Advertisement
Published: January 3rd 2008
I never would have thought any city could possibly exceed the overwhelming, perplexing lifestyle of Bangkok.
And then Mumbai happened.
The 30 minute cab ride to our hotel left me practically in need of cardiac resuscitation. Apparently turn signals, driving lanes, seat belts, pedestrian crossings, brake pedals, and patience behind the wheel do not exist in this city. But honking sure does. Oh my god, I have never heard so much honking in my life. I have never covered my eyes and silently prayed for life so many times either.
I also witnessed more poverty in that 30 minute car ride than I think I have seen in my entire life.
Our hotel, the Regent was in Colaba, South Mumbai and was two blocks from the Gateway of India harbor, the Taj Majal hotel and walking distance to everything else. Just as the Lonely Planet guide promised, we felt like we'd been hit over the head with a marble hammer as soon as we walked in. A marble entryway led to marble staircases which led to our marble encased room which included a marble tea set. With the exception of a two inch thick, back breaking mattress
India Cab
No hot pink cabs here!and the hotel workers snoozing in the stairwell, our hotel was quite cozy.
Our hotel was also blocks away from the busiest shopping strip on the Colaba Causeway. We spent a majority of our time in Mumbai either shopping/haggling on the Causeway or attempting to decipher the various cultural conventions. Conflicting head nods, various dialects, and unfamiliar body language have left us feeling helpless on many occasions. Communication has been extremely difficult here, more so than in Thailand even though most of the Indian people we have encountered actually speak much more English.
India is a huge contrast to Thailand in so many other ways as well. While Thailand is known for being liberal in regards to sexuality, alcohol consumption, and fashion, Mumbai's conservativism is obvious in many contexts. The ladies and I definitely felt overly exposed and the subject of many curious and often uncomfortable stares. And with a billion residents sharing the country, the idea of personal space simply doesn't exist. Alcohol is virtually nonexistent, and with the exception of a few tourists and liberal Indians, the women are almost entirely covered up. After our first day walking around the city, we mostly stuck to knee-length
View from our hotel room
Our view of the harbor just after sunrise. cargos, two-ply bras, t-shirts and Nicole did rock a shawl on the last day. I have felt out of place and confused almost everywhere I've gone, except the disco, where people check their conservatism at the door.
In the five days spent in Mumbai, we really only spent one day sightseeing. We hired a driver, Dalip, to cruise us around and he showed us some really cool sights. He made us laugh, especially when he said to Nicole, "You look like Jackie Chan country people." I sat shotgun as Dalip provided some janky narration of historically and culturally defining sights. Other tour guides went IN to the museum and parks with their tourists but Dalip just dropped us off and gave us a time to be back. Read the captions of my photos to see some of the stuff we saw. I'm too exhausted and we saw too much to go into detail about everything.
One thing that is worth mentioning is the Dhobi Ghats, a giant laundry compound operated by very poor Mumbaikers. They handwash all of the city's laundry on concrete slabs and there was even a tiny one-room school house with children who were very
I am SO Indian
My sixth chakra bindi dot happy to see us. We felt a little imposing walking through, taking pictures but many people totally cheese it up for us, especially the children.
We also got to spend a full 15 minutes (thanks Dalip) at Mani Bhavan, the home of Gandhi from 1917 to 1934. I photographed his actual bedroom where many of his ideas were born which ultimately ignited the civil disobedience movement in India.
Our tour ended at the Gateway of India where a holy man blessed each one of us by wrapping a neverending red and yellow thread around our wrist while reciting a puja (prayer). He then adorned each of our foreheads with our first bindi dot and filled our palms with sugar. Pretty cool. I found my sugar in my sweaty pocket several days later and Michelle chowed them up without hesitation.
After an exhausting day of sightseeing we got down at the disco! Polyester's, a 70's themed nightclub, was a colorful, very westernized nightclub with giant pictures of Tina Turner and Iggy Pop overlooking bartenders pouring shots of flaming Sambuca down already-wasted patron's throats. Indian people sure get down, especially to Bollywood music like the Hare Krishna song which
Fruit Stand
Street vendors line the main road in Colaba called Colaba Causeway. we all now have stuck in our heads.
Our third day was spent exploring Kala Ghoda, Mumbai's art district. We went to the National Museum of Modern Art where there was an exhibit of various contemporary Romanian artists in honor of Constantin Brancusi. I knew somehow Rafaela would manage to make her presence known even a million miles away.
New Year's Eve began with a seemingly chill night on the Arabian Sea which we were promised would leave at 8:30 and include a DJ, catered food, and lots of young people. However, at 10:30 the boat hadn't moved an inch, there was still no music or food, and children were chasing each other on the dock so we decided to abandon ship and head for Polyester's with our new Dutch friends. And thank God we did. Free admission, free drinks, free food, Hindi pop music, Bollywood dance moves, and a confetti explosion of epic proportions at midnight. Happy New Year!!
Last day in Mumbai....recovery.
Next stop, five days in Goa, a Portuguese beach community with famed beach parties, henna artists, seafood, and elephants!
Advertisement
EDGAR
non-member comment
you got drunk in new year?