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Published: December 2nd 2011
Octupussy's House
Lake Palace UdaipurK- Having enjoyed a couple of days relaxation by the beautiful lake in Udapiur we left Rajasthan for Mumbai (previously Bombay). Home of the Bollywood industry (and many millionaires) Mumbai is a lot more cosmopolitan that other cities we have visited and is peppered with grand Victorian buildings, designer stores and every luxury car franchise you can imagine. And there are no cows!However, it is also massively overpopulated and home of the Dharavi slums where over a million people live in abject poverty.
The contrasts are everywhere. Within yards of our hotel were restaurants where we could spend $300 on a meal and restaurants where we struggled to spend $3. Professional people and mini-skirted bright young things rub shoulders with traditionally clothed dabbah-wallahs, modern skyscrapers are built overlooking decrepid shacks and battered old taxis overtake gleaming BMWs.
We were surpried how few tourists we saw in the City itself and also by how many people are still fascinated by foreigners. We would have thought the novelty would have worn off by 2011. At the Gateway to India Mark and I were asked to have our photos taken with people about 10 times and in one case I was given
Mailing stuff home
Kate looking thrilled as she gets packages sewn in to linen and sealed with wax whilst filling in 3 identical documents per package (no carbon paper). Mark was getting his haircut..... someone’s baby to hold for the photo!
On Saturday we visited the Dhobi Ghats, Asia’s largest laundry area where most of Mumbai still send their washing to be bashed against the stones. Very few washer men were present but you could imagine the scene if the Ghats were full. We traveled there on the suburban train network – a service that is used by over 900 million people a year. The trains travel with open doors so the wind rushes in and we took care to avoid rush hour where the carriages are so full that people hang out of the doors (and 3,500 people die so doing each year). The return journey cost 8 rupees each (16 cents). On our way back we walked through the Oval Maiden, a large grass area that at weekends is mobbed by people playing cricket. On Sunday we counted about 60 games in progress – with the wickets crammed together and everyone playing in everyone else’s boundary areas. Somehow they made it work and we didn’t see any collisions - but we moved quickly as 60 cricket balls whizzing around makes it a little risky.
On Sunday as a change from
That's just not cricket!
Actually 60 simultaneous games, yards apart (and 60 balls whizzing around!) traditional sightseeing we went to the Mumbai horse races. The season is short (November to February) and membership of the Turf Club is very prestigious and we could see many smart people enjoying drinks and canapés in the Members Enclosure. As we were not members we instead paid our 20 rupees to enter the public area where we had a fantastic time. We were about the only Westerners and we were completely ignored (in a good way!). The food was good, the beer cheap and we even made a small profit on the day as our 20 to 1 shot won the fifth race. We were also robbed by a photo finish on the first race!
We left Mumbai that night catching the Kolkartan Express overnight train to the beaches of Goa where we have spent an idyllic week chilling on the beach. Blog to follow.
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