We survived the long train ride and were ready to explore the urban jungle of Mumbai.
The Gateway of India.
he Gateway of India is an arch monument built during the 20th century. The monument was erected to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary at Apollo Bunder on their visit to India in 1911.
Vibrant Mumbay or Bombay, as it was previously called. It is the capital city of the state of Maharashtra in India, and it's the most populous city in India (just recently passed Delhi). As the 4th most populous city in the world and one of the populous urban regions in the world, Mumbai has a metro population of about 22.05 million in 2018.
It's known in India there is chaos in traffic. Honking the horn is absolutely mandatory and not disrespectful but necessary to let others know you are coming. Most of the cars have many dents on them. Fender-benders are a regular thing. No-one cares about seat belts or traffic lights (in Mumbai some of them were occasionally working and even respected). Yet, also in Mumbai we were in our only 'car accident'. Our cab driver was a maniac himself, I'm very thankful he did not run anyone over during that half an hour we spent with him, but the accident was not even his fault. Someone crashed into us on a roundabout. Our driver got so mad and almost physical we were sure a fight is gonna occur, the other driver was very phlegmatic and seemed under influence. Police came (a woman!!) and calmed the men down. And then nothing, it's India, no contacts were exchanged or no insurance claims were gonna follow, you drive away and get on with your life.
Colaba Causeway
The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel is a "Heritage Grand" class five-star hotel in the Colaba region of Mumbai. The hotel opened its doors to guests on 16 December 1903.
The Taj Mahal tower is the new wing of the hotel.
Breakfast at Kala Ghoda cafe at Kala Ghoda district. It's an artsy district with a bohemian feel, lots of bars and cafes to chill at. The cafe is quite western, but the breakfast we found was still Indian'ish. Let's call it a fusion. Food and drinks are all delicious.
Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2018.
Staying true to its 1998 axiom of maintaining and preserving the heritage and art of Mumbai, in 2018 the festival drew attention to the wonders of nature. The theme Hara Ghoda was realized in the form of inspired sculptures and visual installations around Rampart Row and Kala Ghoda precincts of Mumbai. There were also workshops, food stalls and music and dance performances in different parks in the evenings.
Mumbai has so many cool bars and food joints.
The Boston Butt was the first one we discovered. This, like many other bars in Mumbai serve really good local craft beers!
Legendary Leopold's cafe at Colaba. It's an authentic cafe, with good selection.
The cafe was also an early site of gunfire and grenade explosions during the 2008 Mumbai attacks by terrorists. The bullet holes are still in the walls.
Gregory David Roberts famously wrote about Leopold’s in his book "Shantaram", which was the essential backpacker accessory a few years ago. The main character used to sit there endlessly with his colourful cast of friends. The book recounts the story of Roberts himself, an Australian prison escapee who lived in the slums, where he established a health clinic, became a street soldier for the Bombay mafia, was thrown into Indian prison and then went on to fight with the Mujahideen in Afghanistan.
I bought the book at a market in New Delhi and am on it now. Some 650 pages to go of the 933 total.
One evening we were wandering around at 'Lower Parel' area and discovered many interesting bars and restaurants. Some of them were on the list of the best restaurants in town. India loves it's festivities, next to the Arts Festival there was also Mumbai Restaurant Week and later in Goa we happened to be there during Carnival and another arts and food festival.
Also, fun fact, India has 16 long weekends in 2018. Some of them longer than just 1 or 2 extra holidays. Estonia has what, 3-4?
Ambience Bar&Kitchen.
Bar Stock Exchange! Awesome chain-bars across Mumbai.
Conceptualized on the lines of our infamous stock exchanges the bar is a fun, unique and cutting-edge bar concept that allows customers to trade in alcohol and spirits, with prices starting from as low as retail prices!
These fries at the Colaba TBSE are the only western food we ate during those 18 days. Didn't miss a thing. I could totally survive solely on Indian food for a long time!
Elephanta Island is one of a number of islands in Mumbai Harbour. We googled to not listen to the guys selling tickets next to the Gateway of India, but to go directly to the spot the ferry departs. We went there, determinedly walked past everyone and stepped into a queue. After a few minutes we decided to ask someone just in case if it is a right queue. The lady we picked wasn't that at home with english, just said "yes" quickly and went back to her husband. I guess she was still hesitant as soon his husband yelled "Elephanta" to us and when we nodded, said it is not the right place. Apparently this line was waiting on a ferry to go to some not so touristy island a bit more further away.
The most stupid thing I've seen, a boat full of adults feeding the seagulls non-stop the whole hour going or coming to Elephanta with chips. This happened both ways, so I'm guessing it's a thing. People were taking selfies and filming like they saw birds for a very first time. I feel bad for the birds as these chips won't do them any good.
Next to that ugly habit, on our way to the island there were two quite macho Indian guys, who were taking pictures of each other and even more selfies alone and together the WHOLE HOUR non-stop.
Elephanta Island.
The name Elephanta comes from the gigantic Elephant statue that the Portuguese found at the entrance to the island but this has now been moved to the Victoria Gardens in Mumbai.
