Thurs 13 Nov Mumbai
We get going a little after 9 am; we are slowly adjusting to local time. Today we are playing tourist and going to the historic caves on Elephanta Island. It is about 2 km to the docks in Colaba, the seaside neighborhood where the boats leave. We get there a little before 1000. We are pointed to a ticketseller who is selling boat tickets for 160 R each. We walk through the first boat to the second, sit down and wait.
A pair of passengers identify themselves as Israelis from Nazareth. We think they are perhaps Arabs, but later learn that they are local Mumbai Jews who emigrated to Israel many years ago and are now coming home to visit.
The boat ride takes about an hour. The breezes are wonderful, the sea birds swoop. It is hazy, so the views of Mumbai and the island are hazed over.
Finally we land. There is a little choo-choo at the landing; more of interest to families. To get to the caves, the trail passes through a gauntlet of tchochke sellers and random monkeys. We walk up 100 steps, pay 250 R each to get in (10 R for Indians) and see cave 1. This cave has dozens of Shivas and Buddhas, some in better shape than others. Like Dunhuang and Lijiang in China, the figures are carved into the rock - that is, rock is removed leaving only the stone carvings. Time has not treated these carvings well, as they are missing legs, arms, torsos, occasionally the face. Supposedly the Portuguese soldiers used some of them for target practice. Still and all there are enough good carvings left to make this a fabulous visit.
Caves 2, 3, and 4 are more decayed and fairly disappointing. We didn't find cave 5 because the path started heading back downhill.
We see some locals transporting dung or soil on donkeys.
On the back to the boat we passed most of the vendors, including one selling "Neckless"es. Carol suggested that perhaps the goods weren't Indian, but knockoffs (? from Bangladesh?). Our one purchase was a 50 R bus book with a list of the routes of all the buses, and a simple map of the city. Useful if not crafty.
But the guy with water beckoned, and we stopped for 2 liters of bottled water, a 7 Up, and a spiced buttermilk. Also we each bought ears of corns from another vendor. The corn was burnt over the fire and then rubbed with lime and spice masala. We have seen ears of corn for up to $3 in other countries. However, in this place of a captive tourist audience they were only 20 R, or 33 c each. Perfectly yum. Best buy on the whole island.
On the boat ride back to Colaba, we talked to a Korean ophthalmologic surgeon, who was in India for a conference in Jaipur, and stopped over for 2 days in Mumbai for a look-see.
All during this trip, the cell phones were out for selfies.
After landing, we walked out and into the famous Taj Mahal Hotel, where the other half stays (and the terrorist attacks occurred). We looked at a menu where we could have eaten if the prices were divided by 10.
Out for a walk through Colaba, which has a heavy Muslim merchant feel and tourist overlay. Then we took a bus back to the Fort area. It got rather full, leaving us with a real push to get off. It is a bit unsettling not knowing whether you will be able to get off at your stop.
It was apx 1530, and we decided to walk north to Crawford Market. We were both hungry, not having had lunch, so when we passed a madrassa, with a bustling lunch counter for the kids, we stopped. We asked permission to enter, bought 2 sherpuris (snack food rather like a bhelpuri chaat) for 20 R each. The sweetest boys imaginable were manning the ice cream section.The drink stand was out of falooda, so we got a black currant ice cream cone for 35 R.
Just north was the Sir J J Art Institute. Inside was a big crowd. We went in to see what was happening. A sculptor was about to sculpt (in one hour) the head of an 80 yr old woman. She had sat 60 years ago for a different sculptor, who also produced a work in one hour.
The clock started, and an hour (or a bit more) later, the sculptor had finished. Not a bad likeness. We stood near the model chair and bonded with the woman (perhaps because we were the only older people in the crowd). It was a fascinating event.
By this time it was 1715, and we decided to skip the Crawford Market for today. We walked back toward CST. To the south we passed a book stall with a 10 R list of the local train times. The 50 R book from this am was only 35 R, but, oh well.
Next door were a Harry Potter book in Hindi (165 R) and one in Marati (299 R). We bought the Hindi book and passed on the Marati book, the languages being somewhat similar.
As we walked along, one vendor looked to have tablets. He didn't, but his friend 4 or so blocks away did. But he started the price at 5000 R ($83), which was what we could get a name brand for in the US, so we walked away. By this time, we had passed by our turn off for our dinner place, so we walked around unsuccessfully, until we refound our SIM vendor, refound the street to turn on, and finally found our restaurant.
It had an air conditioned side, and a non AC side. No extra charge for AC.
After so much vegetarian food, we had mutton thali (230) and prawns thali (200) and a mch appreciated65 cl (big) Kingfisher lager (225). Some of the individual cups of food in the thali were not our liking, including a strange cold purple soup, but the mutton was fabulous, and shrimps quite tasty. After dinner you get a small dish of breath fresheners, called mukhwas. The sweet mukhwas here was so good that Carol took a small bag home with her.
