Goodness gracious me!
Goodness gracious me, my legs ached after our excursion yesterday! We decided to walk to the nearest metro station and get a 3 day pass like we did in Delhi last year. That didn’t work out too well. Our first problem was that we were going in the wrong direction. I don’t mean that we were going in the wrong direction in order to find the station but everyone else seemed to be going in the other direction. There were thousands of people walking in the opposite direction so walking against the tide was not easy! Our second problem was that the station didn’t turn out to be a metro station as I had thought!
That said, it was a railway station and we’ve never used the Indian railway system so we queued up and procured a ticket to Churchgate station which is the end of the line and appeared to be in the southern part of Mumbai. The ticket price was a massive 5p (yes, I did say 5p!) and took us on the 20 minutes or so journey from Lower Parel through Mumbai Central and all the way to Churchgate station. We decided to walk from Churchgate station to the Gateway to India as it is only about a mile or so. We have been there before and have stayed in the Taj Mahal Hotel next door (but not this time – they wanted £7,000 for a week in a standard room!) but it is such an iconic building. It was erected in the early 20th century to commemorate the arrival of King George V and Queen-Empress Mary who were the first British monarchs to visit India. The actual arch wasn’t completed (or even started!) when they arrived in 1911 and a cardboard version was erected instead! The actual arch was completed in 1924.
Since we, the Brits, were so flaming awful to the India population I am surprised they haven’t torn it down but instead they flock in their thousands to see the arch and to get the inevitable selfie in front of it. Captain Clarke and I did try but we’ve decided that we’re just rubbish at taking selfies! We had a little wander though and enjoyed seeing both the Gateway to India and the Taj Mahal Hotel. We then decided to have a wander around the area and, having looked around at all the sights on offer we decided to visit ‘Fashion Street’ which is a flea market about a mile from the Gateway to India. We walked along passing an interesting outdoor art exhibition along the way and then down a street that had stalls selling everything from sun glasses to souvenirs to underwear, shoes and English football team shirts! We kept walking! We’ve been in a very similar street in Mumbai before when we were approached by someone wishing to give us a Buddhist wrist bracelet (called a Mala) and then demanded a considerable sum of money in return. We didn’t pay then and we weren’t going to pay now!
We carried on with our walking until we found a street with lots of market stalls which we assumed to be Fashion Street. According to our various map apps (we now have three) we were not quite there and needed to walk up the street to the other end to find Fashion Street. When we eventually arrived there was nothing there at all, not even a street! We consulted our map apps which told us we had passed Fashion Street so we turned around and walked back. We couldn’t find a street even though the map app said we were there. When we walked a bit further it said we had passed it again. On the third attempt we gave up and decided to look at some stalls in the street we were in. There wasn’t honestly anything new, the usual clothing, leather goods (or at least leather look goods), food stalls, copy copy electronics and that was about it.
In the end I did buy a genuine Samsung power bank (yeah right!) for a fiver because my phone was going flat with all that map following. We discovered a little later that the cable wasn’t supported so we couldn’t charge the phone anyway! When we arrived back at Churchgate station I did buy a leather (ish) belt because mine has virtually disintegrated even though I have had it less than a year and this one was a massive £1! We procured a ticket back to Lower Parel (it would have been cheaper than 5p each way if we had originally bought a return but we didn’t know what we were going to do at that stage or whether we would return by the same train line) and boarded our train. Don’t ever let anyone tell you the Indian train system is bad – the train runs every 4 minutes and, whilst generally busy, is cool (it has no windows or doors) with fans in the roof that do the job of keeping you cool. OK, the Orient Express it isn’t, but the ticket price was hardly Orient Express pricing!
I wouldn’t want to travel a long distance on the trains (certainly not the local trains) but they are fine for a commute type journey which is what they are designed to be. Captain Clarke and I walked back to our hotel and he took to his bed for some more warthog practice (he really is getting very good at it!) whilst I caught up on email. We decided to visit the rooftop bar to see the sunset over Mumbai. It was very pretty and, being happy hour, the price of a drink was nearly reasonable. The only downside was that it was a bit chilly. When I say a bit chilly, Captain Clarke (who has never been seen out of short sleeved shirts, even in the depth of winter!) wanted to leave because he was cold! It is very nice on the roof top but it is very, very windy!
We decided, once again, to visit the shopping malls and festival square because there was one restaurant we hadn’t yet tried. The Farzi Café. To be honest, it was an experience – the music was very loud, the waiting staff a little difficult to understand and the food was … different. To be fair, they say that they have taken traditional Indian food and put a contemporary twist on it. That is probably true but I think we prefer traditional food. It was OK but we both agreed that we wouldn’t order it again. That and the price of exactly the same bottle of wine we had had the night before in the restaurant next door but one was double!
Tomorrow I have decided that I shall need to give clarification on a couple of things I have mentioned. Honking is one of them. Driving another and dogs another and probably also Dabbawallas. I shall try to explain all. Today I am suffering from Captain Clarke’s generosity again. He is always a sharing sort of person and he has now shared his cold with me! It is, I can confirm, a cold and nothing more but a sore throat and runny nose I do have! Oh well, it’s going to be 30℃ today – I’m sure that will help! I’m not sure what we’re up to today. Yesterday we walked 8 miles which is why my legs were tired. 8 miles in temperatures in excess of 26℃ in flip flops is quite a bit of walking even in our world!
We have heard, of course, about storm Ciara that is due to hit the south east today. We will be thinking of those back at home having to deal with it but, if I’m honest, probably not worrying too much! We’ll have to deal with the 30℃ heat, enjoying this wonderful country, crossing the road (believe me, that is a challenge in its own right!) and wondering what and where we will eat tonight! It’s a tough life being in India!
So enjoyed reading both your blogs. Love Mumbai and have
some lovely memories of stays there – many years ago now.
Loved staying at the Taj and overlooking the Gateway to India.
Know all about trains as Iain and I did the great Indian railway
adventure some years ago with friends of ours. It was very intereting.
The big storm has yet to hit – tonight/tomorrow morning.
We will be in Dubai this time next week. I am hoping to have done
enough copy for SM for the next 3 Thursdays. But I may need to
call on you Alex for help. If you can’t do it ….no problem.
I am using your first class bit on the garden village that went
into the pari mag. Brilliant and of course you will be given the
credit for it.
Do enjoy the rest of your stay. Will be in touch on our
return from Dubai. Fran
Happy to help with the SM. We will be passing through Dubai on our return but only very briefly. Have a wonderful time!