India
Mumbai

Discover travel destinations of travelers writing a travel journal on FindPenguins.
Travelers at this place
    • Day 101

      Mumbai

      April 16, 2023 in India ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

      A 07h00 le MSC Magnifica arrive dans la baie de Mumbai, la skyline est encore dans la brume matinale, alors que la rade est encombrée de dizaines de navires à l’ancre.
      08h45 nous sortons du port pour rejoindre les parents de Tejal.
      Nous commençons notre visite par le Bombay Municipal centre, qui se trouve en face de la gare centrale, un imposant bâtiment à la belle architecture neo-gothique. De la nous nous dirigeons vers le Taj Maal palace, le plus bel hôtel de la ville, ainsi que vers la porte de l’Inde, au passage nous pouvons admirer la central library ainsi que le palais du parlement du Maharashtra.
      Sur la place de la porte de l’Inde nous nous prenons pour des stars avec toutes ces personnes qui veulent prendre des photos avec nous
      Nous faisons une pause au Taj Maal palace, qui est aussi magnificent de l’intérieur qu’il est imposant de l’extérieur, avant de nous rendre à Marine Line ( la corniche) pour admirer le bord de mer et la skyline de Bombay.
      La visite de la maison où a vécu Ghandi est très intéressante et chargée d’émotion
      Nous allons ensuite au temple de Shree Siddhivinayak , il y avait tellement de monde que nous en sommes repartis sans l’avoir vu, imprégné de l’âme de l’Inde.
      Après avoir traversé une bonne partie de Mumbai nous arrivons enfin chez Vilas et Chhaya, qui nous ont préparé un très bon repas. Une fois restauré nous repartons sur le terrain d’auto tamponneuses qu’est cette ville bruyante et animée, pour aller faire une promenade en bateau. Nous traversons un immense parc où vivent encore des tigres. La circulation ajoutée aux travaux routiers ne nous ont pas permis de rejoindre la mer en temps voulu.
      Nous terminons notre journée par une séance shopping, un restaurant typique et une glace prise sur le pouce avant de rejoindre nos pénates.
      Read more

    • Day 22

      Gateway of India

      October 31, 2023 in India ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

      Today Vedant and I went down further into Mumbai. We saw the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Palace which is where American presidents and British royalty have stayed when visiting Mumbai. We had tea at the hotel and enjoyed the sunset near the water. The tea and snacks were awesome.

      On our way here Vedant’s car was rear ended by a driver. No damage to us or really the car. The driver informed Vedant his brakes were not working. Vedant is a really good driver here so all was good. On our way back it took us 3 hours to go 30 km or 17 miles. Crazy traffic here but Vedant and I are enjoying the time catching up after a year apart.
      Read more

    • Day 43

      Night Train and Mumbai City

      February 17, 2020 in India ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

      We went from a very uncomfortable 4 people on our bench to an unbearable 5...by 1am we had said goodbye to any possibility that we would get any sleep tonight. The guys who got on at the station had taken it upon themselves to start moving everyone’s luggage around from the racks to make space for people up there...however they hadn’t clocked where the luggage would go instead. They tried to move mine and Toms’ bags but I told them absolutely not and that I wanted eyes on them all night. They tried a couple more times before giving up as they realised that we were serious about them not touching our stuff. To our amazement, they all got out bits of cardboard and plastic sheeting and laid it out on the floor...these were their beds!! One of the group asked me to move my feet, bearing in mind they were in the aisle as there were 10 other pairs of legs and feet where mine could have been I asked him ‘where would you like me to put them?’ Confused, he tapped my legs and feet for me to move them. Again I asked the same question and his mate translated...I’d had enough with them completely. He eventually gave up probably realising that even white peoples’ legs weren’t detachable.

      We got absolutely no sleep and he prospect of the next 7 hours on this train in this position was haunting. However, the time did tick by and we just battled on, already saying that we’d never do this again or make the same mistakes with the tickets. We were about an hour from Mumbai when a lot of the passengers got off, it was at this point we saw their suitcases...they were big 10 litre paint tubs filled with clothes and all sorts of things. At the stop before we got off, some cross dressing men got on and started clapping and hassling people for money...it was really weird. It was almost as if they were blessing people and getting money for it, but it was just a money making thing. We eventually got off the train at Mumbai LTT station and were being hounded by the various taxi or tuktuk drivers, all of whom were trying to guess where we were going...a pointless exercise. I went over to the prepaid Tuktuk counter and said where we wanted to go, it was done via google maps so I went round and put it in the computer. The guy then clicked on the longest route possible - I told him to choose the short one as it was way cheaper (6km rather that 10km)! He reluctantly did so and we got to our hostel in the Bandra part of Mumbai for 122 rupees. We were zonked and felt jet-lagged and just passed out on the sofa at the hostel as we couldn’t check in just yet. When we got ourselves sorted and check in we had a little nap before we got into seeing Mumbai.

