TravelStream™ news feed for member mumbairik on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/mumbairik en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:32:33 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mumbairik/1/1201727580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mumbairik/1/1201727580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mumbairik/1/1201727580/tpod.html Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:32:33 -0500 10 days Mumbai / Ajanta / Goa

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Aurangabad, India

The 2-day trip to Aurangabad is well worth it, an early flight dropped us at the tiny airport at 7 AM. Through the taxi stand we got a non-negotiated 1700 rupee taxi for the entire day so first destination the Ajanta caves. This 2 hour drive took us through the Indian country side with the sugar cane and cotton harvest in full swing. Every 10 minutes you pass through a village with hundreds of men milling about and this road has barely any intersections. The middle of nowhere starts right where the English language dissapears from the road signs. As a rule you will find opposing traffic in your lane and our taxi driver missed no opportunity to overtake slower cars be it in bends or approaching a hilltop.
The area around the Ajanta Buddhist temple caves (second century CE) is deserted. The inevitable buildings like ticket office and restaurants are well separated from the site and a 5 km bus shuttle provides a connection. This is smart! Compare that to the Ellora caves where a bus can drop people off right in front of the temples. A flashlight is handy and although flash photography is not allowed, you can do a lot of photography unsupported. Western tourists there a few, Indian children on a school trip are present in large numbers.

A drive from Ajanta to Ellora takes another hour and a half, there a not that many roads and so not really a shortcut possible. Hotel Kailas has great cottages with a view on the Ellora caves on the opposite side of a valley. Electricity apparently is an issue but solar panels on the compound are part of the solution. The main attraction of the site is Kailash Temple (8th century CE), hailed as the biggest monolithic structure in the world. I could not help noticing several Hugh hornet nests on the outer rock faces. I can only hope these creatures did their math, I would not like to see one of those nests plunge right into the temple.

It is a beautiful and impressive building and in several places you can see the original decoration, it certainly looks a grey basalt color now but this was certainly not the intended color.

Another taxi trip gets you to Daulatabad fort built on a 200 m elevation (12th century), conveniently located between Ellora nad Aurangabad. From a distance it seems impossible to climb, in practicality nearly impossible and we've seen tourists simply give up. Halfway up the fort the builders managed not only to construct a moat but also one with variable water table so that a bridge over it can be submerged. Very neat. The city of Aurangabad is not Mumbai: there are potholes everywhere, hardly any private cars, just motorcycles and the smog is chocking.
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Goa, India

Colva beach can be reached by taxi (370 rps) from Dabolim Goa airport in 30 minutes. Taxis do not have meters but at least at the airport you can get fixed-price tickets at a government-run taxibooth. The town (or rather it's only street) is packed with hotels, restaurants and shops, dirty and chaotic but the beach is still spotlessly clean. Check out the area on www.wikimapia.org (See www.wikimapia.org/#lat=15.276651&lon=73.913999&z=16&l=0&m=a&v=2) which gives a great overview. Also note the huge amount of high-tech businesses in the wider area. The tourists are mainly Indian families, then middle aged English and then Russians. Williams Beach retreat was selected mainly for the pool and and again staying loyal to the 2005 LP edition I had snapper at Domnicks. Here some free advice for Colvans, start collecting litter and restore pavements! Colva has two speed bumps which is great but there should be many more. Some free advice to street vendors: consider selling newspapers, I was getting used to newspaper outlets every 5 meters but not in Colva. I had to buy a second hand one as the only shop in a 10 km radius had sold out (they only sell the local Herald) but perhaps this was because the paper's main article was about the unraveling of a Goa terrorist plot.

I travelled back to Mumbai by train and you may ask why spent 12 hours in a train when a plane takes just over 1 hour. The reason is that as much as I dislike airtravel I like trains and the Indians have their long distance trains well organised. For starters you can book seats online (www.irctc.co.in/) and with a credit card payment and well in advance (60 days) and only a small penalty for cancellation. With the reservation you also enter your passport number and this simple measure discourages black ticket trading. The Margao train station is only 10 minutes from Colva. As a reminder of the countries public transport ambitions but not always fulfilled an abandoned light rail track is on display. My train has no security checks whatsoever and although this train was a day train the local Indians all go into sleeping mode. I was a fun ride through deserted hills with the train getting in and out of tunnels and crossing over countless rivers. The wagons have one serious design fault: most windows are very dirty from inside the double glazing but luckily mine wasn't that bad and in any case the doors of the wagon are left open anyway so you can admire the view at your own peril.

The re-entry into Mumbai is eerily empty by day and pitch black in the evening except for the now familiar makeshift fires to keep warm and for the local trains whizzing by. Do not expect any illuminated wide mumbai-by-night panoramas. At the approach into Victoria station you are reminded that 60% of the 16 million Mumbaiites live in slums. Makeshift housing creeps right up to the track and standing in the train door you can almost shake hands with the occupants. In the cracks of the walls you can see families watch television or people doing the dishes.

