding a bank to deposit money to secure our Goa hotel - which was confusing, difficult to find and very time consuming, but inducted us into local life in Mumbai) and ended up on the coast of the Arabian Sea at the Gateway to India. Our fame was little known at the Mosque, however our presence at the Gateway to India the next day when we featured in at least 50 (if not more) photos with men, women and families which seemed to the locals to be more of an interesting momento than a self portrait with the famed gate. We got handed babies and at one point got separated, where I was getting photos with some lovely dressed women in sarees and Tash was surrounded by half the male population of India. It was pretty funny. After we escaped, we saw the Indian High Court in action and then ate a rushed dinner before getting on an overnight bus to Goa.
It should have been a nice trip. The moon had waned down to a tea cup shape, filled with orange liquid and shone high over our journey. It was a peaceful night and, given the overnight train, we thought that we might have a better time. We thought that we were getting seats to fold back, but we in fact had a bed to share which was nice and cosy and hard as hell. There were bugs, one of which took a dive into my hair in the middle of the night. The driver appeared to be playing Grand Turismo, because we almost rolled out of the bed and onto the floor several times throughout the ride. I almost squashed Tash and several times we were both sandwiched up against the inside of the bus. It was pretty hair raising. Our verdict - overnight train wins hands down!!! We have also learnt that men cane urinate anyway, anytime. So can children it seems, as we observed outside the mosque where a little girl stopped her parents so that she could pee on the street, after which they picked her up shook her a bit and kept going. Women however, have to go in stinky smelly toilets - never on the road or beside a tree. Blah.
Goa proved to be cute and hot. After a stroll (cause in this heat, who can go any faster) to familarise ourselves, we jumped on a local bus and headed to Old Goa to see the sights, where we promptly lay in a park under a tree and slept for 2 hours. Again there is a huge Portugese influence in the towns which is really lovely and colourful. We wandered through a market come show, which was more like side show alley at the EKKA and then into a spectacular old church called Bom Jesus. There had been a festival last night, and there were still a lot of people about putting flowers and candles and weird parts of plastic dolls under the cross. We are at a loss to explain that part.
We are currently in Central Goa, about to have dinner and get an early night before hitting public buses and Anjuna Markets tomorrow before our descent into peace and tranquility in South Goa!
Arriving late at night, there was just something in the air, it felt different. Still chaotic driving, but somehow more organised. It was less dusty and had a nice feel of old British Colonialism. Everything seemed a little bit more laid back and it felt like the Jungle was taking over the city. We think that the absence of trees in Delhi really makes a difference.
Tourist wise we did a trip through Dharavi, one of the slum areas, and saw where the all of the industry takes place and then where people live. What looks to the uninformed eye to be piles of rubbish is in actual fact materials for commercial production waiting to be processed. Interestingly, 55% of Mumbai's population live in slum areas and are Doctors, Lawyers, Policeman and Office Workers. We then saw the Dhobi Ghat, where all of Mumbai's washing gets done and went to a Mosque out on the ocean. After a late lunch, we wandered to the old train station, found the post office and unashamedly indulged in cocktails and chocolate cake for dinner!
The next morning we found a random little hamlet of an old Christian homes and shrines n the middle of Mumbai. It had an element of Portuguese - British Colonialism feel and was very quaint and worth the walk to find. However we were very sad that the chocolate shop we had planned to visit in the area was closed. Damn it! I fulfilled my dream jumping onto a moving train. Its all the rage here. Noone bothers to wait until the train has fully stopped to get off, they hang out the open doors and they jump on when the train is pulling away. With much excitment and enthusiasm, I jumped on the moving train, very proud of myself for having undertaken such a feat, however I left Tash behind on the platform. There were an amusing few moments with me in the train and Tash running along beside it saying I cant make it, I cant get on - her hands were full with her camera and tickets and hat and she had no spare hands to grab the train. I contemplated pulling her on, but then thought of the mess that could occur, so I yelled that I would wait at the next station. I jumped off and then everyone who passed me on the train said that Tash would be on the next. Lo and behold. the next train came and I saw a little head poking out of a carriage down the back waving at me, so I jumped on and we spent the last two minutes of the trip hanging out of the train waving at each other like kids! It was funny. Oh did we mention that the train ride cost us 6rupees for a half hour journey Thats 10 cents. Screw you QR!
We then did a walking tour of the lower part of Mumbai (after having completed our local experience of the post office and finding a bank to deposit money to secure our Goa hotel - which was confusing, difficult to find and very time consuming, but inducted us into local life in Mumbai) and ended up on the coast of the Arabian Sea at the Gateway to India. Our fame was little known at the Mosque, however our presence at the Gateway to India the next day when we featured in at least 50 (if not more) photos with men, women and families which seemed to the locals to be more of an interesting momento than a self portrait with the famed gate. We got handed babies and at one point got separated, where I was getting photos with some lovely dressed women in sarees and Tash was surrounded by half the male population of India. It was pretty funny. After we escaped, we saw the Indian High Court in action and then ate a rushed dinner before getting on an overnight bus to Goa.
It should have been a nice trip. The moon had waned down to a tea cup shape, filled with orange liquid and shone high over our journey. It was a peaceful night and, given the overnight train, we thought that we might have a better time. We thought that we were getting seats to fold back, but we in fact had a bed to share which was nice and cosy and hard as hell. There were bugs, one of which took a dive into my hair in the middle of the night. The driver appeared to be playing Grand Turismo, because we almost rolled out of the bed and onto the floor several times throughout the ride. I almost squashed Tash and several times we were both sandwiched up against the inside of the bus. It was pretty hair raising. Our verdict - overnight train wins hands down!!! We have also learnt that men cane urinate anyway, anytime. So can children it seems, as we observed outside the mosque where a little girl stopped her parents so that she could pee on the street, after which they picked her up shook her a bit and kept going. Women however, have to go in stinky smelly toilets - never on the road or beside a tree. Blah.
Goa proved to be cute and hot. After a stroll (cause in this heat, who can go any faster) to familarise ourselves, we jumped on a local bus and headed to Old Goa to see the sights, where we promptly lay in a park under a tree and slept for 2 hours. Again there is a huge Portugese influence in the towns which is really lovely and colourful. We wandered through a market come show, which was more like side show alley at the EKKA and then into a spectacular old church called Bom Jesus. There had been a festival last night, and there were still a lot of people about putting flowers and candles and weird parts of plastic dolls under the cross. We are at a loss to explain that part.
We are currently in Central Goa, about to have dinner and get an early night before hitting public buses and Anjuna Markets tomorrow before our descent into peace and tranquility in South Goa!
