Mumbai, also known as Bombay, never sleeps. It’s chaotic, noisy and alive with aromas of street food, incense, exhaust, and perspiration! Rancid odors assault the nostrils as you step over rotting garbage along the streets. The city is in a cloud of dust and our weather app shows a big red ‘unhealthy air quality’ with the forecast calling for ‘smoke’. Those sensitive to air pollution are cautioned to stay inside.
Everyone is rushing, horns are blaring, and traffic is already moving a second before the light turns green. Crossing the street is like rolling the dice with your life if you’re not accustomed. Motorists seem to speed up when they see you put a foot into the crosswalk, cars are within an inch of each other making 4 or 5 lanes where three were intended. Motorbikes are not deterred and make their way to the front of the line using the sidewalk, blasting their horns if any pedestrians dare block their path.
An elderly man sits in an alley with an open razor shaving the beard off a young client. A typical entrepreneur in the city, or simply doing whatever he can to feed his family. Taxis are so plentiful that prices to go the distance of a 1-hour walk are less than a dollar. A shoemaker sits shoeless next to the train station with a needle and thread manually threading his thick needle through the sole of someone’s leather slippers. Someone offers to give us a 2-hour city tour for 150 rupees ($2). A young girl selling balloons follows us for a block persistently trying to get us to buy a 5 rupees (7c) balloon. Skinny dogs, cats, cows, and rats are seen everywhere as we walk along the crumbling sidewalks. This is Mumbai!
The largest city in India is home to almost 20 million people as per official counts. We are told that in all likelihood there are many more millions living here unofficially.
Despite our initial shock, the city seems to work! People do what they must to survive, and many flock to Mumbai because it has more opportunity than the rural areas they come from. You see a huge disparity between the rich and the poor, the haves and have nots.
The occasional Ferrari speeds down Marine Drive, past beggars sleeping on the boardwalk. It made us feel very grateful for the opportunities we’ve been fortunate enough to have and the life we are so lucky to live.
While our hotel offered us tours, we found that wandering through the streets of Mumbai was the best way to explore and truly experience this vibrant chaotic city. Stumbling upon interesting street scenes and seeing people going about their business was all part of the adventure.
Yes, we had to be particularly careful not to get run down by the aggressive drivers, but we never felt unsafe along the street and people we met were genuinely helpful and friendly. One must take care not to display expensive jewelry and be vigilant of one’s surroundings, watching for petty theft and pickpockets (especially around the busy markets and train stations) just as you would in any big city.
Mumbai is huge, 232 sq. miles (600 sq. km). Our initial plans to see many areas of Mumbai were shattered by our 2-hour drive from the airport to our hotel on Marine Drive. With only a few days in the city, we didn’t want to spend hours in traffic getting to the more distant sites from our hotel. We concentrated primarily on South Mumbai and the seaport near the Gateway of India and Kala Ghoda area.
Marine Drive (the Queen’s Necklace)
The curved Marine Drive is a beautiful promenade that spans 2.3 miles (3.6 km) and has a wonderful wide boardwalk along Back Bay facing the Arabian Sea. When seen at night, the curve with the streetlights is reminiscent of a string of pearls worn around one’s neck.
The walk along the promenade is a nice one, and it’s a perfect spot to join the many local Mumbaikars to see the sunset. Our hotel was right in the middle of Marine Drive, and it made for a good spot within walking distance of the many southern Mumbai sites.
Dogs and cats are also regular sightings on the promenade. We even saw a gang of dogs refusing passage to a ‘new kid on the block’ on Marine Drive. They paid us no attention and most of the time they were sleeping in the shade of a tree. We speculated that maybe there was a catch-neuter-release program because we noticed that some cats had an ear clipped and dogs were wearing tags around their necks.
Gateway of India
One of the iconic structures in Mumbai, the Gateway of India is an arch monument built in the early 20th century to commemorate the first British Monarchs’ 1911 visit to India, by King George V and Queen Mary. As we wrote this up, I discovered that on the landing itself, the structure had not been built and a simple cardboard mockup was made to greet the monarchs. The foundation was actually laid in 1913 and the monument was completed in 1924.
