Mumbai - The City that never sleeps

First time Mumbai or how it was called till 1995 Bombay. Financial capital of South-Asia, responsible for 25% of the national output and of course home of the Bollywood industry.
On 15 August 1947, India became independent. The last British troops to leave India, the First Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry, passed through the arcade of the Gateway of India in Bombay on 28 February 1948. The 282-year-long period of the British domination in Bombay ended after India's Independence in 1947.
So therefore our first tourist points were the Gateway of India and the Taj MahalPalace on the opposite side. The Gateway to India was completed in 1924 and was built to commemorate the landing of George V for his coronation as the Emperor of India in December 1911. He was the first British monarch to visit India. The Taj Mahal Palace is a 5-Star hotel, opened in 1903 and built by Jamsetji Tata. The story is that he built it as he was refused entrance to the Watson’s Hotel as that one was reserved for Europeans. The Watson’s Hotel is now a ruin and our guide told us that it will be finally demolished. The Taj was one of the main targets in the 2008 Mumbai attacks and a film was produced called Hotel Mumbai (worth to watch!).
By the way we had a real good guide for the first 2 days who gave us a good insight into the history of Mumbai.
We went to the Rajabai Clock Tower, saw the great architecture of the British (with individual clusters of Victorian or Art Deco buildings) - many are UNESCO World Heritage, others are in a very bad condition.
Final destination on the first day was Mani Bhavan, Gandhi’s residence in Bombay from 1917-1934. He launched from here Satyagraha (non violent resistance) in 1919
and civil disobedience in 1932. Very impressive museum which included as well a letter to Adolf Hitler from 23.07.1939. The day was rounded up with dinner at “The Bombay Canteen” with our hosts Nissan and Denise.
Second day we started with the visit of the Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat. It was founded by an association of washer-men 140 years ago. It’s a well known open air laundromat in Mumbai. The washers, known as dhobis, work in the open to clean clothes and linens and dry them from Mumbai's hospitals and hotels but as well from private people.
Second stop was to see the Dabbawala’s. Since 1890, dressed in white outfit and traditional Gandhi Cap, a Mumbai Army of 5,000 Dabbawalas fulfilling the hunger of almost 200,000 Mumbaikar with home-cooked food that is transported between home and office daily. It’s a lunchbox delivery and return system for workers in Mumbai. We saw them getting the boxes in their bikes to deliver them to the offices.
Another highlight was the visit of the Babu Amichand Panalal Adishwarji Shwetambar Jain Temple. Jainism is one of the oldest religions still practiced today. The religion has between four and five million followers, who reside mostly in India. It teaches the path to liberation through nonviolence and living a harmless life. They are strict vegetarians.
We had great vegetarian food for lunch. We had Sev Puri, Bhel and Ragda Pattice. Delicious!
Last highlight for the day was the CST, formerly known as Victoria Terminus (VT). It belongs to the British colonial era and was designed by the British architect Frederick William Stevens. The construction of the iconic station started in 1878 and was completed in 1888. It was named so to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.
Third day was just us walking around in the Colaba district. Seeing one more time the Gateway to India, having a drink at Cafe Mondegar. It was started in 1932 by Iranian Zoroastrians (Parsi settlers in India) as an Irani café. Now it’s famous for murals on the wall from Mario Miranda. After a walk through the art district Kala Ghoda we had Lunch at Cafe Universal, a classy Irani cafe established in 1921.
A wonderful few days in Mumbai packed with history, great food and cool bars and restaurants.Read more