Exploring Mumbai

At first, sorry it took that long to write this article, but we reaaaaaally had to pay enough attention to it off course! Fortunately, I had written down the stories in short when we were in India, in case of memory failure.

Anyways! After a good night of sleep, we took the cab from the hotel and drove to Yashwant and his friend Apoorva to pick them up. At the hotel a wedding was being prepared, maybe we would be back in time to experience something of it. My room was looking out at the park where the big party was being build up and it looked great already with all the colors and flowers.

It was really nice to see Yashwant again. Yashwant lived with his wife for almost 2 years in Holland, so we knew each other already well. As said, Yashwant asked his friend Apoorva to show us around as he had lived already for years in Mumbai. (Yashwant normally resides in Pune). And what a perfect day! Not to warm, and with a cooling wind blowing from the sea and with traffic (it was a Sunday), the day was great for sightseeing!

Below a short summary of the things we saw, at the picasa link, you can see the pictures:

Heritage Buildings
We drove by some big buildings from the colonial time. Although with a little delay in Maintenance, still impressive. I wonder how they looked when the were build. We took a peak at the Railway station . Next time, maybe try a train ride?

Small Market
We visited a small market, where you could buy all kinds of fruits, animals, fresh food, spices etc. It remembered me to China. Really nice!

Gateway to India
Impressive Arc nearby the sea. Quite crowded with people having a day off. On the background the Taj Hotel where a couple of years the terrorist attack was. Quite impressive.. We went on a boat trip, with a perfect view of Mumbai! It’s also possible to visit Elephant island, we didn’t do that.

Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat (the laundry area)
A lot of concrete blocks filled with laundry and everywhere hanging laundry to dry. Hard to imagine that clothes will get clean there, but with the lot of same clothes from companies, it has to be good I guess? And also hard to imagine, that the people living here, are really rich because if the land the own and live on. This area has a real high ground price.

Haji Ali (Mosque)
A Mosque situated in the sea with a small walkway of half a kilometer. Even with high tide, the Mosque will stay dry. I think we were the only white people visiting. But it was that crowded, we didn’t enter the Mosque. Quite a contrast: A lot of beggars along the road, with the tall office buildings in the back.

Bollywood buildings
Along the coast, we saw some houses from famous Bollywood actors/actresses with a lot of people waiting to see a glimpse of them. And we even visited the walk of fame with all the big Bollywood stars!

Mani Bhavan Gandhi Museum
The house where Ghandi used to live in, was turned into a museum explaining everything about his live. Very interesting to read about, what an impressive and humble man Ghandi must have been. And did you know that the current flag of India is actually improved by Ghandi with the colors and the spinning wheel.

Jain Temple
A beautiful and colorful temple where at that moment a ceremony was held. Yashwant and Apoorva even got an envelope with money! And a car outside a wheel boot haha.

Further
Along the day, we saw much more. A horse race course, the hanging gardens, the real new highway and huge bridge over the sea. We got some great coffee at the seaside, we ate some fantastic food (and Indian Kingfisher beer) in a modern café. After buying news slippers, we ate some delicious cheese cake at a bakery, hmmm.

At the end of the day, we went for a great diner at the Saffron Spice restaurant. Yashwant his wife also came, really nice to have finally met her! The food was great, although a little bit spicy, something to get used to in the coming days haha. During the diner, India lost an important cricket game from Pakistan.

It was a great day, and how lucky we were that Apoorva and Yashwant showed us around! We couldn’t have picked a better company and day! So thx, if you’re reading this guys (and girl).

Arriving late at the hotel, the wedding was already finished. I was actually happy about it, tired of walking and all of the Mumbai experiences, it was time to go to bed! Next day the visit to Atos was planned, so we had to be fresh again!