Leaving Mumbai

I’ll spare you

The details of the am wake up with the ship’s motors unfurling the mooring ropes.

It was pitch dark and hazy outside so I wasn’t able to do a panorama of the harbor. But I did get a spectacular photo of the sunrise off the promenade deck which is going to be one of my favorites.

Room service

Arrived at 6:30: I had been up for over an hour by then but was washed and almost dressed. Watched some TV to catch up a little.

Immigration check

We had to do the same routine as Cochin. Not quite sure of why but the security in India is among the tightest in the world…at least is you go by the hurdles you are put through.

Everyone is nice however and it didn’t take long. Ed got our tour tickets and we headed out as we thought there might be some vendors out there. Alas there were none but we were allowed to board the nice, comfortable, air conditioned bus and wait until our tour left.

Employment

In addition to the driver and the tour guide, there were two other younger men who were with the tour. One gave out water once and the other guided us back to the bus another time. None of us are quite sure what their real job was but this is a way that they make money from tips. At least they aren’t begging.

This excess of personnel is seen everywhere and it begins with immigration where there were so many excess personnel sitting o the side visiting. One who was down by the shore excursion desk was so bored he was reduced to reading the shore excursions for ports we had already visited.

But the metal detector routine is a laugh. You put your back pack on the machine and walk through the archway still wearing your jackets and such. The red lights go off and they wave you through anyway! The ship has it's own metal detector that would do a federal prison proud.

And we were off…

Mumbai has changed visually since we were last here 8 yrs ago. They had those horrible terrorist attacks in 2008 and they are still very much aware of them. The Taj hotel is a fortress with camo almost tank like police vehicles around it.

I saw only one person sleeping on a sidewalk; only one person tried to beg from us. Vendors were assertive but not aggressive and oppressive as they have been in the past.

I saw only two cows on the streets though we were told they were now banned in the cities. They have numerous no honking zones and the rule is ignored so they are installing lights and will be sending out tickets (they say).

The old rickety tuk tuks are now clean new looking vehicles. In Mumbia they look more like cars. In Cochin they were more redolent of the older rickshaw/cum tuk tuks of old but still newer and cleaner. One photo I got today was of a man washing down his car/taxi.

I love India

There are people who won’t go off the ship in India because they don’t want to be confronted by the poverty, trash and such. I think they have their heads in the sand and are missing a grand opportunity to learn about a different culture and people, appreciate how good we have it by comparison, and be thankful. It is a young society, active, colorful (everyone’s clothing looks so clean no matter their circumstances). Everything is fascinating.

We drove out of the port area through many detantes where the local gendarmes come on and we have to show our yellow India visitor’s card before the bus was allowed to move on.

Sign:

At gate of the port (I got a photo) saying “do not pay bribes”.

Guns

Very rare in India and only by certain police officers so one man had a rifle at the port gate.

Marina drive

We drove along this long beachside road admiring the beautiful Ali Haji mosque way out on the water. At high tide, there is no way to get there. At low tide (when we passed) there is a causeway over there. Low tide exposes many birds and much trash on the beach. They are not for swimming but some people go wading. Old wooden boats were seen everywhere looking like a ghost of centuries past.

Ghandi house

Actually it was a friend’s house who let him use it. We have been here before. They show his bedroom and have wonderful dioramas of events of his life. A large library is here. Last time we were here they were selling textiles to make money to support it but not this time.

Prince of Wales Museum

We hadn’t been inside before. It is an old ornate building from the 1900s Built to honor King George and Queen Mary. The Gate ofIndia was also built for them.

It contains much old history and archeological finds. Collections of the Tata family which owned (owns?) it and so lots of jewelry, porcelains, original art works, etc.

A school group was touring and the teacher got them together for a group photo. They were probably 7,8 yrs old, boys and girls in their little uniforms and caps. So cute. So when she began to set up the photo, I snuck up behind her and made rabbit ears. The kids burst out in howls. The second time she figured it out and high fived me. When the last shot was taken, I was doing ant antennae. Ed then took a shot of teachers with the kids. Such fun.

Taj Hotel and Gate of India

We wanted to go into the hotel and have lunch. We have done that in 2010 and thoroughly enjoyed it. But it was not to be today as the time was an issue. We also opted not to walk several blocks around to go into the Gate of India area. First of all, it has very tight security there now, there are vendors there we didn’t want to deal with, and we’d been closer to it in the past.

Shopping

This was a big bust though I did look at some tunics and a few stores with fabrics, saris, furniture and such. We were back on the bus before time. Ed wanted to go across the street and eat something as it was late and Ed is led from restaurant to restaurant by his nose and stomach. But I told him I wouldn’t eat if he did. These were not like the better hotels where I would not be concerned about picking up Deli Belly and he didn’t need to be doing that either. Plus going across these roads is a maze and not our skill.

Dhoby Wat

This is the enormous and world famous laundry of Mumbai. Look it up for a fun and astonishing story. There is a slum adjacent and so we have many pics of all of that. A train goes nearby and Ed got a good shot of people hanging out the doors as the train sped by.

In between we travelled many streets and saw the old Victoria terminal (railroad station now called by a different name) with incredible architecture. Same for the University of Mumbai and the commons area where a cricket game was in progress. There are horse race tracks as well.

The views as you go along the streets cannot be adequately described in narrative nor even pictures. You really must experience the sounds, smells, sights, tastes, and feeling of this rapidly changing and dynamic country.

We are stuck with

A 500 rupee and a 1000 rupee bill which the Prime Minister Modi decided to ban to expose money laundering. I’ve tried multiple times to exchange them and without any luck. Today there was a very long time with lots of police around. When I asked I was told it was people exchanging those bills. You must be an Indian citizen and it must be done by March 31. No luck for us. There is a guy on board who likes to buy old money so I may accost him and see what happens with this and that Hong Kong dollars that we can’t use.

Trivia

Ed didn’t go but I did and joined a nice group of folks. One of that team is a strong willed and strongly opinionated lady. There was a question about Greenland and I proposed an answer (which it turned out was correct) and she whisked around to me and said “We own Greenland.” Equally as forcefully, eyes almost bulging, I retorted: No “we” don’t. Denmark does. She seemed taken aback but when the answer I gave proved to be right (Danish is the second national language) she seemed to settle down.

We lost by one point which seems to be my fate in trivia.

Dinner

Francis and Randy and the others are back from their overland trip to the Taj Mahal and it was fun to hear all their tales about the plane process, train ride, busses, and the rickshaw ride (one lady fell out I’m told). Some of the stories of tacky behavior by self absorbed people were familiar and discouraging too.

Violinist

A pretty Korean girl on an electric violin, very talented, from Australia. At the end she revealed a surprise: she is newly married to the theatre guy we heard the other night and her parents are also travelling on board to Dubai. Some interesting music I had not heard before.

St. Paddy’s Day tomorrow

Have all my green out and ready to go.