21.2.26
Up early today, our tour begins at 8.30am, and we were being picked up at the hotel. They asked if we could change it to 8am because of Ramadam. I asked for it to stay as 8.30am because we want to enjoy our lovely breakfast and it doesn’t open until 7.30am.
Our driver was Hindu in any case and had no problem with us finishing our breakfast biscuits and cake in the car.
There was a huge market on today, stretching all along the road for a couple of km
Our first stop was at Dhobi Gat laundry. I’ve been so excited to see it and it didn’t disappoint. They have 5000 workers, they live on site and have 1500 items a day to launder. It’s the largest open air laundry in Asia.
Our next stop, Banganga water tank.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banganga_Tank
People come to cleanse, pray and also to scatter ashes because it’s believed the tank water comes from the Ganges River.
Our guide described the Temple of Silence, it can be seen through the forest. There is a large Parsi community, from Iran. In days gone by they took their dead to their temples where their bodies were consumed by vultures and other wildlife, to save land for the living.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Silence
From dead body stories we drove to the nearby hanging gardens.
Along the way we saw legacies from the days of British rule – an 18 hole golf course, horse racing ground and a large cricket practice ground.
This house is owned by Mukesh Ambani.
‘Antilia, Mukesh Ambani’s 27-story, 400,000-square-foot private home on Mumbai’s Altamount Road, is considered one of the world’s most expensive residential properties, valued at over $2 billion. Designed by Perkins & Will, this modern, earthquake-resistant tower features 3 helipads, a 168-car garage, a snow room, and a 50-seat private theatre’
The divide between rich and poor is massive.
We saw incredible buildings belonging to ministers and very very poor accommodation made of bricks and tarpaulin.
Next were the Hanging Gardens. A beautiful peaceful retreat from the incessant traffic and noise.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging_Gardens_of_Mumbai
I loved this at the clock tower
Not sure about healthy, I cut my toe on the iron railing while taking the photo.
Onwards to a house owned by Mani Bhavan, now a museum dedicated to Ghandi who visited there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mani_Bhavan
Photo overload, the building was big and had so many interesting exhibits.
Onwards along Marine Drive to The Gateway of India. Apparently in the evenings it’s hard to find a seat on the wall, people sit and enjoy the ambience and street lights look like rows of sparkling necklaces.
On our way to our last destination, Crawford Market, we saw amazing buildings.
It turned out that Crawford Market isn’t actually open on Saturdays, so we asked the driver to drop us at somewhere with shops, not a Mall as they’re all designer brands we don’t want – apart from The Bombay Store, we spent ages in there and bought souvenirs.
He dropped us in a busy little area with lots of shops and hustle and bustle.
After a browse we needed a coffee and a loo, very few places to sit in and ended up with undrinkable drinks, but good to have a loo.
We needed to get back to the hotel, it would have been nice to have had afternoon tea at the Taj with our Bollywood refund, but sadly not possible.
Had lunch at the hotel, a paneer and tikka masala pizza. It was interesting.
Off to Mumbai airport, dreading it after our previous experience, but in fact domestic departures was a breeze.
An hour with Air India Express to Dabolim was OK, but no hot drinks.
At the taxi desk a couple heard me and asked if we would share the cost to Palolem. Perfect. They were a lovely young Indian couple, felt sad for them as only staying for 2 nights and have nowhere booked. It was 9.45pm by now.
They were contemplating Casa Guest House.. No!!! Don’t do it!
Really enjoyed our break in Mumbai but looking forward to being back to the tranquility of Goa.
