Mumbai... relaxing and a quick visit to the city of contrast

Our flight into Mumbai showed us the contrast of city life that you can only see from the air. The outskirts of the city were extremely packed with tin-roof shacks. They are small, right next to each other, and sometimes a few stories tall. They stretch on for kilometers. Then almost as if by magic, the landscape transforms into high-rises and modern buildings, paved streets and green spaces. Mumbai is the country's financial and commercial hub and has a principal port on the Arabian Sea. There are many perceived opportunities for work so hundreds of thousands of people flock to the city in an attempt to improve their lives, often only to end up in the slums, which have earned Mumbai the title of the most densely populated city in the world. There are 18 million people living in Mumbai, and that is the official number, realistically it could be closer to 25 million.
We spent our first day waiting for 2 hours in the lobby to check into our room at the hotel (we’ll spare you all the mind numbing details). We eventually gave up and wandered the city, doing a little grocery shopping and grabbing some lunch. We returned to the hotel and decided to spend the night in, purchasing the extremely expensive internet to upload our 1000+ photos and to unwind from the previous 10 days of travel in northern India.

The next day we were picked up by our first female guide. We had a very good time with her, she was a no-nonsense type of person. She figured out pretty quickly that we didn’t want the typical tourist run-around. She customized the day and chopped it down into a half day excursion. We started with the Hanging Gardens, also known as Pherozeshah Mehta Gardens. The gardens were built in 1880 over three reservoirs, which store 30 million gallons of water pumped here for cleaning before being supplied to the town. The reason the reservoirs had to be covered is that there was a Zoroastrian temple adjacent to the reservoir. This religion leaves their dead on the top of peaks, to be devoured by vultures and other birds, in order to allow them to be recycled back to nature. However, the potential of dropping rotting diseased flesh into the town water supply necessitated a solution and relocating the temple was not an option, so the reservoirs had to be covered.

Gandhi

Next we went to a museum dedicated to Gandhi. It used to be his primary residence when he stayed in Mumbai, belonging to one of his dearest friends. It now houses an entire library dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi and similar thinkers on the first floor, portraits on the second floor and his old quarters and his life story on the third floor. We continued by car and saw the Gateway of India which is Mumbai's principal landmark. The Gateway of India is a huge archway on the water's edge at Apollo Bunder. It was built to commemorate the visit of the first ever British Monarch, King George V and Queen Mary in 1911.
We continued on to the Rajabai Clock Tower at the Bombay University. Consisting of five elaborately decorated storeys, the tower is 280 feet in height. The top of the cupola is ornamented with sixteen statues depicting various Indian castes. We also drove by Chowpatty beach which is at the end of Marine Drive right by our hotel. It is the only beach in the central part of Mumbai. One can witnesses many Hindu religious ceremonies taking place at Chowpatty, like the Annual Thread-Tying Ceremony initiating young boys into the Brahmin caste, 'Nariel Purnima' towards the end of the monsoons and 'Ganesh Chaturthi' immersions. The one thing you can not do here is swim, the water is extremely polluted. But since Indian families don’t bathe in public they still spend plenty of days lounging on the beach just enjoying a picnic and playing games.

Clock Tower at Mumbai University

Our last stop was the Victoria Terminus/Western Railway Station - one of Mumbai's most prominent buildings and architecturally one of the finest stations in the world. It is built in a style that combines Gothic and Indian influences. It was completed in 1885 and designed by F.W. Stevens. This Italian gothic Building has a frontage of over 15,000 feet. The administrative offices form three sides of a rectangle enclosing an ornamental garden, the entrance gate guarded by a massive stone Lion and Tiger. The most prominent feature of this building is the high 160 feet dome crowning the center. On top of the giant dome is a figure of a women with a torch held aloft to symbolize progress. Then we cruised around the downtown area of the city, visiting the univeristy, the clock tower, the gate of India, the hotels where the Mumbai terrorist attacks occured a few years back and a few other quaint spots within walking distance.

Marine Drive Mumbai

We finished off our tour with lunch at Leopolds a well-known restaurant in the city, which is very close to the where the Mumbai terrorist attack happened in 2006. We got frisked and had to go through security to get into the restaurant. The food was good and we ate talking about how we, coming from a country that is so safe we have no comprehension of how much danger could be just around the corner in many countries all over the world. Travelling through India really shows you that safety should not to be taken too lightly. They check your bags coming into any hotel and you have to go through a metal detector. The police and army are clearly visible on the streets, which should give a sense of safety but in reality it does the opposite, it makes you realize that there is a reason there is so much security and such a police presence. In the time that we have been here we’ve heard about at least 6 terrorist attacks or foiled attacks, and that is in less than 2 weeks.

Mumbai Flower

Mumbai... relaxing and a quick visit to the city of contrast

Mumbai, India