A City Formerly Called Bombay

Last night Jake and I got into Mumbai. After settling in, grabbing dinner and some kingfisher beer, we called it a night so we could get an early start today.

Some highlights of today:

Post breakfast at the hotel we started our tour of Mumbai at Chatrapathi Shivaji Terminus (CST) rail station. Though we didn't need to take a train at the time, the station building itself is a landmark, much like Grand Central Terminal is in NYC. The building is built in Victorian Gothic style architecture, which interesting to see after all the historic landmarks in Dravidian and Mughal styles I've been swimming in til now.











We took our first Mumbai train ride to head to the north suburbs to check out whats there. None of the trains' doors close and you frequently see cars packed full of people that many are hanging outside of the train as it travels. To get a taste of local flavor I tried it also (breifly), but found it too terrifying to hang your head and body outside of the train for more than a second.

On our way back from the suburbs, Jake and I were sitting down when the ticket checker came to check out tickets. Upon surrendering our tickets the checker told us that we were sitting in the 1st class cabin but our tickets were for 2nd class. He pulled us off the train and told us the fine per person would be Rs.250 plus the difference in fare, which came out to Rs.290. After trying to explain we were new, and just tourists and asking for leniencey, the checker agreed to waive the fine for one of us be we still had to pay Rs.290 between the two of us. In retrospect, a fine that translates to $3.10 per person isn't that big of a deal but its never fun to get a ticket, especially when you've had no chance to learn the rules.

We got back to the downtown area to Chowpatty Beach. Nearby there was a Kulfi vendor where we got several dishes to try out various flavors. Kulfi, by the way, is a traditional Indian ice cream that is not whipped, so its really dense and delicious. An amazing afternoon treat.





















A bit more south was a rooftop bar and restaurant, Dome, that we decided to check out. Its a pretty cool place, with awesome views of the coast and downtown Mumbai. After paying homage to this city with a Bombay and tonic, we were treated to one of the best sunsets I've seen yet.




















This is the Gateway of India.
















Dinner was at an outdoor restaurant where they grill kebabs on a charcoal grill and the seating area is pretty much the entire back street. Eating vegetarian meals pretty much every other day makes me appreciate meat so much more :)















Overall, Mumbai is an amazing city. It is so full of life, with so many different cultures contributing to what it is now. The people are some of the friendliest I've met in all of India. Seeing some of the sites that were targets of terrorist attacks in the past serves as a good reminder the reality of religious tensions that exists around the world, something that is easy to be desensitized to when in the US.

Tomorrow, I get to spend all day on a train to my final destination in India, Goa. To all my friends toughing it out in the northeast winter, I will be joining you in a week. But for now, my shallowest, most insincere condolences ;)