After our final and longest train journey in India (a whopping 15 hours), we eventually arrived in Mumbai. I wasn't particularly sure how I'd feel about the city after not enjoying Delhi, but it immediately seemed less daunting and cleaner. We found ourselves a cheap room near to the main tourist area - only 450 rupees, but our room was windowless, bathroomless and with beds so short we couldn't straighten our legs! Understandably, we didn't spend too long in the hotel room, and immediately got out and about. We found a really cool taxi driver called Ken to take us on a day tour around the city. He showed us all the main sites, such as Gandhi's house, Marina drive, the beach, etc but then took us to a little gypsy village where we spent some time with the locals. They were so friendly and great fun, we got given galleons of chai and were treated like royalty, it was so much fun that we agreed to spend time with them the next day, which was Holi.
When we woke up on Holi day, we were expecting absolute carnage, so we had prepared by buying some cheap outfits ready to be destroyed by all the paint. Instead it was all rather tame - the area by our hotel was very quiet although it was a predominately Muslim area so we weren't hugely surprised by that. When we went into the city centre, there were a few people playing Holi but still less than expected.
We met up with Ken again, and he took us to Dharavi slum, the largest slum in Asia (and the one featured in Slumdog Millionaire). We didn't really know what to expect, although we were definitely not greeted by poverty or miserable people. Instead, there seemed to be a thriving industry, the area we saw in the slum was built up and people were going about their daily business the same as in the rest of Mumbai. There were a lot more people playing Holi here, and I took a water bomb to the back from a child with good aim! The rest of the day was a bit of a disappointment though as when we returned to the gypsy village, we were unable to stay as a fight had broken out and the police had been there. So Nikki and I had to get our paints and water pistols and play Holi together!
Overall, I had a really enjoyable couple of days in Mumbai, it was by far my favourite city in India, and if you ever plan to fly into India, Mumbai is a much more relaxed and easier introduction to the country than Delhi.
4am the next day we set off to the airport to wave a sad goodbye to India and begin the next part of the trip... Nepal!!
When we woke up on Holi day, we were expecting absolute carnage, so we had prepared by buying some cheap outfits ready to be destroyed by all the paint. Instead it was all rather tame - the area by our hotel was very quiet although it was a predominately Muslim area so we weren't hugely surprised by that. When we went into the city centre, there were a few people playing Holi but still less than expected.
We met up with Ken again, and he took us to Dharavi slum, the largest slum in Asia (and the one featured in Slumdog Millionaire). We didn't really know what to expect, although we were definitely not greeted by poverty or miserable people. Instead, there seemed to be a thriving industry, the area we saw in the slum was built up and people were going about their daily business the same as in the rest of Mumbai. There were a lot more people playing Holi here, and I took a water bomb to the back from a child with good aim! The rest of the day was a bit of a disappointment though as when we returned to the gypsy village, we were unable to stay as a fight had broken out and the police had been there. So Nikki and I had to get our paints and water pistols and play Holi together!
Overall, I had a really enjoyable couple of days in Mumbai, it was by far my favourite city in India, and if you ever plan to fly into India, Mumbai is a much more relaxed and easier introduction to the country than Delhi.
4am the next day we set off to the airport to wave a sad goodbye to India and begin the next part of the trip... Nepal!!
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