Bombay/Mumbai
The name Bombay is a corruption of the Portugese corruption of the Indian word for the city, which is Mumbai.
After arriving, we took a very long walk to helpovercome jet lag. Our style of clothing clearly labels us as tourists. Nearly every man looked at my camera, which made me a little self-conscious. We ran into a group of beggar boys who mimed eating. Two boys, one on each side, grabbed my lower legs and I yelled at them and was a split second away from slugging them both. At the same time Graciela made her move in their direction and they moved off. I don't know if they were searching for an ankle money belt or were about to go through my pockets. Only later did we learn that to touch our shoes was a sign of respect and deference. Talk about running into cultural differences in a hurry!
Back at our hotel, we had a very relaxing massage and it would have been so easy to just crawl in bed and sleep till morning. But since it was only 6 PM, we'll put that on hold until later.
At our hotel, we has a pleasant view over a boulevard and promenade to a bay and a view of a different part of Bombay. Outside were numerous taxis that resembled old Austins. Also there are loads of taxis made by Ambassador, whose motto is, “The car that lasts forever.” There are so many Ambassadors that it must be true!
We took a very long walk to the Taj Mahal Hotel, the Gateway to India, and the Prince of Wales Museum, all built by the British. While looking for a shortcut, we walked down a woebegone street with children playing in the road, older boys were pitching pennies, and many adults were resting or sleeping on the ground. We were forced to trace our way back and this time a few little kids asked for money or to take their picture.
While waiting in the lobby for our guide, an older man carrying a polished brass "dustpan" picks cigarette butts out of ashtrays with long brass tweezers. No one pays him any attention. There is another men whose job is to remove brown and yellowed leaves from the plants, bushes and trees. We aren't used to such extremes of class distinctions as we observe everywhere here.
Our lady guide showed up and stuffed us into two ramshackle black taxis and we took off for the Gate to India where we boarded a sorry-looking ferry for Elephanta Island. We were told that there never have been elephants on this island. The Portuguese found a huge statue of an elephant there, thus the name, and the name not changed since the 1600s. On this island, quite high up, are Hindu temples carved out of solid volcanic basalt 1500 years ago. Inside these temples are intricate carvings of the lives of Hindu gods.
The British soldiers used the temples and carvings for target practice! What a shame that such rare and beautiful art has been ruined forever.
On arriving at Elephanta Island, we disembarked at a modern pier, our guide paid our admission and we boarded a funky mini-tram to take us a quarter mile over the causeway to where we could walk up the 150+ steps up the mountainside. Now that’s an area where we really could have used a mini train!
Inside the largest temple Graciela suddenly became woozy. We don't know why, but she couldn't see or hear and she felt dizzy so I took her to a place to sit down for a while. The air was very clear and there was nothing objectionable. Luckily after ten minutes she felt better and was able to finish the day.
On the way back to Bombay, we were treated to a sunset as we returned to the harbor in Bombay. Sometimes the air cleared a bit but it was always hazy. Was it smog? Maybe.
We spent time in an amazing Jain temple filled with figures, sculptures, carvings, garash paint and sweet people.
The public laundry is an amazing site, which I believe you will agree with.
I considered whether or not to include the photo of the crippled boy beggar and decided that it needs to be included. He appears to be the victim of adults who deliberately cripple children to make them pathetic and more likely to earn more money begging. This practice needs to be eliminated.
We were surprised to see that meals were being delivered to workers downtown much like it is done in Japan. Two photos are taken from our hotel roof on the last night; they show the busy road running along the very broad and sandy beach area.
The last two photos were taken on the way home as we flew over Greenland.
Click on the picture below to open these photos.
©Spreitz------------