mumbay, bombmi, ohhhh muddly
Jim and I came to Mumbai with very mixed views, we had heard that it was a very messy Indian city to be avoided.
We arrived on the night train from Hampi - taking 24 hours (phew!). As the sunrose we arrived at the suburds of Mumbai, I could smell the suburbs them before I saw them! There were lines and rows of shanty housing but more offesive was the mountain of rubbish on the side of the tracks. The morning was greeting with the slum dwellers having their morning pee on the tracks (and no. 2's) bottoms ahoy! The slums went on for a long time! 60% of Mumbai's population is living on the streets and 10'000 people a day arrive in the search of fortune.
Eventually we arrived into the city and headed for Gateway of India and the Taj Mahai hotel, well thats where the taxi driver thought we were staying, if only.... alas our budget is only for the Salvation Army resisdency along the street from the mighty Taj. And I have to say the south of Mumbai is a great place. The buildings are amazing, very gothic and you could even pass for being in a European capital, even the rickshaws are banned in the city, thankfully I don' miss being followed on the pavement anymore..
Even though both Jim and I were tried from our journey it didn't stop us from seeing as much as we could. We did the normal - fi/Jim tour (jumping on the nearest bus and seeing where we end up) and a great day we had. the aquarium, jain temple, "fashion st" and various bookstalls
As Mumbai will be our last port of call in April so we are scouting the area of goodies to buy and we will definately need to buy a few more bags.
We are here for 2 more days then its 'up north' to Rajastan and beyond..
Fi
We arrived on the night train from Hampi - taking 24 hours (phew!). As the sunrose we arrived at the suburds of Mumbai, I could smell the suburbs them before I saw them! There were lines and rows of shanty housing but more offesive was the mountain of rubbish on the side of the tracks. The morning was greeting with the slum dwellers having their morning pee on the tracks (and no. 2's) bottoms ahoy! The slums went on for a long time! 60% of Mumbai's population is living on the streets and 10'000 people a day arrive in the search of fortune.
Eventually we arrived into the city and headed for Gateway of India and the Taj Mahai hotel, well thats where the taxi driver thought we were staying, if only.... alas our budget is only for the Salvation Army resisdency along the street from the mighty Taj. And I have to say the south of Mumbai is a great place. The buildings are amazing, very gothic and you could even pass for being in a European capital, even the rickshaws are banned in the city, thankfully I don' miss being followed on the pavement anymore..
Even though both Jim and I were tried from our journey it didn't stop us from seeing as much as we could. We did the normal - fi/Jim tour (jumping on the nearest bus and seeing where we end up) and a great day we had. the aquarium, jain temple, "fashion st" and various bookstalls
As Mumbai will be our last port of call in April so we are scouting the area of goodies to buy and we will definately need to buy a few more bags.
We are here for 2 more days then its 'up north' to Rajastan and beyond..
Fi
posted by Fi and Jim @ 2:47 pm
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