My slum tour (the one around the corner at Leopolds, see http://realitytoursandtravel.com) was cancelled at the last moment because the police had impounded the car for some reason (the guide alluded to a police racketeering scheme) . The guide offered to doing the travelling by train up north to the airport but even he was taken aback witnessing the rush hour traffic at victoria. My sister recommends the tour as it focuses on the many businesses like recycling located in the slums. Begging has been encountered only in three or four occasions, child labour is widespread not only in shops but also curiously when it comes to digging holes. For over a week you could see an entire family every 100 meters so busy digging a hole on Marine Drive boulevard with often the wife or child doing the digging. Only much later trees started to appear as well solving that riddle. Families were also spotted fixing potholes on Malabar hill. I suspect municipal jobs like these are not handed out to regular companies but to individuals (who subsequently take the whole family along) as part as an unemployment scheme.

If you want to experience this stretch of India just as I described it you better hurry. The rate of change (for better or worse) is large considering India's annual 10% growth and taken together with buoyant politics information gets outmoded pretty quickly. have fun!
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Mumbai (Bombay), India

In Februari 2008 I had the opportunity to visit my expatriated sister & family in Mumbai India, Breach Candy area. I stayed 10 days and included two trips, one to Aurangabad (Ajanta caves) and one to Goa (Colva Beach).

The international airport is being renovated and rows of plants attempt to cheer the place up. The passengers are efficiently herded through immigration with no less than 40 manned immigration booths. For some reason all international flights are processed at night and the domestic ones with its own domestic airport during the day. The drive from the international airport to the south of the city is not especially uplifting: the streets are lined with dilapidated one-storey buildings and cars share the road with bicyclists and even pedestrians. Headlamps or taillights on cars are only optional.

Daytime traffic is chaos. The major roads have three to four lanes well separated from opposite traffic. Getting ahead means squeezing the car in any crevice that opens up at every opportunity which is accompanied by non intermittent honking, even more confusing because Indians like the English drive on the left side of the road. The large number of motorcycles (which can accommodate an entire family) and auto rickshaws add to the mayhem. T-junctions are very common and the only way to reverse direction is a 180 degrees wheelie and of course traffic approaching from the opposite direction will never voluntarily allow the wheelie to be completed which means more honking. A drive to the airport can take 10 minutes or 2 hours. A new road located right in the Arabian sea is under construction and can be spotted on the way there.

Driving is bad enough but the consequences for pedestrians are even worse. Crossing a street is hazardous and crossing a busy 6 lane intersection requires careful planning (subways and over ways are scarce). Mumbai does not have speed bumps. Taxis (crappy interiors, breakneck-speed driving) proved to be reliable at least in my experience. The black box on the outside is the taximeter that displays a set of three numbers. The fare is calculated by reading the numbers from the meter lets say 0,2 and 40. The rupee amount is found on a table where for example 2,40 corresponds to 100 rupees. You can always ask the driver to produce this table. I was not brave enough to test out the Mumbai local train system.

Mumbai experienced a cold weather spell with temperatures up to 28°C and 10°C at night not seen since the early sixties and many locals were observed wearing woollen caps and sweaters even in 30 degrees sunshine. In the early hours of 3 February there was even a brief shower. At night the streets were dotted with small firesand people huddled around them. The newspapers updated their readers on the basis facts of the common cold.

So what does the Mumbai urban scene in 2008 look like. There are of course the large number of cars, motorcycles and rickshaws. For delivering goods 6 meter long wheelbarrows are employed. No sightings yet of nanocars though. What is also striking is the large number of people crowding the streets day or night although life tends to start after 10 in the morning. Then the pavements are cluttered with shops and vendor stalls. Although there is no shortage of big posters asking the public to keep the city clean and explaining fines as part of a new municipal initiative, it is impossible to find any garbage bins.

In terms of wildlife, one notices the ever presence of fish eagles, crows and stray dogs but none of them bother humans. The famed holy cows have been spotted only twice (not free-roaming but tended to). Goats are abundant in chor bazaar and two elephants were sighted participating in a religious festival, blocking Marine Drive one afternoon. The newspaper the next day (headline: truncated truck call!) reported they were arrested by the police because elephants are banned from the city. Also identified one cow-propelled wooden cart. (observed a caravan of 50 carts in the early hours while staying in Ellora). No temple coplex is complete without a band of monkeys.

Much business appears to be conducted outdoors, or was it because of the unusually cool weather. The streets in the diamond selling area around Tata street were thick with merchants, lawyers and their clients lined the streets around the court building and it was equally busy outside the Mumbai stock exchange. Western tourists were only found in the direct vicinity of touristic spots

An absolute joy are the numerous English newspapers. There must be around 10 of them at least and cost an amazing 2 rupees. They are stocked with horrendous traffic accidents, corruption, and politics of course. To name just a few continuing stories (week 5 2008): manhunt for kidney-stealing physician, hotels apparently note the caste of Indian guests, Indian - Australian cricket row after racist slur continues in court, Raj Thackeray (politician) says Amitabh Bachchan (famous Bollywood star) is not a true Maharashtrian, North Indian cab drivers molested by Thackeray supporters and Raj's uncle Bal not prosecuted for his involvement in the anti-muslim 1993 riots. As described in Mehta's Maximum City, thugs 'encountered' and shot by the police are in fact purposely exterminated and indeed newspapers still dutifully report on thugs encountered and shot without a trace of irony.

