Bombay Duck (or was it curry in a hurry?)
Trip Start
Oct 30, 2005
1
42
122
Trip End
Ongoing
Mumbai,
India
Monday, January 30, 2006
After a long night, we surprisingly arrived early (about 6am) and while getting our luggage out of the storage compartment, we met some other travellers and decided to share a taxi into town. They were going to the same area we hoped to stay, so we thought we may as well try their hotel as we had nothing booked. (Our first couple of choices had been booked out).
Cowpatty Beach (1)
Driving through Mumbai, even at this early time of day, it was evident that we were in a much richer city. The fashion conscious live here, it's the home of Bollywood movies and one of the most expensive cities in India. The streets were no longer filled with rickshaws, but old style taxis - and they used the meter!
We arrived at the hotel. It looked decrepit from the outside, but on entering it looked reasonably well kept. The other couple we shared a taxi with got a room ok, but a room for us would be available, but only at 10am (someone was to check out). Struggling with little sleep and Glenn with a stomach that had been put through a washing machine, we were looking forward to sleeping, but without a lot of alternatives for accommodation, we agreed and left our bags with our new friends and we all went off for breakfast. The one thing we noticed straight away was the heat and humidity. Mumbai was certainly much hotter than in the north, and this was winter!
Returning to the hotel after breakfast, the room was now not available until midday. We now noticed the check out time was 12 noon... aaaargggh! We need sleep! We grabbed our bags, so our new friends didn't have to hang around and we camped out till noon
Cowpatty Beach (2)
. Finally our room was ready... Not quite what we were expecting, especially after seeing the other couples room, our room was right next to reception with no enclosing ceiling (a bit like an office cubicle with high walls) and just a fan way above us, but the beds looked clean and after waiting for so long we didn't feel like walking out now. We finally got to sleep for a couple of hours under the cooling fan... :)
Amazingly enough, we managed to rise in the late afternoon and fit in a bit of wandering around the Colaba area, to see the Gateway of India and the celebrations of Republic Day (same day as Australia Day). They had a live performance at night next to the Gateway, but after a few speakers rambled on, the musicians finally stepped up, but instead of wooing us with a magical performance, they had to still tune their instruments! After about 10 minutes of this tuning (or perhaps they were playing very slowly?) we had enough and decided to get a real nights sleep finally.
The following day we decided to do "Mumbai in One Day" - to see the sights and get a feel for the city. We made our way towards Colaba Market, but instead ended up in the Colaba docks where the fishing boats bring their catch in and all sorts of seafood is sold fresh alongside
Cowpatty Beach (3)
. We had missed the unloading, as it was already midmorning and even though many items were still available for sale, the docks were littered with prawn shells, and all sorts of fish guts and stuff. Needless to say that our decision to finally wear our sandals after months in shoes was rewarded with nice "fish in the sun" smelling feet. We then found the real market - a food market running through the small alleyways. Interesting, but not as immersing as the fishy feet, we then headed a different area in Mumbai called Kala Ghoda, where we took in the Jehangir Art Gallery (great photography exhibition) and David Sassoon Library (which although was under renovation, was a nice place to relax). Following the recommendations of our guidebook, we took in a Seafood Lunch (an expensive meal compared what we have been used to in India).
Then onto the historical sights - we went to the CST Train Station (stunning architecture) where Glenn found a weighing machine. After being keen to weigh himself for months he departed with one rupee and out popped a little ticket showing his weight and telling him to "keep fit" (not sure whether that was a compliment or not). After that we went past the High Court, University and to the Oval Maidan, where cricket is played on almost every inch of grass there, all dressed in their whites.
To finish off we walked the long boulevard along the coast towards Chowpatty Beach (which we renamed Cow Patty beach - cause it smelt like one). It was wonderful to be near the ocean again, with the sea breeze blowing, and hearing the water lap against the shore. The beach was nothing too special, with every second person at first wanting to give us a head massage (the beach is famous for that), but we didn't indulge - a little peace instead please
Cowpatty Beach (4)
!After the sun began setting and we wandered around the beach a bit, we headed over the road for Ice Cream! Yum! We hadn't had any for ages, and perfect for cooling us down. To finish the day, we headed back close to our hotel and saw a movie for $2 each (the Chronicles of Narnia). We even had a kebab off the street after the movie - now we are feeling much more like at home.
One thing we wanted to do before leaving Mumbai was to catch a Bollywood movie - in the home of Bollywood. So the next day we tried to get tickets, but it was all booked out and we scraped to get tickets for the 9.30pm session for the following day - our final day in Mumbai. Our flights out were not until 5am the next day, and since that we had to be at the airport about 2.30am, we decided that sleep would be a waste of time, so we checked out at noon after trying to sleep in as long as possible. We asked to leave our bags with the hotel until the movie finished, but the staff said that the doors would be locked by then. We explained that we had to leave about midnight to go to the airport, so then they said ok, but because it was late they wanted a ridiculous baggage charge of 200 Rupees to store them in the hallway (our room was 400 Rupees!). We pointed out that they were being completely unreasonable and that all other hotels provided the service for free (or next to nothing), and finally they agreed not to charge us when we said we think we should be back by 11.30pm to pick them up
Cowpatty Beach (5)
.Off to spend our last day in India... what to do? We decided to see the Ghandi Museum, not having had much exposure to his life while seeing the forts and palaces of Rajasthan. It was really quite interesting, although the whole place was under major reconstruction and only a few exhibits were open. We even had to walk under a ladder while climbing the flight of stairs... not good for our luck!!!
We managed to find another ice cream place and a hip coffee place for dinner, filled with young people who obviously don't have a problem with spending money. Quite the contrast from the last few weeks travelling India.
Finally it was late enough to see our Bollywood movie. After standing for the national anthem, we saw "Rang De Basanti", a movie mostly in Hindi, with a splash of English words chucked in. Although we couldn't understand the words, it was a really good movie. Very dramatic and very well presented. It was certainly an interesting experience, with the audience applauding at times during the movie. We were considering leaving at the intermission (yes, they still have intermission here!) in order to get back in time to collect our baggage, but we enjoying the show so much we stayed. Stuff 'em. We'll be able to get our bags back (we hope).
As soon as the movie finished the crowds mobilised and we raced to try to find a taxi and negotiate a fare to the airport via our hotel. Surprisingly it wasn't too hard even though night fares had kicked in, and we got a reasonable deal. Making it back to the hotel at about 12.30am, and a little knock on the door, someone very sleepily opened the doors and we got our bags without any fuss. Phew. Off to the airport... and goodbye India!