It’s one of the most photographed spots in South Mumbai and getting to it requires passing through a security gate and metal scanner. We visited on the weekend and during the week, both day and night, and there was always a crowd. Local entrepreneurs trying to sell you a picture, postcard or drink were ever-present.
This is also where you can get the ferries to go to Elephanta Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site exhibiting some spectacular cave carvings which is well worth visiting.
See our post: Elephanta Island, the Perfect Day Trip from Mumbai
Taj Mahal Palace Hotel
This iconic hotel is next to the Gateway of India and is literally like a palace. With 600 rooms and over 1,500 staff, this five-star property is one of the finest (and most expensive) hotels to stay at in Mumbai. But you can’t beat the location or the view.
Originally constructed in 1903 and commissioned by Tata it is believed that this undertaking was made because Mr. Tata was refused entry into one of the city’s fancy hotels at the time being designated for ‘whites only’. He endeavored to build the nicest luxury hotel in India. The property houses the first licensed bar in the city, the first all-day restaurant, and the first Chinese restaurant. It was also the first hotel to have electricity in the city, and the first to have elevators and fans.
The hotel itself is worth visiting as a destination. We went for lunch and dinner at two of the famous restaurants and enjoyed both immensely. The Chinese restaurant was the first such restaurant in Mumbai, and the Japanese one was attached to the first licensed bar. Both were the best meals we had on our trip.
The hotel also has a tragic history as depicted in the movie Hotel Mumbai, where some young brainwashed terrorists took the hotel hostage killing many of the guests, and many of the staff that stayed behind to help save and secure the patrons. We got to meet two of the survivors in the restaurants who volunteered some personal stories about this terrible event. We won’t mention names for their privacy, but both stayed behind to help as they knew the inner passageways of the hotel and wanted to save the guests. They lost many of their friends and we were in tears just trying to imagine the horror of this tragic event.
The Train Station (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus)
This iconic Victorian Gothic building is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, built in 1887 and originally called Victoria Station to commemorate 50 years of Queen Victoria’s rule at that time. 1,250 trains pull in and out of the 18 platforms at the train station daily and over 7.5 million passengers use the Mumbai train station every day.
To keep up with the traffic, commuters are given literally 15-30 seconds to get on and off the train before it is turned around. We later read that accidents are commonplace with people dying daily from jumping out of open doors when the trains are in motion or falling while running across the tracks. We’re glad we skipped the train!
The building is so huge it’s hard to get it all into a single picture! Even from across the street when attempted from the government buildings. Don’t try crossing this busy street, there is an underground passageway which you should use to avoid the crazy traffic here.
While we were hopeful to see the huge dome visible from the outside, this area seems to be sealed off now to visitors. The train station was also part of the terror attacks in 2008 and security is high. Still very worthwhile to visit the building and witness the action even though we would not recommend trying to jump on a train for fear of becoming one of the casualties.
The General Post Office
Next to the train station, the iconic building caught our eye and we approached for a few photos. We were able to enter and see the inside, but there was no real museum or tourist attraction here. Just a nice building to see. Just outside, we saw a man that was feeding cows and a horde of pigeons across the street. This isn’t something we see every day, but it’s all part of the usual daily life in Mumbai. We also spotted a few very plump rats roaming around looking for something to chew on.
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya Museum
This wonderful domed building was built in 1911 to commemorate a visit by the Prince of Wales. It houses a wonderful collection of statues, paintings, miniatures, and natural history. We spent a good half day touring the beautiful building and enjoying the exhibits.
Conclusion
As we roamed around South Mumbai we stumbled upon lovely parks and churches which were like little oases of peace among the hustle and bustle of the city. Many locals were also enjoying these places of refuge from the heat, the noise and the constant blaring of car horns.
There is so much more that we wanted to see in Mumbai including the huge Sanjay Gandhi National Park, the Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount and the Bandstand. Perhaps another time…
Make sure to read my other posts about India: