We arrived in the morning of one day and departed the evening of
the next, so we had time to really explore this city.It is a huge city – population 22 million and
growing.Like New York it is the city
many people from small towns go to “make it”.It is also India’s commercial and entertainment center – Bollywood is
based here.Not many people come to
Mumbai by cruise ship and the cruise terminal showed that lack of importance
and I will just say it was not a great first impression of the town.We learned that Mumbai was originally 7
islands.There are still many smaller islands
around it and lots and lots of various types of cargo ships.It is in the state of Maharashtra which meant
greatest or best something like that.
Tour of Mumbai
Jeff found a tour guide on “Tours by Locals” who is a local Lifestyle writer and Deputy Editor of Traveldine.com. Priya Pathiyan, was wonderful in combining a knowledge of the sites with knowing the pulse of the city. We shared the tour with Tom and Linda.Priya and her driver drove us around and
pointed out many sites such as:marine
drive, St Thomas Cathedral, National Stock Exchange, an area where an Apple TV
show is based including a local restaurant that Madonna ate at, spots where
they are building their new rapid transit, and then we got out and walked
around some neighborhoods too.
St Thomas's Cathedral Top Right Pew Mother Teresa used Middle Right one of many memorials to British officers who died
Fishing Fleet
Our first walking tour was of the black horse area or arts
area.The area is called the black horse
because there is a statute of a black horse in the center of a traffic
roundabout.Priya pointed out an old
hotel that used to be quite snobby and encouraged the building of the Taj Mahal
Hotel and a place that was known for its vinyl records.We then walked around the block and saw a
synagogue that is now maintained by non-Jewish people since most of the Jews
left when Israel was formed.This area
plus most of the above area is called the Fort Area.There is no longer a fort here, rather it is
where the British fort was at one time until the city outgrew it.A tourism official had given me the names of
a couple of shops to visit one of which was nearby – FabIndia so we all
wandered in. We enjoyed the shopping, purchased a couple things and enjoyed the cool air conditioning.
Top - Black Horse Top - Fancy Hotel left side of frame, synagogue on bottom right
FabIndia shop sign above Carol
Then it was back in the car for more exploring.We went past the Taj Mahal Hotel and the
Rajabai clock tower, cricket fields, the Chhatrapati Shivalji Terminus (Queen
Victoria Train station), central building for the city and many other sites
while heading for the Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link which is a long curved sea bridge
linking the 2 edges of a bay (Mahim).Our goal was the Portuguese fort or Bandra Fort.It is a popular site for locals to visit
since it has gardens, a beach and great views.Directly across from it was another British Fort that is now surrounded
by a fishing village.We all enjoyed the
view and then drove back across the bridge to the mainland.
Rajabai Tower
Looking down from Portuguese Fort
SeaLink
I had no idea what to expect when we headed for the world’s largest outdoor laundromat.It was amazing.Had to say that and leave it on its own.The laundromat consists of lots of
clotheslines, barrels with soap and water and people’s homes.The laundromat is partitioned into numerical
areas and each area is owned by a specific family.Someone goes door to door in the neighboring
areas of Mumbai to get people’s dirty clothes and put them in huge bundles to
bring back to the laundromat.The
clothes are sorted by color and then the men in the family wash them.Priya said it is amazing how accurate they
are in getting the correct clothing back to the owners as in someone did a
study and they are at the six sigma level of accuracy.There are other outdoor laundromats in Mumbai
but this was the largest.
Housing is on a second floor with no apparent stairs
Bottom - Bundles of clothes
Men washing clothes in barrels
After that we all agreed it was time for a tea break and
Priya took us to a popular tea café.While the menu was in English I really had no idea what I had ordered
and I think Jeff was in the same way.I
knew I had ordered a cold bubble tea
drink with blueberry in it.I was
thinking tea would be the prominent flavor but was mistaken since it was very
sweet and fruity with nice big tea bubbles that tasted like tapioca.The drink was nice but a little too sweet for
me.
The driver then dropped us at a dead end street with some small homes. A broom was blocking a narrow alley. Priya approached an old women and asked her something. The women removed the barricade and we entered a small space with the Hindu Temple below on the left and a couple steps further on the right we saw a large water pool surrounded by what looked like grand stands, which is the Benganga Tank.It is believed to be a tributary of the Ganga River which is sacred to
Hindu.People were swimming in the water
and we could see where fresh water was flowing in.There are large steps/benches leading down to
the water.Priya said that they used to
set up stages in the middle of the water and have concerts there until it was
realized that the vibrations were ruining the foundation of the area.The tank was surrounded by at least 6 temples
around it.We saw various roof lines
from our vantage point and wandered around one.
Benganga Tank
While driving
around some more, we saw the hanging gardens which look like a nice park as you
drive by but our called hanging because they are built over a body of
water. Priya then pointed out an unusual tall building that she said belonged to one of the wealthiest men in India. The entire building below is occupied solely by him and his wife.
We then headed for the
neighborhood where Mahatma Ghandi lived 1917-1934. While there he launched his “Civil Disobedience” in 1932 which led to Indian independence in 1947. It was a nice area but nothing
memorable.Priya taught us a little
about his life how he was from a well to do family and went to law school in
London.It was while he was in South
Africa that he first ran into racism and started to develop his ideals of
peaceful resistance and change.The
museum is his former house with a library on the first floor with books he read
(he was well read) and his bedroom in the top of the house maintained as it was
when he was living. They had his correspondence back and forth with President Roosevelt and Tolstoy. There was also a letter to Adolph Hitler requesting he end his nation's aggression. It was quite
interesting to see the stories of his marches and how the world transformed him
into the man/legend we now think of as Mahatma Ghandi.
He would speak to crowds from the balcony above
his bedroom as he left it
At the museum we learned about the
meaning behind the Indian flag.I have
heard 2 different descriptions of the colors one being each represents one of the 3 main religions in the country and the other pointing out the traditional
meaning of the colors themselves.Here
at the Ghandi museum, I learned that the symbol in the middle
represents a spinning wheel.The
spinning wheel dates to one of the first protests against British rule.After the American Revolutionary War, the
British needed a new source of cotton and chose India.So the cotton was being exported to Britain
where it was being turned into fiber and then coming back at expensive
prices.Ghandi was part of the group
that encouraged people to start making their own fiber and cloth from the raw
cotton thus cutting out the British.It
became quite popular to burn your British made material and to move over to the
less soft Indian material to show your alliance with India itself rather than
Britain.
Dinner time – Priya had recently reviewed a new northern Indian
restaurant, Nksha which we all
agreed sounded interesting so off we went to it.It is located on a street with several other
restaurants. Seems it is rare for a nice Indian restaurant to open these
days.It was quite nice inside and with Priya ordering
for us we had a great family style meal.We drank a white and a red wine from an Indian winery.We started with an amuse buche that
included edamame wrapped in a dough and a sauce.We also had little cracker/breads that we ate
with various sauces/curries.Then the
real food started with our first dish being a pita bread like concoction with
soft cheese stuffed in it – it was wonderful.An order of 2 types of Naan one with onions in it.We quickly moved on to our other dishes.
Which I guess the wine kicked in because all I remember is the lamb that was
too spicy for me, but that the others all enjoyed. Ending with a small dessert.
Jeff, Carol, Tom, Linda and Priya
After dinner, we
went out to enjoy the city after dark.The prettiest site was the Chhatrapati Shivaji train station and the
neighboring city building they even have a little park/roundabout that you can
stop at to take pictures.The train
station was built originally for Queen Victoria.It is currently the train station for the
central line of the city train system.Between their 2 train lines 7 million people use the trains daily so it
is a hopping place.We never made it
inside but are told it is quite impressive which makes sense since the outside
is.At night they shine different
colored lights on different aspects of the building and of the neighboring city
building.It is rather magical.Then it was time to return to our ship for
the night.
Administrative Building
Train Station
Elephanta Island, UNESCO World Heritage Site
The next morning we
took an excursion that took us by boat to Elephanta Island.The boat ride originated at the Gateway of
India which was originally built in honor of the visit of King George V.It is a tall archway right at the entrance of
a harbor which used to be the main entry to India.
Gateway of India
From there we had an hour long boat ride out
to the island.Elephanta island got its
name from the Portuguese who noticed the huge elephant sculpture at the
entrance to the “cave”.I put cave in
quotation marks because it is not a natural cave rather it is a manmade cave
carved out of solid rock at the top of a hill on this island.It is impressive for the number of carvings
in it and for the skill that was used in making them. The entire structure and carved images is one solid piece of rock rather than individual items placed in a room. Unfortunately, the site was damaged when the Portuguese arrived and objected to the Temple. The statue of the Elephant for which it was named, now resides at the Mumbai City Museum. Click here to see it and learn more.
The cave is a tribute to the Hindu god Shiva
who is one of the 3 main gods in that religion.He is known as the destructor, but as our guide explained that is not
necessarily a bad thing since everything must die and he sometimes protects
people.There were about 10 different
carvings or areas of the cave honoring different aspects of the deity.One was when he got married another showed
him angry so he gets extra arms at that time, a happy one and the last was
honoring the fact that he is the god of yoga.I said this cave is up a hill.There are 129 steps to be hiked to get up this hill to his cave.On our way up we were told to keep drinking
water, don’t feed the monkeys and not to stop at any of the shops along the
way.You see it is maybe a 6 foot wide path with little stalls along much of it that merchants have set up shop and are
trying to entice you into buying something from them.On our way back down we did peruse a little
for the huge sum of a single US dollar we bought a key chain of Mumbai and a
silver metal ring band for me.
entrance to the cave
This was a very aggressive Monkey who scared someone into giving up their water.
Then it
was back to our boat ride to return to our ship.Jeff and I took a side trip from the
excursion to hit another shop with items exclusively made in India that I had been advised about from the tourism
people.It was a further walk then we
had been led to believe partially because the Indian Navy has a large presence
in the area so a block when it is a Navy institution is a big block!Anyway we were proud of ourselves because we
learned how to walk along like locals and not get killed crossing the streets.It was worth it because it was another nice
shop.I got a Mumbai tee shirt, Jeff got
a decorative tree he has been eyeing for awhile and a couple of presents.After we made it back to the ship it was time
to go through Indian immigration one last time (they were serious about
immigration and checking our papers each time) and then hitting the high seas
for a 2 day crossing on our way to the Gulf of Oman and United Arab Emirates.
Largest population of any country in the world as of 2023.
One of the oldest civilizations in the world.
Different perspective on Life.
Portuguese impact on SW India.
Beach resorts.
Food.
English commonly spoken.
Cochi
Our first of 4 stops in India as we are working our way up the coast. Cochi is in the Indian State with the highest literacy rate - over 90%. Just thought I would throw that our there.
India is serious about border control. We had to get a visa and then there was other paperwork they produced and we now have a piece of paper I absolutely cannot lose before I leave India I was warned. We left the ship in groupings to get our passports back from the ship with the new paperwork and then go to an immigration person who scrutinized his screen, looked at the paper, scanned fingers and thumbs and then stamped the paper a couple of times and gave it back to you.
Fun part - our tour. It was much better than either of us had anticipated. It was called a tranquil backwater tour. Well it seems we were on canals and a decent sized lake that is a local tourism area. Sometimes called India’s Venice. A couple from Singapore on the ship did the tour because they wanted to see what it was like because they advertise the houseboat tours there all the time. Many of the houseboats we saw were quite nice. It was a fun day of seeing new sites and learning new things. We had 3 stops on our boat tour.
Tour boat like ours
One of hundreds of houseboats you rent with crew
We sat on in unattached plastic chairs on an upper deck
The lake is surrounded by rice patties with homes that often flood
Women washing clothes on bank of lake
Very narrow bridge
Our first stop was a Catholic Church and school - Christianity is common in this part of India. Would you believe St Thomas the apostle came here!! Those apostles keep surprising me in how far they traveled over 2,000 years ago. There is also a local sysnagogue and of course many Budhist sites. The church was nice.
We then went to our second site which was a family house. They had many fruit bearing trees in their yard. We saw bannana, coconut, mango, mangonese and coco. An older gentleman demonstrated for us how they climb up the coconut trees and get them down - made Jeff think of a lineman climbing a power pole. We also walked around the inside of the house and met the mother and daughters. The house was nice inside with tile floors and electric fans going in several places which is why I should mention it was again a 90 degree and humid day.
Click on brief video of Climbing a Coconut tree
Our last stop was a resort on the lake for lunch. They greeted us with leis and local juice drink. The food was quite good and the resort was pretty. I had chicken masala which I enjoyed and Jeff sampled a couple things like a lamb stew in addition to the chicken masala. We got to wander around for a few minutes before we got back on the boat for our ride back to our buses to return to our ship.
Greeting of music along with Leis and a fruit juice
Beautiful setting
Mangalore
While still quite poor, Mangalore has several Universities both public and private. The Indian Union consists of 28 states. Mangalore is located in the state of Karnataka with at least 5 languages depending on how you count. Street signs are in three languages: Hindi, Kannada and English. English is used in all professional employment and at University.
Each Cruise terminal had a warm welcome for us
Today’s tour introduces us to people of the Jains faith. Jains date back to somewhere between the 7th to 5th century BC, similar to Buddhism. Jains oppose any kind of violence and are vegetarians. There are two two sects. Men in the White Sect where all white clothes. The Sky Clad go naked. Today only the priests of that sect are naked. Our tour took us to a pilgrimage site and a Temple operated by the White Sect.
Karkala, Lord Gomateshwara monolith
This is a pilgrimage site upon a large granite hill built in 1432 that overlooks a Temple in the distance. We followed the pilgrim path up 212 steps cut into the granite. In the distance is a Jains temple. Besides a great view it is home to the largest monolith in India at 58 feet. We remove our shoes and walk past as a Priest with a dozen women are in prayer. This site is in dedication to Lord Gomateshwara who was royalty that departed to purify his sole over 12 years. When he returned he was so at one with nature that vines grew from his body. He is not a deity, just an example of what can be achieved. Behind the statue of him are smaller statues of the 24 Prophets that the Jains recognize.
212 steps to the top
Jains Temple in the distance
Vines grow on his arms and the Prophets are depicted on the bottom of his robe
Statues of the prophets
Essentially a rest stop, we visited a Pineapple plantation with the best tasting Pineapple juice I ever tasted. We then took a guided walk through a Forrest of different types of fruit and nut baring trees. Some are commercially raised on the property and others are there to illustrate. To keep it brief, let me point out only two fruit and nut trees. The Cashew is unusual. It’s nut grows outside the fruit. Below top left is the nut on top and the fruit below, its tree is on the top right. Bottom left is the Balsa-tree who’s bark made many a toy plane. Bottom right is the Cactus that with its Dragon fruit that we covered in a previous post and a new favorite at breakfast for Jeff.
Moodbidri Thousand Pillars Temple
Our next stop is the Temple of 1,000 pillars, built between 1432 and 1463. It focuses on 8 prophets and its architecture is influenced by Nepal. It is surrounded by an outer wall and a inner wall with an inner Sanctum we could only look into. The temple itself has two striking features. First each pillar is unique, one even hangs from the ceiling and doesn’t touch its pedestal. The other are carvings of wild animals found around the world. It’s believed Jade traders brought the information of animals that don’t exist in India. Finally the inner sanctum contains a sacred bronze image of Lord Chandranatha Swami. Some of the 1,000 pillars are carvings on true pillars, but it was still an interesting site.
Entrance to the Temple
A few of the pillars
Temple
Temple ceiling
Guards painted on either side of entrance to inner Sanctum
Peering into the inner sanctum
Goa India
Goa was the third stop in India. It is a seaside town that I had heard had
great beaches, so we chose an excursion that included time at a beach. Max was today’s tour guide, and we learned a
lot. A couple of things were very
surprising to us like this region was part of Portugal for 450 years and never
part of England. In 1961, overnight the people went from being Portuguese to being part of the new country of India
who did things the British way, so they went from speaking Portuguese and
driving on the righthand of the street to speaking English and driving on the
lefthand. I can’t imagine having to deal
with such change! Also, since the
Portuguese were here so long, the major religion of the area is Christian and
Catholic in particular. I said here so
long which is not quite true, you see these people were considered part of
Portugal not a colony so to this day people who were alive then have the right
to carry a Portuguese passport and to go work in Europe. Oh by the way, Mumbai was part of Portugal at
one time too but was given to England as part of a dowery in 1660.
