Modern Mumbai

It was the bus journey from hell to get to Mumbai. 16 hours of bumpy roads in a sleeper bed at the back of the filthy bus was quite nauseating, and not helped by the horrendous toilet stops. In some places, there weren’t even rancid squat toilets, just an area of waste ground that had been designated the “toilet”.

So it was with some relief that we arrived in Mumbai at first light. Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is on the west coast of India and is very different to the India we had seen thus far. Parts of Mumbai are very modern, cosmopolitan and westernised. There are fewer saris being worn, and lots of young Indians hanging out in western clothes in fast food chains (MacDonalds!) and bars. Alcohol is commonplace and meat and fish are an integral part of the diet – completely different to Rajasthan where many restaurants adhere to strict vegetarianism and do not even serve eggs. After 24 days of eating veggie only food, it was a joy to eat meat again!

We were staying in the touristy area of Colaba, in south west Mumbai. It was noticeable how clean the city was compared to other places we had been in India, and it felt quite civilised walking along a pavement using pedestrian crossings rather than battling along narrow streets shared by animals, people and vehicles. India has been unquestionably filthy with rubbish piling up in the streets everywhere, so it was nice to see that Mumbai is somewhat cleaner.

Lots of building styles are clearly remnants of British colonial times. There are still lots of Morris Minor black and yellow taxis (known as bumble bees), although these are gradually being replaced by Japenese cars. The impressive Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, the scene of fatal bombings in 2008, has been restored to its former glory and sits proudly on the waterfront alongside the Gateway to India monument.

As is often the case with big cities, immense wealth exists alongside extreme poverty. Over 50% of Mumbai’s population live in slums and shanty towns, with Dharavi slum being the largest in Asia. There are also a large number of pavement dwellers – people who don’t even have enough to get a place to live in a slum community and simply set up camp each night on the pavements. We saw lots of families living like this on our bus journey into Mumbai. We had planned to visit the slums (there are companies that run tours and put part of the profits back into the slum), but got caught out by it being a Sunday. As an alternative, we took a boat trip out across the harbour to Elephanta Island which is designated a World Heritage Site. I’m not sure what you have to do to be awarded that honour, but if this is anything to go by, then very little it would seem! The island is home to some caves but they are not at all impressive and have largely been ruined by people tramping all other them. Sadly, Indians don’t seem to understand how to maintain historically important sites. They are only concerned with the present and extracting every last rupee from tourists. Entrance fee for Indian - 10 rupees. Entrance fee for foreigner - 250 rupees!

I could write a whole blog about Indians ripping off tourists. Two recent examples. We take a rickshaw to the bus station from our hotel. Before getting in the rickshaw, we agree a price of 80 rupees. On arrival, I give the driver 100 rupees expecting 20 rupees change. Instead he tells me I owe him another 60 rupees because it is 80 rupees for each of us. Suffice to say, he did not get another 60 rupees as we just walked off and ignored his demands. Another personal favourite is the luggage charge that the bus conductor will ask for. Only foreigners pay this and it is a completely arbitrary amount of money. On our first bus, it was 5 rupees per bag which is a miniscule amount of money and I don’t begrudge giving that. However, since then every bus we take, the price seems to get higher. Last night, the demand was for 100 rupees, although he only got 50 in the end which is still a complete rip off. All this haggling gets very tiresome. Welcome to India!