Mumbai - part 1 — Tim's Tours

We are just coming to the end of our time in Mumbai and fly tomorrow to Udaipur to begin our travels across Rajasthan. We have really enjoyed our time in Mumbai, made extra special by staying at The Taj Mahal Palace, of which more anon.

We arrived at about 9pm on Sunday, after the transfer down from Shimla and a 2 1/2 hr flight from Chandigarh. Yesterday, Monday, we had arranged a half day tour with a driver and guide to to take us to some of the main sites of interest. We started at a dhobi ghat, one of 3 in Mumbai, processing laundry for commercial premises and private customers. The chap in the bottom picture below is manufacturing a new drum for one of the massive washing machines on site, which operate alongside the handwashing tubs in the top picture. Drying clothes are not pegged, but held on the line by an ingenious twisting of the cords.

Then on to the area around the Oval Maidan, where there were at least 6 cricket matches in progress. The Maidan is bordered on one side by a string of Victorian buildings in the Indo-Saracenic style and on the other by buildings in the Art Deco style, with both being recognised as of cultural significance by UNESCO.

Next to Marine Drive, aka The Queen’s Necklace, a seaside strip which runs 3km to the North around the Bay. It was pretty hazy, so the views weren’t as clear as we would have liked, but you’ll get the general idea from the picture below.

Then to Mani Bhavan, the house of a friend where Gandhi stayed between 1917 and 1934. Not a big museum, but quite well laid out and informative. The bottom picture below is of his room.