Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and is the most populous Indian city with 18 million people. There are 7 islands in Mumbai. Today, we had a private car and an awesome tour guide named Lakshmi.
Our first stop was the Sassoon Docks, which is an amazing fishing village. Four years ago, this is how the terrorists entered into Mumbai, therefore, it is heavily guarded and no pictures are allowed inside. Here, the fishermen do the fishing, and the women clean the fish and market them. The smell was terrible, and we walked through really dirty, slippery, fishy water.
We then went to the Dhobi Ghats – this is where 5,000 dhobi-wallahs scrub, dry and iron the city’s laundry. Only men work here. They each have their own little area, and most are hand-washed, then smacked on rocks to get the water out, then hung up to dry.
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Next we saw Victoria Terminus, one of the world’s most amazing train stations, which took 10 years to build. It is rumored that the people ride on the top of the trains, but this is not true, they hang from the sides though! The architecture was patterned after Britain. Note the peacock window and the central tower.
Next we went to Crawford Market where I unsuccessfully bargained for a 12 pack of Diet Dr. Pepper. He wanted $10 US dollars and we’d only go as high as $7.50. Sure do miss decent soda though! The picture looks a lot rougher…I’m just pointing to the soda! But again, a bucks a buck!
Our next stop was to see the Tiffins Wallahs or dabbawallahs; literally meaning ("box person"), is a person who is employed in a unique service industry whose primary business is collecting freshly cooked food in lunch boxes from the residences of the office workers (mostly in the suburbs), delivering it to their respective workplaces and returning the empty boxes back to the customer's residence by using various modes of transport. "Tiffin" is an old-fashioned English word for a light lunch or afternoon snack, and sometimes, by extension, for the box it is carried in. For this reason, the dabbawalas are sometimes called Tiffin Wallahs.
Our next stop was ChowPaddy Beach. Here you will find local vendors selling lunches. You can sit on a matt and enjoy their local cuisine with the beach within your reach.
Next we were on to Kamala Nehru Park where the Hanging Gardens are. There is a beautiful view from the top of the hill. This was constructed for Gandhi's mother. Here is also the Towers of Silence, where the funeral rites of Parsi are held, (bodies are not buried as to pollute the ground, or cremated to pollute the air) so the bodies are left in the open for vultures . It is that domed area through the trees on the right.
There is the shoe from the nursery rhyme, “there was an old woman who lived in a shoe”. And also the park has the Tower of Friendship, which made us think of Gus, Charlie and Jerry who have walked together for years. It says that “experience confirms that friends who regularly meet and walk in the garden have remained healthy and fit for the day”.
This is Haji Ali Dargam Mosque, a jewel of a building built on a tiny island.
We then went to St. Michael’s Church where documented miracles have happened. Outside of the church, people can buy wax body parts that you present at the alter. So we purchased two arms, as both Lakshmi and I have an achy right shoulders.
We had been previously told that about 60% of Indians live in poverty. We drove by what the movie “Slum Dog Millionaire” was filmed after.
We then went to Mani Bhavan, Gandhi’s Memorial Museum, which will remain a precious memory forever. An amazing man with infinite wisdom. We saw Gandhi’s Room were he stayed on the second floor. There was even his walking stick.
Here is the Gateway to the City monument and the Taj Hotel.
When we arrived back to the ship, we noticed the barbed wire they added to the third floor deck today to deter the pirates in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. YIKES!
It was a wonderful day – we got to experience so many places and met some wonderful people from India.
