Day 19 - Mumbai

Day 19 – Magical Mumbai – Sunday 3/6/12

Weather – Fine and Sunny 29C - 32C and bloody humid

Sunrise – 6.00am

Sunset – 7.13pm

Time difference - minus 4.5 hours ex Sydney. (another 30 mins back overnight)

Sailing against the strong currents over the last few days has put us a few hours behind schedule. This morning at 9am we passed 23 miles starboard side from Nanwell Point. An hour later we set an easterly course and made our approach to the Mumbai Pilot station through the safety fairway. At about 10.30am the pilot jumped aboard as we passed 2 miles portside of Colaba Point and 2.5 miles from Karanja Reefs on our starboard side. We had expected to to be alongside Ballard Pier Cruise Terminal by 11.30am, but heavy outgoing traffic delayed us until 12.15pm.

Well that was an another amazing day. What a city Mumbai is. The lesson for the day – dont judge a city based upon the opinions of others. Our expectations on Mumbai we quite low based upon being told it was a filthy, smelly, hot , humid, dangerous, god forsaken dump. It is such a vibrant city, with the friendliest and most courteous people you could hope to meet. Yes it could do with a clean up, yes it was warm and humid, but not unbearably so. Yes it had an aroma of its own, but it was not an offensive one. At no time did we ever feel in at risk anywhere.

I just loved the sounds of the city, it was just such an 'alive' city, even though it was a Sunday. The traffic is incredible, the pedestrians crossing the roads have an art form all their own. .How they can merge 4 lanes of traffic into a two lane roundabout, with pedestrians walking between it all, and not collide or kill just beggars belief

We did a private tour organised by Pam, a CC colleague. We were late departing obviously due to the late arrival of the ship. We elected to forgo the planned lunch to maximise our time there. We had 2 x 20 seater buses for 26 of us, so there was plenty of room for all. It was a comfy air-conditioned coach, with an guide for each.

First stop was what used to be called Victoria Terminus train station. It is the same station that was bombed by terrorist in 2008 . What an amazing experience. Down the stairs into the subway that goes under the road, and then the sounds and sights hit you. Whoa, there are people everywhere, the concourse is just a hubbub of people coming and going.

Our guide took us to a central area and explained the history, architecture and general operation of the station. She did say that as it was a Sunday it was much less populated than usual, and that on a weekday we would not be able to stand where we were as we would have been swept away by the crowds. A train arrived near at a platform near us, there were people hanging off the doors, quite a sight. The front carriage was a ladies only carriage – it was like a sardine can in there, I am sure the passenger numbers were just a tad above spec :)

Next stop Crawford Market, a produce market. What a marvellous place, Victoria Markets has got nothing on this place. The market houses a wholesale fruit,vegetable and poultry market. We were expecting that we would be hassled and harassed as soon as we walked in there, but it was quite the opposite. Mangos were the popular item on sale through the markets in the fruit and veg area. One end of the market is a pet store, with different varieties of dogs, cats and birds on offer. Our guide steered us away from animal section as previous experience has taught her that western tourists can be a little disturbed when they see the conditions that the animals are kept in.

Next visit the fascinating open air Laundromat of Dhobi Ghat. The washers, known locally as Dhobis work in the open to wash the cloths of Mumbai's hotels and hospitals. The rows of open-air concrete wash pens, each fitted with with it's own flogging stone. Quite a sight to see it in operation, and it is next to a train line, where we again witnessed the amazing sight of men hanging out of the trains. We did not see any of the famous train surfers though.

Next stop was Mani Bhavan, known as Mahatma Gandhi's house (although it was not his house, but where he stayed) which is now a small museum dedicated to his life and philosophy. It was hard not to be moved by this place. The displays have been prepared so well, and are so informative. There is the library downstairs which just smells so wonderful, that old book smell. Upstairs there are figurine sets that model the many events and times of Ghandi. It is a unique tale well told.

Next stop Krishna Temple. The saying of “seen one temple, seen them all” could not be more wrong after a visit here. After going through security, and checking your shoes into the 'cloakroom', it is upstairs to the temple room. An incredible room with sensational decorations and monument. We had timed it well as they had just started a chanting as we climbed the stairs. Such a vibrant and intoxicating atmosphere. Donna was hooked, we had to drag her out of there

Next stop Kamala Nehru Park and Hanging Gardens. Time only permitted a short visit here, but it was lovely to sample this place. Mumbai City is does not have a lot of open green areas, so this one is quite a treasure, and immaculately maintained.

Last stop Gateway of India, and Taj Mahal Hotel. The SHB had its photo recorded here. I could not believe the number of people here. Take a full MCG on Grand Final Day, and multiply by 10. Just a sea of people. We were quite the novelty here, which I did not really understand why as I would have thought that Mumbai locals would be quite familiar with western/European/Caucasian tourists

so it was an unusual feeling having all this people staring at us , and taking our photos etc. The guide explained that the crowd was so big because it was a Sunday, and domestic tourists from other Indian states come here on weekend visits. Tourists from the neighbouring state of Bengal do not see many overseas tourists, hence their fascination with us. One enterprising guy was were charging domestic tourists to have a photo taken next to us and printing it off on a portable printer.

We got back to the terminal to do a little souvenir shopping then on board. A 7.45pm departure had us late leaving the berth due to the late return of a tour bus. We retraced our morning courses through the fairway and once in the open waters, we set sail a north-westerly course through the Arabian Sea.