      We walked to Bandra station, stopping off to get noodles for 30 rupees at a very local, busy store. Shocked by litter on the journey. Didn’t want to buy ticket due to the queue, so we just hopped on a train heading south and hoped it went to Churchgate Junction. The train was boiling hot and at each stop it was a massive rush to get either on or off by the locals. Eventually we got to downtown Mumbai and began walking, first the post office, then the main train terminal and then the India Gate and Taj Palace Hotel, all of which had been built whilst India was under British rule and they were all the nicest buildings we’d seen so far in India. After the bad night we’d had and the hot weather in Mumbai, we both mutually decided to dive into a McDonald’s and get an ice cream for just 20rupees each. It felt like being back at home somewhere, being able to be sat down without vendors hassling you whilst you ate and enjoyed some food in air-con!

      Soon enough though, we were back on the streets and walking back towards the station to get back to Bandra. After a hectic walk back through the markets, we made it back to the hostel and had a hot shower - our first hot shower since Hatton in Sri Lanka! We cleaned up and went back to the lunch place and grabbed some more street food and just chilled out for the rest of the evening coming up with the plan for tomorrow. We’d been recommended to do the Dharavi Slum tour, so Tom organised this and we got an early night.
      Read more

    • Day 3

      First day - Mumbai

      January 8 in India ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

      It all feels surreal. It’s loud, noisy, hot, crowded, colourful, sensual, fragrant in many ways.

      The streets of Mumbai were incredibly quiet when I arrived at 4am this morning. Twinkling lights of the Indian flag punctuating the smoky darkness.

      Breakfast coffee at Leonard’s one of Mumbai’s oldest eating establishments followed by a late leisurely lunch at the Taj. Talk about a tale of two halves; wooden tables crammed cheek by jowl and over the top glitzy Christmas decorations. Crumbling doorways, majestic facades, intricate carvings, ornate balconies, dangling wires. Black and yellow taxis converging like a swarm of bees, rusty buses that should by rights be gracing the scrap heap, honking horns, big cars, bicycles, scooters. The sheer scale of India Gateway. A veritable mix. This is Mumbai and I am here.

      I got bindi-fied by a holy man. Goodness knows what was in those sweets he got me to eat! Karma comes in the form of cheap red wool and bartering.

      It’s a joy meeting people face to face after chatting online.
      Read more

    • Day 5

      Mos Schneider und Hindu Feiertag

      January 22 in India ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      Heute war die halbe Stadt orangefarben unterwegs und für den hinduistischen Teil der Stadt gab es Grund zum Feiern, long story short: die Wiedereröffnung eines symbolträchtigen Tempels im Norden Indiens wurde gefeiert. Dieser soll Ramas (der blaue Gotte der Hindus) Geburtsstaette sein.
      Flaggen wurden gehisst, Feuerwerk wurde gezündet, auf den Straßen wurde überall Essen verteilt und Musik abgespielt. Wir sind zwei mal unfreiwillig in eine der Mengen gestoßen und haben “mitgefeiert”.
      Spannend die Stadt so euphorisch zu erleben.

      Wir haben viel Zeit bei 3 Schneidern verbracht, um u.a. alle Details für den Anzug abzustimmen und abends waren wir längere Zeit zu dritt und zeitweise zu viert unterwegs 🐕🐕
      Essen ist einfach unglaublich lecker, Reispfannkuchen im Bananenblatt und frittierte Teigbaellchen gefüllt mit Kichererbsen @Swati Snacks
      Read more

    • Day 4

      A Whirlwind! Day 3 /4

      January 9 in India ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

      More - a city of ‘More’. There must be a better word but I can’t think at the moment. Overwhelmed by noise, colour, people, sights, sounds, smells. It’s as if one’s senses have been shaken - scrap that. They have been crudely bundled and thrown into a blender on full speed and thrown into a glass. Not your average Martini - gently stirred, not shaken.

      Survived taxi ride in convoy. No
      passenger mirror and they don’t stay in lane. Let’s not go there.

      In Valparaiso we saw street dogs aplenty. Here in Mumbai there are cats. Scrawny little bundles.

      Spent the morning sketching - or attempting to sketch at the market. It’s the first day - be kind. I shall be sketching like a pro by the end of this trip in glorious Scrummylicious colour.