Sights to see: Malabar hills with Hanging Gardens and Jain Temple, take Siri road and you will find yourself on Chowpatty beach. The big touristic sigths can sometimes be difficult to find because of lack of signs especially for tourists (Chowpatty beach this way! Gates of India this way!). My Lonely PLanet 2005 edition already warned that the small Christian enclave called Kotachiwadi (from the end of Chowpatty up north again) is difficult to find and I was not disappointed. After only 2 hours searching I finally located the place as a side street of Girgaon Road. Yes the wooden houses are still there although not that many. On the other hand all the little side streets away from the busy roads are worth popping into. they are relatively quiet, car-free, clean, green and essentially little villages in themselves.

The next set of sights cover the area of the Fort district, the area around the Gate of India (currently under renovation and incredibly messy) and the Cobala area with Cafe Leopold, local headquarters in G.D. Roberts Shantaram. Read that book!. My copy is personally signed with this line: 'May all the journeys bring you wisdom in the struggles of the heart and courage in the heart of the struggle', dated January 1 st 2006 with the 6 crossed out and replaced by a 7. A special mention to Chor bazaar, a really big market place with one street for every trade be it in second-hand tools, tires, car and computer recycling , sweatshops, garlic or flowers. I spent 4 hours wondering around and I think I have seen only half of it.

In Mumbai just to the north of Breach Candy several places of interest are within walking distance. The Mahalakshmi temple complex and the Haji Ali Dargah Mosk (tight security!) hug opposite shores. From there to the horse race track where incidentally the horses also sport the tilaka or bindi (red dot) between the eyes. The bridge at Mahalaxmi rail station offers a great view of the Dhobi Ghat laundry operation but also check out the opposite side where you can see 10 rail tracks leading into south-Mumbai with a great skyline.

Very worthwhile is a boat trip to Elephanta Island for its collection of temples. On the particular day I went there the owner of Kingfisher had his boat (95 meters, three storeys) the Indian Empress anchored not 500 meters away from the Gates of India (Why Men Drink Beer). Very noticeable: a brown carpet of smog looming over the city and even though the boat trip is about 70 minutes, the island is in fact located in the outskirts of Mumbai harbour as evidenced by moored freighter ships unloading their cargo right next door. In order to get to the temples you have to run a gauntlet of souvenir shops (a 500 meter trek uphill) but luckily the temple area itself is a commerce-free zone. The wares on offer were the usual collection of stone or wooden elephants, elephants, Buddhas and Buddhas (did I mention elephants?). But where is the stuff you can actually use or where are the innovative products? I lost my belt in the security airport check and good luck trying to purchase a new one from one of these vendors. With respect to souvenirs I settled for one of those tiffins (a kind of lunchbox you see all over the place) and a nice quilt from Fabindia.

Domestic air travel is well organized (with a dedicated domestic airport). Be careful to respect latest boarding time! I was ruthlessly turned away at the check-in desk of GoAir (10 minutes late! at 06:15 hours and second try 12:30 spiceJet faired better despite 2 hours delay) On the upbeat, this airline provides text messages in the event of delays (to me a novelty) which is great because public broadcasts at any terminal tend to be inaudible. A general nuisance that many people can relate to is lack of leg space in aircraft, especially for as I am 201 cm tall. Fortunately Indian seats are just as crappy as European seats and not worse. The obvious solution of course is to aim for a seat next to the emergency exit at e-booking time but not all airlines clearly indicate emergency exit seats. In the specific case of Swiss Airlines (Zurich to Mumbai) it is not even possible to book this seats. A great tool is the website seatguru.com in which you can select the airline, the type of aeroplane and then get a very detailed overview of the seating arrangements. For example select the Swiss Airlines Airbus A330-200 3-Class and you will agree that 28K is the best seat in the house.

Nuisance number two are the airport security checks. In the same week that a Dutch television programme detailed how a bomb could be smuggled on a plane at Schiphol airport (none of the 25000 airport employees have their luggage or id checked and can just wander around at over the place!) I spent much time in a queue simply waiting and wondering why I was unable to buy a 50 ml sunscreen bottle. Specifically in India the first queue starts outside the terminal as no one without a ticket is allowed in. Tip: on departing from Mumbay international travellers are treated to x-ray luggage scan even before reporting to the desk, a novelty to me. I also found out my brand new Scarpa hiking boots have two metal strips in them (why!) so I had to take these of as well as the belt. Which I subsequently lost. A big sign at the security check at Aurangebad airport gives a list of 20 dignitaries which are exempt starting with the president, the prime minister, deputies and so one. The Dalai Lama is also listed.
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