Mumbai City Tour

Saturday, November 1, 2008

This morning I got up from a sleepless night – I had rested but not slept. The crows got me up at 7am and I had a small breakfast. I was hungry but had no appetite, which is a weird thing to say.

I went back to bed to rest, and was woken up by the reception. Mr. Sunil, my guide had arrived. We went straight to the Gate of India, which was built to commemorate the visit of George V and Queen Mary in 1911, and caught the one hour fairy to Elephanta Island. This visit was highly recommended by friends of mine so I did it. I believe it was worth it. We spent an hour on the island visiting the caves, rested briefly with refreshments, then another hour to get back across the bay.

A quick visit of the old and new Taj hotel, and we were off to lunch. We had talis. I tried gujarati first but found it too sweet so I switched to Maharashtra. The tali was all you can eat, with pakoras and several types of fresh baked breads with molten ghee poured on top. I ate very well, but not wanting to burst I didn’t finish everything. My guide devoured all in site with double the rice.

After lunch we went to the Jehangir art gallery. Then around Marine Drive and up to Malabar Hill and the Jain temple there. Our visit in that part of town also included the Hanging Gardens and the Kamala Nehru Park (a children’s playground and botanical garden).

A flat tire after visiting the washers at Dhobi Ghat gave us a 20 minute delay but I was able to do a quikh dash thru the Mani Bhavan, Gandhi’s residence/museum.

Tomorrow morning I will go to the old Victoria Terminus, built in 1887, and added to the UNESCO World Heritage list a few years back. It is the busiest train station in Asia, and it’s where I will take my train for Goa.