Back to the hotel and to bed.
We get going a little after 9 am; we are slowly adjusting to local time. Today we are playing tourist and going to the historic caves on Elephanta Island. It is about 2 km to the docks in Colaba, the seaside neighborhood where the boats leave. We get there a little before 1000. We are pointed to a ticketseller who is selling boat tickets for 160 R each. We walk through the first boat to the second, sit down and wait.
A pair of passengers identify themselves as Israelis from Nazareth. We think they are perhaps Arabs, but later learn that they are local Mumbai Jews who emigrated to Israel many years ago and are now coming home to visit.
The boat ride takes about an hour. The breezes are wonderful, the sea birds swoop. It is hazy, so the views of Mumbai and the island are hazed over.
Finally we land. There is a little choo-choo at the landing; more of interest to families. To get to the caves, the trail passes through a gauntlet of tchochke sellers and random monkeys. We walk up 100 steps, pay 250 R each to get in (10 R for Indians) and see cave 1. This cave has dozens of Shivas and Buddhas, some in better shape than others. Like Dunhuang and Lijiang in China, the figures are carved into the rock - that is, rock is removed leaving only the stone carvings. Time has not treated these carvings well, as they are missing legs, arms, torsos, occasionally the face. Supposedly the Portuguese soldiers used some of them for target practice. Still and all there are enough good carvings left to make this a fabulous visit.
Caves 2, 3, and 4 are more decayed and fairly disappointing. We didn't find cave 5 because the path started heading back downhill.
We see some locals transporting dung or soil on donkeys.
On the back to the boat we passed most of the vendors, including one selling "Neckless"es. Carol suggested that perhaps the goods weren't Indian, but knockoffs (? from Bangladesh?). Our one purchase was a 50 R bus book with a list of the routes of all the buses, and a simple map of the city. Useful if not crafty.
But the guy with water beckoned, and we stopped for 2 liters of bottled water, a 7 Up, and a spiced buttermilk. Also we each bought ears of corns from another vendor. The corn was burnt over the fire and then rubbed with lime and spice masala. We have seen ears of corn for up to $3 in other countries. However, in this place of a captive tourist audience they were only 20 R, or 33 c each. Perfectly yum. Best buy on the whole island.
On the boat ride back to Colaba, we talked to a Korean ophthalmologic surgeon, who was in India for a conference in Jaipur, and stopped over for 2 days in Mumbai for a look-see.
All during this trip, the cell phones were out for selfies.
After landing, we walked out and into the famous Taj Mahal Hotel, where the other half stays (and the terrorist attacks occurred). We looked at a menu where we could have eaten if the prices were divided by 10.
Out for a walk through Colaba, which has a heavy Muslim merchant feel and tourist overlay. Then we took a bus back to the Fort area. It got rather full, leaving us with a real push to get off. It is a bit unsettling not knowing whether you will be able to get off at your stop.
It was apx 1530, and we decided to walk north to Crawford Market. We were both hungry, not having had lunch, so when we passed a madrassa, with a bustling lunch counter for the kids, we stopped. We asked permission to enter, bought 2 sherpuris (snack food rather like a bhelpuri chaat) for 20 R each. The sweetest boys imaginable were manning the ice cream section.The drink stand was out of falooda, so we got a black currant ice cream cone for 35 R.
Just north was the Sir J J Art Institute. Inside was a big crowd. We went in to see what was happening. A sculptor was about to sculpt (in one hour) the head of an 80 yr old woman. She had sat 60 years ago for a different sculptor, who also produced a work in one hour.
The clock started, and an hour (or a bit more) later, the sculptor had finished. Not a bad likeness. We stood near the model chair and bonded with the woman (perhaps because we were the only older people in the crowd). It was a fascinating event.
By this time it was 1715, and we decided to skip the Crawford Market for today. We walked back toward CST. To the south we passed a book stall with a 10 R list of the local train times. The 50 R book from this am was only 35 R, but, oh well.
Next door were a Harry Potter book in Hindi (165 R) and one in Marati (299 R). We bought the Hindi book and passed on the Marati book, the languages being somewhat similar.
As we walked along, one vendor looked to have tablets. He didn't, but his friend 4 or so blocks away did. But he started the price at 5000 R ($83), which was what we could get a name brand for in the US, so we walked away. By this time, we had passed by our turn off for our dinner place, so we walked around unsuccessfully, until we refound our SIM vendor, refound the street to turn on, and finally found our restaurant.
It had an air conditioned side, and a non AC side. No extra charge for AC.
After so much vegetarian food, we had mutton thali (230) and prawns thali (200) and a mch appreciated65 cl (big) Kingfisher lager (225). Some of the individual cups of food in the thali were not our liking, including a strange cold purple soup, but the mutton was fabulous, and shrimps quite tasty. After dinner you get a small dish of breath fresheners, called mukhwas. The sweet mukhwas here was so good that Carol took a small bag home with her.
Back to the hotel and to bed.
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