South Mumbai...

Friday, 2 August

Sticking to our no bus or train rule for Mumbai, we hired a car and driver thru the hotel to explore and drive around the city. Cost: R 1,500, or just under $25 split between the three of us :) 

We're staying in North Mumbai, about a kilometer from the International Airport.. In an effort to miss morning rush hour traffic we left at around 11 am.. 

Yeah.. There was still a stupid amount of traffic in the streets.. it feels like it's always rush hour here, not sure why we decided to wait and get a late start, but eh, when in Rome... So, off we went, horns blaring, cars veering across lanes, pedestrians dodging traffic, and people staring at three western women in a car in the middle if it all.. 

Our frst actual stop was at a bazaar in north Mumbai for a little shopping. :) After picking up yet another silk sari for the material we ventured on.. past the Bollywood section of the city, across the Bandra-Worli Sea Link and on to to south Mumbai and "The Gateway to India"  

The Bandra-Worli Sea Link

As we drove into south Mumbai the difference in lifestyle/ quality of life was palpable- where slums and shanty towns are all over in the north, I only saw a couple in the southern part of the city, but even those were not as dire looking in comparison.  Also absent from the southern part of the city were  the infamous three wheeled rickshaws or tuk tuks... these were all replaced with colonial style buildings, residential high rises, and super expensive cars.  It was really like an episode of the Twilight Zone where some magical bridge connects two seemingly similar but absolutely foreign worlds.

As we drove down Marble Hill/ Vidal road district our driver pointed out the tall building in the background as the Reliance group housing structure.. 

Audi, Bentley and RR dealerships as well as older, but well maintained buildings and remnants of British rule are such a contrast to the area we left an hour before.. 

We continued on towards Marina Chowpatti Beach via the very famous Marine Drive, passed The Wilson college.. into the rain, and finally arrived at the "Gateway of India"

The gateway, which is a massive structure that sits beautifully right along the waterline, is basically the exact spot King George V landed in India in 1911, and it's also the spot where Gandhi returned to India from South Africa and he was given the the name Mahatma- or Great Soul.  Even in Monsoon season (and it was an especially rainy day today) the square was pretty full with tourists, both Indian and foreign. 

Thanks to Eveline and her copy of the Lonely Planet tour book, we had a great walking route that explained the history of the buildings and the neighborhood.. we had another cameras out, walking around as tourists type of afternoon.

Instead of going into a ton of crazy details about the architecture, historical significance and whatnot (and let's be honest, you really couldn't care less), here are a handful of my favorite pictures from the walk:

The Taj Mahal Hotel sits just opposite the Gateway.. stunning and very, very Grande. 

Once used by the British military, this building is now home to the state's police department

A tribute to Ganesh in a Banyan tree just outside the Gateway to India plaza

This museum, completed in 1914, was once called the "Prince of Wales" museum, but has reverted back to its Indian name- Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya.  Not even attempting to pronounce that one...

After about 90 minutes of wandering about, ogling the beautiful (and somewhat surreal and misplaced) architecture of the University of Bombay and the High Court buildings.. we made our way back to the car to escape the absolutely pounding rain.

Last cultural stop of the day: mahatma Gandhi's residence in Mumbai 

The house where Ghandi lived while in Bombay has been turned into a museum...

... his room has been preserved and you can view the simple way it was furnished.

It was a bit surreal to be standing behind a hard plastic wall that let you look into the room where he lived, reading quotes and meaningful passages from his life definitely took on a more significant, intense tone when read a few feet from where he lived so simply.