I had the most fantastic day, today. I hired a driver and got to play tourist for the day. I am constantly amazed at how cheap some things are. For about 25 dollars, I had a driver take me around for 8 hours. He was a lovely older gentleman who has been doing this for the last 30 years. Since we barely scratch the surface of what there is to see, I'll be doing this again next weekend. Although I saw quite a bit, there were a few areas where I'd like some time to wander around more.
Bombay is actually several islands joined together. It's big. My hotel is sort of in the middle on the west side of the city. Technically, it's a suburb, but the only obvious border between the 'burbs and the city proper is that the auto-rickshaws cannot go into the city. There is a neighbourhood called Bandra, just south of here and that's where they end. To go downtown, a person has to be in a proper car.
To get into the city, there is a huge, new toll bridge called the Bandra Wolfi Sea Link. It probably spans about a kilometer and crosses over the sea. It is very impressive and one of the few places were drivers have to follow the rules of the road. Three lanes, no passing and no speeding. It's a guaranteed ticket if a driver speeds. There are speed cameras set up and there are police officers stationed on the bridge pulling people over.
Our first stop was the Bombay home of Gandhi. The home has been created into a museum. The library is spectacular. On the second floor, there are about 20 or so dioramas depicting defining moments in his life. It was odd, but really fascinating at the same time. How any man could live so simply is beyond me. In his room, there was nothing more than a pallet, a spinning wheel and a few utensils.
Our next stop was the former Prince of Wales museum. It's now called the Museum of Mumbai. There has been a concerted effort to stamp out the colonial heritage, but it's everywhere. If I want to go to somewhere, people are more familiar with the "old" street names than the new ones. When driving to the museum, the architecture becomes very British. The museum is near the main train station and various buildings that used to house the government offices. Very imposing, but at the same time, slowly crumbling.
The museum is has a great collection of religious artifacts from India and Nepal. At the same time, it's a place that time forgot. It's like stepping into a museum from 50 years ago. I still thoroughly enjoyed it though and know more about this area than I ever did before. The grounds were so lush and so tropical. As I'm roasting away in a skirt and t-shirt, I can't help but think of the colonials. The poor women in their corsets and petticoats and dresses. It must have been horrible for them.
And so ends part one. It's 12:30AM here and I'm tired (it took almost a week for me to adjust to the time change). I'm also letting myself get creeped out watching the original, Japanese version of The Grudge. I do love a spooky movie.
Bombay is actually several islands joined together. It's big. My hotel is sort of in the middle on the west side of the city. Technically, it's a suburb, but the only obvious border between the 'burbs and the city proper is that the auto-rickshaws cannot go into the city. There is a neighbourhood called Bandra, just south of here and that's where they end. To go downtown, a person has to be in a proper car.
To get into the city, there is a huge, new toll bridge called the Bandra Wolfi Sea Link. It probably spans about a kilometer and crosses over the sea. It is very impressive and one of the few places were drivers have to follow the rules of the road. Three lanes, no passing and no speeding. It's a guaranteed ticket if a driver speeds. There are speed cameras set up and there are police officers stationed on the bridge pulling people over.
Our first stop was the Bombay home of Gandhi. The home has been created into a museum. The library is spectacular. On the second floor, there are about 20 or so dioramas depicting defining moments in his life. It was odd, but really fascinating at the same time. How any man could live so simply is beyond me. In his room, there was nothing more than a pallet, a spinning wheel and a few utensils. Our next stop was the former Prince of Wales museum. It's now called the Museum of Mumbai. There has been a concerted effort to stamp out the colonial heritage, but it's everywhere. If I want to go to somewhere, people are more familiar with the "old" street names than the new ones. When driving to the museum, the architecture becomes very British. The museum is near the main train station and various buildings that used to house the government offices. Very imposing, but at the same time, slowly crumbling.
And so ends part one. It's 12:30AM here and I'm tired (it took almost a week for me to adjust to the time change). I'm also letting myself get creeped out watching the original, Japanese version of The Grudge. I do love a spooky movie.
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