Mumbai day one

Our first full day in Mumbai started early for us as we adjust to the five and a half hour time difference.... meaning a long wait until sunrise, over the Arabian Sea (visible from our hotel room window).

 This is how our beautiful hotel looks in the early morning light........

We enjoy a delicious breakfast in the Sea Lounge with Megan and the L family before setting out at 9.00am with our guide for a day's sight seeing around South Mumbai.

First stop was at one of Mumbai's many outdoor Ghats (laundries)............

 Where Rob befriended a small bird......

 Indiana Jones and his sparrow.......

 at about the same time as I spied this small rat peeping out of a crack in the pavers ..........

The laundry was part of a complex of houses, shops, a small school and other businesses - quite a busy, vibrant area ......

 The laundry workers were all men.

 Next stop was a busy fishing port/market on the Western side of Mumbai.....

 The market was very laid back today - and very tidy and well organised.....

 It had its own kulfi (ice-cream) maker, a lovely young man from Rajasthan ......

 as well as a hair dressing salon....

 and all the seafood you might expect in a fishing port .......

 as well as flowers for ceremonies ...

 and spices......

 I love all the colour!

 Lots of cats (and more rats) .....

This older, southern part of Mumbai has many glorious examples of colonial era architecture. The pic below is of Victoria (railway) Station. ....

 ...and Mumbai's Town Hall .......

 ....and the nearby Crawford Markets ........

The markets were beautifully laid out, clean and well organised. We were amazed at the freshness and beauty of all the produce. We bought some organically grown spices from the Crawford Markets.

 Next stop was the Churchgate (railway) Station to see the amazing Mumbai tiffin box wallahs (dabbawallahs) implementing their amazing delivery and return service. They deliver and return around 200,000 lunch boxes each day - with never an error so they say!

We headed up to the exclusive Malabar Hill area next with its great views over the coastline and the Arabian Sea. We walked around the "Hanging Gardens" (not all that impressive) creating a bit of a stir with some of the locals who were curious about where we'd come from (and how tall and blonde the L family were). 

The gardens are adjacent to a Parsi owned area where funeral ceremonies are conducted. It's a bit unnerving to see the flocks of black kite birds in the sky and then think of their role in Parsi funerals.

Then we visited Mahatma Gandhi's house in Laburnum Road, not far from our hotel. This house was the focal point of Gandhi's activism after his return to India in 1917, right up until the 1930s, so it's hallowed ground for Indians.

After a quick lunch break at a cafe we spent some time at the very impressive Prince of Wales Museum of Western India (but since renamed), the main museum in Mumbai.

In our short visit we barely had time to focus on anything too deeply, but i did enjoy seeing the ancient stone sculptures (depicting so many powerful female deities), the decorative arts and the textiles.

It was a great day - Mumbai is India's biggest and most developed city, and its most modern. We were struck by how well everything we saw today worked, and how friendly the people were, despite the teeming crowds, the crushing poverty (as well as extreme wealth) and the lack of infrastructure and planning. What a city!

But it is very nice to come back to our beautiful hotel and our very stately heritage room. It's gorgeous!