people everywhere, traffic, dust, trains that can feel like cattle cars, people everywhere, auto rickshaws, taxis, pollution, people everywhere, haze, poverty, wealth, people everywhere, Bollywood, noise, delicious food, people everywhere, slums, heat, humidity, people everywhere, child beggars reaching into taxis, Louis Vuitton at the Taj Hotel, cows in the streets, people everywhere
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I stepped off the plane to a blast of heat and humidity, even though it was past midnight. It was easy to spot my sister, the only blond-haired, white girl in the crowd. She hugged me, stared, and said, “It’s so weird that you’re here … in India.” She smiled and then we headed to the hotel.
Welcome to Mumbai.
People, people everywhere! I have never seen so many people before. The most populous city in India, there are 13.8 million people in about 230 square miles, creating a population density of 59,000 people per square mile. For comparison, in New York City, the most populous city in the US, there are 8.4 million people in about 470 square miles, giving a population density of 27,500 people per square mile. Yikes!
The streets of Mumbai are full of people, dogs, cows, taxis, auto rickshaws, and even a tractor! And, the sharp contrast of the have notes, haves, and have mores is striking as you make your way through the city. Track-side shanty towns of tarp covered one roomed dirt floor homes line the railroad tracks that run through the neighborhood in which the Bollywood stars live. Child beggars approach the Mercedes Benzes and Audis. Outside the Taj Hotel, old men lay in makeshift cots on the sidewalk. The city is absolutely awe inspiring. I found myself constantly wondering how the city’s millions of inhabitants all live there. How do they all fit? So much of it is frustrating and difficult. But at the same time, I understand the allure. It is the most vibrant and alive city I have ever been to. The person who called New York “the city that never sleeps” clearly had never been to Mumbai.
We stayed at a hotel in Ville Parle East neighborhood, the Hotel Columbus, a clean and very basic Indian hotel for 3300 RS ($73) per night. (Mumbai is expensive!) This wasn’t far from where Emily used to live, which was nice because she knew the good restaurants and how to get around.
On Sunday, after sleeping in until 10am, we took the train to the end of the line to the heart of Mumbai. We walked around the Oval Maiden and watched the men play cricket.
We saw the Gateway of India and the famous Taj Hotel which face the Mumbai harbor and Arabian Sea.
We visited the Prince of Wales Museum, which houses many artifacts from Indian history, including items from its various colonial rulers.
We stopped for lunch at Le Pain Quotidien, a French bakery chain restaurant also in the US, because Emily was absolutely dying for Western food; evidently, there isn’t much of it to be found in Dharwad. So, my first meal in India was a Belgian waffle, and Emily thoroughly enjoyed her zucchini tartine with goat cheese. We went to Victoria Terminus, the largest train station in Asia, through which approximately 2 million people pass each day.
In the strong afternoon heat, we stopped for snacks and cool drinks at Mocha with Emily's friend Stacey and for dinner, we ate at Sheesha in Bandra where I had my first Indian meal of garlic tandoori mushrooms, chickpea stew, na’an, and raita.
On Monday, we ate a breakfast of dosas and idli near our hotel and then took the train to Churchgate and hopped a taxi down Marine Drive, past Chowpatty Beach, over to Malabar Hill, an upscale and quiet neighborhood of Mumbai.
There we saw the Bangana Tank, an ancient holy bathing tank surrounded by a Hindu temple.
Later in the day, we took the train to check out the dhobi ghat, or laundry, of Mumbai. This was absolutely captivating to watch, and we stayed for close to twenty minutes. It is amazing that nothing gets lost, and it all comes out sparkling clean!
We visited the old Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue and the St Thomas Cathedral.
We also stopped briefly at the Gharib Nagar slum near Bandra in Mumbai. We were planning on going in; however, there had been a fire that swept through the slum just a few days prior and so it wasn’t very safe. We had a late afternoon snack at a restaurant that specializes in Mumbai street food, which was good because I was too afraid of getting sick to eat any of the food actually sold in the streets. Here, I fell in love with sev puri. We met up with Emily’s friend Krishna who lives in Mumbai for a super quick dinner at, yes, Pizza Hut, before hopping the overnight train to Goa.
We left Mumbai in a 2-tier A/C first class sleeper car. Emily and I had two top bunks across from each other and shared our little curtained area with a lovely older couple from Mumbai. Surprisingly, I was able to catch several hours of sleep. To be honest, and I hate to admit it, the overnight train really is not a bad way to travel.
On to Goa.
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