Mumbai

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Mumbai

12/02/11 - 14/02/11

We arrived in Mumbai Bandra Train Station at about midday and got a taxi into the city for 400Rs after much negotiation. 

We checked into the Residency Hotel (booked in advance) in The Fort area after much confusion over why we did not appear on the check-in list! We protested to get into a room only to be telephoned later to be told that we had booked for March instead!! Well, I had booked for March! The third of my (iPhone) booking catastrophes!! Oh well they let us stay, apparently having to turn someone away (not sure about that) and managed to fit us in for the next night also. We found it difficult to book accommodation in Mumbai prior to arriving there. Many good value places were full or they were too expensive. Mumbai is known to be quite expensive so this room was 2800Rs per night.
The room was a shoebox (with obvious fittings to give the illusion of space) but was just all we needed in a good location. The shower was hot, the room was basically clean with AC, a fridge and satellite TV.

We ventured out in the afternoon to wonder around and took a look at the old colonial buildings such as the Victoria Terminus (Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) / railway station, the university building and the Rajabai clock tower. We watched a game of cricket (being  the weekend) in Oval Maiden for a while before looking generally around the fort area passing by The Stock Exchange and then Horniman Circle (a circular park area).

The Fort is actually a really nice area, we loved it. Ok it was a weekend so the traffic may have not been so bad but Mumbai is completely different from my expectations. I think it is my favourite Indian City so far. There are flat, even pavements, the traffic seems more organised, there are nice green open spaces and views out to sea in the East, West and South. The markets around Coloba are more laid back with less hassle, you feel safe and there is less begging than I expected. I suppose the slums and pavement dwellings are to the North of the city and are evident as you approach on the train. 

The next day we booked (in advance on the Internet) onto a 'Slum Tour' with Realty Tours and Travel Company after reading good reviews on TripAdvisor. 800Rs each, 08:30 - 2pm approx.

www.realtytoursandtravel.com

We had to meet in Coloba at 08:30 so took a taxi for 30Rs from our hotel. The company take you in their jeep to the North of the city firstly to Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat. This is apparently the largest open air laundry in the world (according to our guide) and where most clothes get laundered from the city. It covers a impressively massive area between major roads and train lines with over 1000 individual washing squares. They sort the clothes into different qualities, type and colour. Apparently it is so well organised with a tagging and code system that nothing ever goes missing!

We then continued onto Dharavi. One of the biggest, most commercially successful slums (annual turnover 650million USD) in Mumbai. There are other large slums but they are mainly residential. There are businesses of many types and we visited plastic recycling, paint can recycling, papad production and a handmade terracotta pot production area. 

Nustled in-between the industrial buildings are closely packed brick / cement residential housing. In the most this consisted of one room which contained the living room, bedroom and kitchen and would house a whole family. There may be an upstairs but these are frequently rented out. The alleyways between rows of houses are dark and very narrow and can only allow one person through at a time. You also have to bend down else you will get caught in pipes or hanging electricity cables! Each alley has a running sewer through it and the pavements seem like they are always wet, I was sure I would fall!! I would have liked to take photos but it is strictly permitted on this tour. 

Walking through the main roads which are fully paved and lined with shops we could not see much difference between being in a slum and some of the normal streets in India! 

We enjoyed the tour and found it really interesting. We were greeted constantly by little children practicing their "hi" "bye" s on us, many of the men stared but I got a few ladies to smile at me! The guides are very well known in the area and so the people are used to and have given the company permission for tourists to pass through. The company also provides schooling in addition to computer, interview and soft skill (extra curricular) lessons through profits made from the tours. A visit to their nursery school is normally also included in the tour but it was closed being a Sunday.

The tour finished at about 12:30 so we visited The Gateway to India in the afternoon. We were surprised by the amount of people there! So busy! But good for a spot of people watching with a bag of freshly roasted peanuts! Whilst sitting there we became a bit of a tourist attraction ourselves. We must have had about 5 photos taken of us with groups of Indian guys or couples. I'm not sure why we are so interesting!!

The famous 5 star Taj Palace Hotel and Tower overlooks India Gate. We decided to go there for drinks and dinner that evening. A little extravagance for valentines day, why not?!!

Off south next to Goa! Looking at the trains they were pretty full so we decided to fly. The flight was approx 50USD each and saved us a day of travelling so we didn't think that was unreasonable!

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