Mumbai Taxis

You won’t miss that I love the old Mumbai’s taxis. It is India’s version of the black and yellow 1950’s Fiat – just beautiful with the bench seat and the low roof which seems to be so low that the driver constantly has to look down to see the road. The little box on the left outside the window is the  meter which mechanically connects into the front hub of the wheel. Unfortunately they couldn’t keep up with the hefty inflation of the Indian currency and therefore the value on the meter has to be multiplied by some factors to get to the real amount to be paid. That might work for the locals but as an easy to spot foreigner you are better off agreeing on the fare before you get into the cab...
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Mumbai Swimmathon

Mumbai’s answer to the Australian ocean swim series: the Mumbai Swimmathon. The swim is back 4 years after the terror attacks and more popular than ever before.  It is from the 'sunken rock' to the gateway of India. Officials call it the 'swim for peace'. Despite the highly toxic water, around 500 swimmers including a disabled category gathered around and did the swim through floating rubish, dead animals and oil spills. The winning time was 42:16 for the 5km race, well with some help of the tide... 
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Mumbai Architecture

Mumbai architecture is a spectacular maze of Gothic, Victorian, Indo-Saracenic and art deco all remnants of the British colonial era and countless years of European influence.
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Victoria Terminus – Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus – built in 1887 in combination of Victorian, Hindu and Islamic styles , today Asia’s busiest train station

Gateway of India at the tip of Apollo Bunder

 
Taj Mahal Palace Hotel – built 1903 in a blend of Islamic and Renaissance style.

Mumbai - Elephanta Island

The temples here are from around AD 450 – 750, however the large stone elephant (hence the name) collapsed in 1814. Today people come for the 6m high statue of Sadhashiva – depicting a three-faced Shiva. Lucky that you don’t even have to walk up all the stairs besides the souvenir stalls, as there is a porter service who carry you on a chair fixed to two bamboo sticks. I am still not sure what is more dangerous, being carried up or feeding the feral angry monkeys on the side of the path...

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Mumbai Trains

India's train system is one of the world's biggest with 60-70 million passengers every day. Enjoy the ride in one of the six or seven different classes.
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Mumbai

Wow, here I am in Mumbai, the previous Bombay. And yes, it is chaos. And it is fun. Just take a ride in a taxi and it allseems to wor k perfect, like a school of fish. Everyone is moving in an incredible speed but nobody hits each other. Fantastic. Well, mind the holy cows on the road - they have right of way - all the time.  The drive from the airport takes you along the slum where ‘slumdog millionaire’ was set:  Dharavi - well today there was no millionaire I suppose, and not one tomorrow either I guess. Or, wait a second. There is a tour company in Mumbai offering slum tours for R5500 (= AS $110) for a group of 4. In a city where millions of people live of less than one dollar a day the price is outrageous – or simply another way to become a real slumdog millionaire?
Mumbai, a city of 17 million people is buzzing. Forgotten are the recent terror attacks and the city is good stop over between India’s Golden Triangle in the North and Goa and Kerela further South.
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