The Elephanta Caves are a UNESCO world heritage site consisting of two networks of caves carved into rock temples, a smaller Buddhist group of caves and a larger group of 5 caves, cut from rocky hillsides facing the sea, that contain impressive rock cut sculptures representing the Hindu god Shiva.
All the archaeological components in the Elephanta Caves are preserved in their natural settings. The sculptures are impressive and it's even more amazing to think how long they have been there.
Despite the worn and damaged state of some of the sculptures they are still worshipped today.
A miniature train ran noisily on narrow tracks along the jetty from where our wooden boat docked to the start of the steps that lead up to the caves. We climbed quickly through this gauntlet of steps lined with tourist stalls all asking for our attention and selling all kinds of tacky souvenirs. When we emerged at the top and we took in the views and fresh air with some monkeys looking for what to steal from the next bunch of clueless humans.
The 7-metre-high masterpiece “Sadashiva” dominates the entrance to Cave 1. The sculpture represents three aspects of Shiva: the Creator, the Preserver, and the Destroyer.
The first boat for Elephanta leaves Gateway of India ferry point at 9 am. The first return boat leaves from Elephanta island at 12 noon and the last return boat leaves at 5.30pm from Elephanta. As always, it's less people and calmer in the mornings. It's a beautiful island.
Food and drinks are very normally priced next to the 'port' on the island. They serve a lot of seafood of course. The catch of the day with some curry sauce was delicious!
Haji Ali Dargah Mosque. The majestic mosque is located in the middle of the sea and there is a narrow path paving the way to it. The Mosque was built in honour of the Muslim saint Haji Ali. During high tide the connecting causeway gets submerged into water, making the impression the mosque is floating on water, thus the mosque can be reached only during low tides.
Marine Drive - the broad 3,6 km long promenade stretching along the Arabian Sea. Beautifully rounded, accompanied by the waves that steadily hit the rocks. The skyline stretches towards the sky, mostly made by the high-rise buildings of fancy Malabar Hills. They seem quite a distance away behind a haze of mist, or most probably smog that was always there in the mornings and early afternoons. Real estate prices along the esplanade are high. Many hotels dot the drive, and it's also the neighbourhood to spot the rich and famous. It's also called 'The Queen's pearl necklace'.
Four Seasons hotel on Mumbai with AER rooftop bar. Spent a sunset there to enjoy the view, some incredibly delicious calamari rings and (virgin) cocktails, which were still delicious. All rooftop bars in Mumbai have stopped serving alcohol indefinitely. Apparently, the state excise department found the rooftop bars were using the daily club or temporary party licence, meant for special occasions, functions and festivals, to serve customers right through the year. It's said that the Dome is the only rooftop bar still serving alcohol.
Another Kala Ghoda piece of art.
There is a 'Good Luck' restaurant in Colaba. A very cheap, local, tasty, little diner. We paid around 1 EUR for breakfast with tea.
Also in Colaba "Universal cafe" - cheap and tasty as well, but contrary to the previous one, many westerners like it, so be prepared to wait a bit longer for the food.
Until one night it was time to go to the train station again and figure out a way to our platform and wagon. Not as easy as it sounds. The train station (Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus - a historic railway station and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, looking a lot like St Pancras railway station in London) was quite a maze, also there was a wrong letter on the wagon we were supposed to be in, so for a longest time we were sure someone is gonna come and claim the same 'bed' we were sitting on. Instead it was quite a quick and chill ride. We met an Italian and U.S travellers and had a long chat and a laugh before the rest of our neighbours arrived and we decided to go to sleep. In the morning, only 15-30 minutes late we were in sunny and tropical Goa already!
Food and drinks this far had been relatively reasonably priced, tuk-tuks and taxi's were ok, when bargained (and oh we bargained.. often to the point we knew we were touching the line), Uber had been cheap (in Mumbai for a drive across town in traffic one paid around 2 EUR), as Goa is a tourist hub we expected all that to change. When getting out of the train station there was mostly pre-paid taxi, and the prices were quite European. We learned soon it's no rickshaws in south Goa and it's a taxi mafia, that's why it is expensive. What we were very surprised to learn tho, is that food and drinks are cheaper, a lot cheaper actually, than in Mumbai, Jaipur or Delhi.
We had one and a half days and one night until the wedding madness was about to start. Stayed in a neighboring beach (town) for the night at The Byke Old Anchor Beach Resort, a hotel that's main building was shaped like a boat.
We had our beach time, first swim in the Arabian Sea/Indian Ocean and headed for lunch at James's beach bar then. Made friends with the staff and the owner and ended up going back in the evening for some drinks and chats.
Amazing Goa'n cuisine and this is where we discovered the local 'Old Monk' rum. Do you know it's really good with coke? Apparently we advertised this drink a lot later on, as all our friends were laughing at us.
We almost crashed another wedding in Goa a day before getting to Ria's. In Goa in the hotels there are weddings every day, one ends and another starts. They say it's altogether cheaper to have a big wedding there, than in any other town in India. Also, the weather is perfect, sunny and tropical, there is beach and sea.. what's not to enjoy?!
To be continued.
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