Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Day One in Mumbai - by Ryan

Wednesday, March 3, 2015--by Ryan

10:00 p.m. and finally hit the wall here in India.
Our flight arrived in Mumbai at 1:00 a.m. and after catching a few zzzzz's at Abode Hotel and breakfast, Suzanne and I hooked up with a walking tour thru Magic Mumbai at 2:00 in the afternoon.



Sita and Rhegina our guides for day met us at the Gateway of India, and from there they took us on a four hour (that lasted more like 6 hours) adventure walking and taking public transportation through Mumbai.

A couple of highlights:

Our first ride, was on a local bus 13 rupees (about 25 cents) where we took the line up Marine Drive (Queen's Necklace) to Gandhi's Mumbai home, now a museum.

One of the most fascinating pieces in the Gandhi's museum, a letter he wrote to Hitler and FDR, asking both to find a peaceful solution and avoid WW2.

We also ate a great meal at Swati Snacks with our guides. Swati is what they call clean hygienic "street food", basically, tasty local food that won't get you sick. We had pani puri, paneer wrap and a couple of delicious items that I can't remember the name of. Highly recommend the restaurant.



Next we hopped on a local train during commute time. The trains run every two minutes and literally stop for only 20 seconds. So Suzanne and I, and our guides had to push and shove our way on and off the train. Fun for me, because I feel like I'm bigger and stronger than everyone else (but don't worry, I didn't have to use any MMA)

The train then took us to the Dhobi Ghat. This is an area of concrete bins and canals where 5,000 workers scrub and pound laundry all day. It is the largest and oldest laundry facility in all of Mumbai. Our photos and video don't begin to do it justice.

VIDEO OF DHOBI GHAT:



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