Our arrival at the port in Goa had another band to welcome us, but this band was very different. Instead of drums, they played European instruments and wore black bowler hats. The band at the museum (below) again had European hats.
On to the tour, we first visited the Goa Chitra Museum. Like several of our recent stops, we had to
drive for over an hour to get to the museum.
Max spoke a lot along the way and was quite interesting. The museum is about 12 years old and had 3
separate areas. This is a private museum
that started as one person’s collection and what a collection! So, one building had everyday items from
before electricity was common. We all
laughed because there was some kitchen utensils, we recognized like a hand
beater for eggs. But laughing aside
there were some interesting things like he pointed out how the bowls were
shaped differently for storing/cooking rice than for other uses. We saw chairs and baby beds and wind-up
clocks including one for clocking into a mine and a grandfather clock.
Chair for couples who are courting, cuts down on the hanky-panky
After that area we moved on to a small spot with medical
devices. Seems the first medical school
on the continent of India was opened in Goa in the mid 1800s. Moving on we saw a very old printing press
because in 1556 Goa got its first printing press. One little thing he pointed out that amazed
me for all the wrong reasons was this series of small boxes hung on the
wall. There were 8 say 5X8 inch boxes
with names underneath each box. The
boxes were meant to hold the bible for each priest at the church. My mind keeps going EIGHT PRIESTS AT ONE CHURCH!!!! Um not exactly common in the US these days –
maybe a large cathedral gets that many.
Guess I should add we have seen several rather large Catholic churches
as we drove around so Catholicism is still strong here. Oh also they had some artwork depicting the
work of St Francis of Xavier because he spent some time here at the end of his
short life.
Onto the last building – the museum of the wheel. Wheel as in all sorts of transportation from
all of India to spinning wheels. In the
courtyard of the museum there is a 20 foot tall carriage with stone
wheels. (See band photo at start of Goa). It was used only once a year for
a celebratory procession and took 200 people to pull it and to stop it since no
brakes which meant someone was often run over by it. It was quite impressive. It came from a temple that is now
partially under water because of a dam that was built – supposedly you can see
the water stain levels on the carriage.
Other carriages included hearses for Christians, family wagons/carriages
for pulling by person or animal including one for a camel. There were also some bicycle based options
including one with a wagon on the back for goods and another that was a
rickshaw. After that onto the beach!
Top are Rickshaws Bottom carried a bride Bottom right is a hearse
Taj Exotica Beach Resort
Max said this is the nicest resort in that part
of Goa and it was quite nice as in Jeff and I could see ourselves coming back
if we were in India. Also he pointed out
that part of the G20 summit that is going on right now is happening at that
resort and others nearby. Yes the
bigwigs are in New Delhi (I think) but others were there and I did see a
billboard on the highway welcoming them by the airport. We only got to spend 2 hours there, but it
was nice. The temperature was good and there was a nice breeze. The beach had covered chase chairs, a bar and water sports rentals. Only ding is the water is muddy, but it was warm and shallow so Jeff
could play in the deeper waves while a mother and daughter from the boat and I
played in the shallower waves. We of
course also did a beach walk. We saw
some familiar looking seashells and could tell they had a ghost crab of some
sort but we did not see them well. There
is a fair amount of grounds that are nicely manicured with some little statues
around, an outdoor chess set and a pool area.
We ended with some “light refreshments” which really was a lunch with
finger sandwiches, some tempura fried veggies, dessert options and some local
drinks. It was all quite lovely and way
too fast, but the ship was leaving the port at 4 for some reason and we had to
go to get on the ship. So we could sail off to Mumbai.