      People are curious. They approach, emboldened by their genuine interest and curiosity. The men interacted more. They tried their broken English with much jollity between themselves. . The women generally shied away. I didn’t feel threatened - but it was strange being the object of such curiosity.

      We also explored the textile market. Who mentioned fabric ?
      Read more

    • Day 18

      Mumbai

      January 8, 2023 in India ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

      Wir sind angekommen 6.30 Uhr natürlich Mumbai Zeit. Jetzt gehen wir Frühstücken um ca. 8.45 Uhr geht dann unser Ausflug Mumbai und Kanheri- Höhlen los diese sind sehr Interessant. Die hinfahrt zu den Höhlen führte uns am Tor zu Indien am Viktoria Bahnhof am Einfamilien Haus des 2.Reichsten Inder am Markt und ……. Vorbei.
      Auf dem Rückweg ging’s dann ins Restaurant ( Indisch ) war gut und einwenig Scharf🤪🤪. Zum Schiff zurück stoppten wir kurz bei der Mumbaischen Gross Wäscherei😳😳😳👍.
      18.00 Uhr Laufen wir aus und erst anschliessend ist für uns Essenszeit Wünsche euch eine schöne Zeit dann in kochi👍🤣😎😎 Morgen ist Seetag
      Read more

    • Day 19–22

      Mumbai

      February 22 in India ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

      Well our start in Mumbai was a bit rocky. After getting in at 5 am we spent most of our first day sleeping and recovering. The only thing we did was get an Uber (for £2!) to a fancy mall to buy some stuff we missed in Decathlon. Hilariously we did get passed between 7 different members of staff and two revolutions of the shop, trying to locate the quick drying boxer shorts 😂

      As we're now in a major city we also now have access to some of the same eating establishments that we have in the west. After my stomach troubles it's been a god sent being able to eat some familiar foods. The most surprising one was Pizza Express!?
      Also note that all the Starbucks here are where the rich 1% of India go. They are the fanciest Starbucks I've EVER seen! I saw actual business deals being conducted.

      Our second day was SO much better, beginning with a morning breakfast at the hot spot Leopold Cafe, and then headed to the catchily named Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya Historical museum. 🙃 It was excellent, beautiful artifacts that taught me a lot about Hindu and Nepalese religion and craftsmanship and an excellent collection of old photos of Mumbai and what it used to look like. All with a FREE audio head set to boot! AND in a beautiful building too!

      In the afternoon we did a walking tour which focused on the Fort area and walked through the history of Mumbai from before and after the British were here. It was also excellent and we learnt so much! The funniest thing we discovered was the Horniman square here is named after the same guy who created the Horniman museum near our house. The multitude of links this city had to London architecturally was astonishing. Including Ulster Terrace houses by Regents park, Oval cricket ground, and even a Big Ben!

      We finished at the gateway to India where we were constantly being asked to take photos of. If we'd stood there any longer a qué would have started forming to get photos with us, it's like being a celebrity and it's quickly becoming not that nice. Especially when you're stressed and hungry and trying to find somewhere to eat 😩 (and when people don't even ask 😡).

      We finished the evening with some drinks and some more western food and a walk along the promenade which was a beautiful end to a lovely day.
      Read more

    • Day 5

      Mumbai - A cocktail of colour

      January 10 in India ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

      Reflecting back on yesterday’s urban sketch session. I was quite disappointed with my work. However, it’s a sketch not a masterpiece. Time to embrace the challenge.

      Morning spent exploring Mumbai. It has a really interesting history. Originally seven islands Mumbai now has a population of between 23/25 million.

      Mumbai is a heaving metropolis. A densely woven fabric; cashmere and silk; linen and cotton. However look and you will see imperfections in this fabric of life. A knot, a slub, a pull in the weave. I notice these imperfections at night. When the children who should be sleeping are still up. Young girls who should be in school begging for food. Bodies lying prone in the doorways. Rubbish as bedding. Life doesn’t stop at nightfall.

      I’m thinking I have a cheeky gremlin in my room. I definately turned the lights off - and they were shining brightly at 3.30am.
      Read more

    • Day 159–160

      Mumbai

      April 19 in India ⋅ 🌙 29 °C

      24 hours in Mumbai. Arrived at midnight on the train from Goa, which was a very comfortable experience where we were fed to within an inch of our lives, and Elli made friends with an incredibly talkative 10 year old.

      Had a confusing time checking into a hotel with no door at 1am, then spent the next day foot slogging around Mumbai, doing our new favourite activity of "rapid fire tourism". Highlights were the open doored trains which you're not meant to lean out of (but everyone does) and the rediscovery of pavements as a concept
      Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Mumbai

    Join us:

    FindPenguins for iOSFindPenguins for Android