MUMBAI

Mumbai   21/22 Mar 11

You either love it or you hate it!  If you have no disposition for discomfort and chaos, perhaps there are better ports of call.  But if you’re willing to get down and dirty, the colors and smiles, even those of the beggars, can enchant you. 

Having not been here before, we opted for a ship’s tour called Marvels of Mumbai for our first venture into this land that we really did have some apprehension about visiting.  Most of what we’ve read and been told by other passengers was of a negative nature so we thought we’d get the lay of the land the easy way.  The one thing we like about tours offered by the ship is that the tour guides are usually excellent and this proved to be the case.  Seeing the movie Gandhi (3 hours) the night before helped us with the history of independence.  Visiting his home on the tour with a guide who used to visit this same house with her grandfather who was a friend of Gandhi was a bonus.  I must say after visiting and seeing pictures of Gandhi that Ben Kingsley was a spitting image.

The Prince of Wales Museum and Dobi Ghat (huge laundry facility) were also very interesting but the best part of the day was when we prematurely left the tour at the Gate of India and ventured out on our own to the caves of Elephanta Island.  We ventured forth on a boat that could only make the African Queen look like a luxury liner!  A wooden boat with no signs of life preservers and no boarding ramp, having a capacity of 125 in fair weather, 70 in foul.  I would assume the captain has a deal with some weatherman on questionable days.  After a one hour ordeal, we arrived at Elephanta Island.  The caves are quite some distance down a path lined with aggressive merchants but are well worth the hassle.  Their history is really unknown other than to say they were probably carved out in the 7^th century AD as places of worship.  The Main Cave made me think of the treasury building at Petra, smaller in scale but very similar in style which brings me to the one thing I learned today that will say with me.

There is a distinct crossover in cultures between the Middle East (for me, Egypt & Jordan) and India.  The architecture, sculptures and façade carvings would almost appear to be interchangeable.  The distance is not that far but the people are very different and the geographical barriers are great.  Something to research at a later time.

Day two was spent investigating the Taj Hotel and its environs.  Since the 2008 attack the hotel has been rebuilt and now requires a complete security check before entering.  A luxury hotel with all the amenities you’d expect.  From there we took a cab to the train station to witness the transfer of the Tiffen boxes, prepared foods brought in via train to be delivered to the offices of the addressees.  The only problem was that this occurred OUTSIDE the station while we were INSIDE looking for it.  Being hot and grimy, we took a cab back to the ship for lunch as we could not find a decent restaurant serving Indian food.  I’ll have to go over to Cambridge when we get home.

In total, I would like to go back to India with the knowledge I now have.  As I said, it’s not for the weak of heart, but it has much to offer.