Mumbai

Well we flew to Mumbai from Udaipur just over an hour. Lovely. Picked up luggage and made our way to pre paid taxi kiosk. Thought I would save some money and get non air conditioned (I don’t like the smell of it) and wind the windows down for some lovely fresh cold air.

Well, that was first mistake. After being in Jaipur and Udaipur where the climate was lovely. Warm days and cool nights, Mumbai was HOT. All we got was hot air blowing. Haha Graham’s face. Taxi took us through Mumbai which was an eye opener. Very very busy and lots of poverty. We were staying in a nice area of Mumbai called ‘Colaba’. Arrived at our hotel ‘The Fariyas’. Nice modern hotel but room was the smallest we have ever had. Not as nice as staying at the Haveli in Jaipur and Udaipur.

Went out for a walk and before we knew it Graham was propositioned. Not by a lady Haha but a man wanting him to go into business with him and help him set up a shoe shining business. Of course this was not a ‘business’ and all he wanted was 600 rupees (about £6) to buy a shoe shining box. Obviously graham was not impressed.

The area we stayed in was very busy and the most ‘normal’ so far with shops and restaurants everywhere.

We were lucky enough to be staying a few minutes walk from the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and The Gate of India. Here’s my photos

Lots of tourists and photographers who could take much better photos than we could and print them out on mini printers for us.

We decided after nearly 2 weeks of Unplanned fasting haha to visit the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel for high tea. WOW. This was the highlight of our trip to Mumbai. Normal food. Excellent service and OMG what a luxury hotel. We wished we had pushed the boat out and stayed here. Graham said it was the best tea he had had in India and he should know he drunk 3 pots. There was no rushing us and the chef even brought us samples of (safe) street food to try.

Next day in a contrast to our high tea at Palace we took a trip to visit ‘the Mumbai slums’. Got up early to meet guide and couldn’t believe how many women, children and babies we saw sleeping on the streets. So so sad.

Dharavi is the biggest slum in Mumbai and the third biggest in the world and one of the most densely populated areas on Earth. You have never seen anything like how they live and work. Graham said the businesses were like Swansea’s industrial area in the 60’s. The slum people didn’t need to come out of the slums to exist. They had markets, churches, schools, houses, shops, sewing factories, workshops, hospitals. There were big businesses everywhere. People worked here. They made plastic, bags, clothes, treated and coloured hide, pots and more. They recycled everything. The guide told us that some people were well off now but didn’t move on. They liked living in communities.

We visited the biggest outdoor laundrette in Mumbai. Here they washed and ironed for not only people but for commercial businesses and even big hotels and hospitals. It was fascinating but urgh hospital bedding?

We drove through the redlight area where we were told men visited little villages offering young girls the chance of a job. Once in Mumbai they were put on the streets and families never heard from them again. So sad.