MUMBAI or BOMBAY
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Taj Hotel and Gateway to India[/caption]
The flight to Mumbai was very good. No bumpy moments. We arrived in Mumbai after an hour. The Mumbai airport was such a surprise. Brand new. We arrived at the luggage conveyer surrounded by about 100 other passages when this Indian chap came up to Lesley and said ‘Hello Mrs Keyter”. How he recognized her through all the rest of the people, I suppose its because all the rest were Indians.
He got us through the airport to an air conditioned mini bus
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Tiffin Boxes[/caption]
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Gateway to India[/caption]
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Ferry ride to Elephanta Island[/caption]
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Carvings from the cave temple[/caption]
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Cave Temple[/caption]
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me and Mr. Gandi[/caption]
and drove us to our hotel Intercontinental which was in the middle of Mumbai. The journey from the airport took us onto a bridge that had only been opened a year. This bridge was 6.8 kilometres long and mostly over the ocean by passing the town. This bridge took ten years to build and when you see it you can understand why, quite a monster.
After settling into the hotel, the Travel Lady went to work and found us a good restaurant to go to for the following night , it would be Gaylords ! , Tonight we stayed in the hotel resturant , the meal was great but I think they broke the bank or my bank ! Or did I find a hole in my pocket?
The next morning , Lesley’s doing again !! We were met by a travel guide from Insight vacations , her name was NAYANA, what a sweet bright , knowledgeable lady she was .
The First excursion was to ELEPHANTA ISLAND, this island was an hours boat ride over the horizon . There was a school trip of about 30 children ranging in age from about 8 to 17 on the ferry with us. They were so excited to see us and wanted to know all about us, have their pics taken with us and they were a lot of fun. On the way there we passed an aircraft carrier which Peter later researched and discovered that in fact it was the HMS Hermes. This was Trish and Lesley and Nick’s fathers ship from when he was in the Navy. The island itself is a world heritage site, it was found by the Portuguese in the 18 century, what it is exactly is a Hindu Temple built in the 5 / 7 century where the temples are built from the rock inside a cave and the pillars are formed out of the rocks , I hope the photos do it justice. This took most of the morning , on getting back into Mumbai, Nayana took us to a local Indian diner, there was a few shocked looks on our faces but the grub was fine and filled a hole ,needless to say we all came through with no Mumbai belly !! The afternoon was spent at the spice market where one could purchase hand pounded spics which apparently. because it is hand pounded will last for about 3 years. We also visited the Dhobi Ghats where hundreds of men wash hotel and restaurant laundry , all outside, quite the site and a tourist attraction believe it or not. We then did the regulation museum in the middle of the city which had most of what we had seen in other cities already. The final stop was at Gandi’s house which of course is another world heritage site, quite a heart warming emotional viewing , he is India’s Mandela . We said our goodbye to Nayana and the driver after a thoroughly exhausting but brilliant day and headed of to the Gaylords Restaurant, I must say we were a bit sceptical with the name of the place but it turned out superb , food and service and price , so if you are ever in Mumbai, head for Gaylords!
The next day as we were all knackered !! We had a rest day taking things slowly after the previous hectic two weeks. After a late breakfast we took off to the main train station to watch what they call the DABBAWALAS, these guys have a delivery system second to none. First they have a system whereby people collect the tins on bicycles from homes in the suburbs or outlying areas. Next they are delivered to the nearest train stations. These are then collected by a different crew and taken into the centre of the city by 11.30 sharp. . They are then delivered by yet another crew to the business’s and shops in the city. The lunch boxes are called TIFFIN BOXES. They also collect the tiffins and return them to the residence of the cooks in the afternoon . Each box is numbered and coded to say where it came from, where it goes to, and they say there are up to 200 000 meals per day delivered, imagine how complicated this would be to control , yet it goes daily without a hitch , unbelievable!!l
Our afternoon was spent even more leisurely shopping !! We found the Bombay Shirt Shop, where Peter and I bought our birthday presents, made to measure shirts ! Delivered in four weeks . They then keep your measurements on file and you are given a password whereby you can go in any time and order more shirts.I will most probably have to find another job before I do that , eh!!
Our farewell evening was spent at Gaylords again , better the devil you know! Another great evening spent with Peter and Lesley , what a great holiday we have had with them so much fun and laughter ,we will miss them as we head out on our own .
Tomorrow off to Singapore, to see Changi and get that out of my system!
later
Mike and Trish
