20 hours in Mumbai

Our time in India is winding down, but with two days left Susan, Alan, Erin, Andy, and I decided to book a cheap spicejet flight ($38) and see a whole new part of the country. We landed in Mumbai (formally Bombay) around midnight on Wednesday and had 20 hours to see as much of the city as we could before booking it back to the airport for our 8:40pm flight the next day back to Hyderabad. We made both flights, saw a good chunk of the city, and nearly got mauled by monkeys on Elephanta Island.

From Kolkata to Hyderabad and the rural villages of Andhra Pardesh, I feel like I've seen a significant chunk of India in the short two weeks that I've been here. In Mumbai, I learned how wrong I was and realized just how much of this crazy place is actually left to be explored.

Mumbai was first settled by the Portugese in the mid-16th Century and eventually fully controlled by the British in the 1600's. Encompassing the better part of a large island, the city of over 12 million is a natural port and one of the best examples of successful British civil engineering in all of India. Mumbai is also home to the 'Gateway of India', a memorial to King George, and the location of the last British regiment's ceremonious departure in 1947.

(Gateway of India)

My first impression of Mumbai was how much it reminded by of an old European or South American city. The air was cool thanks to the nearby ocean, and much cleaner than most of the places we've been thanks to successful mass transit. The streets and sidewalks were wide and straight and relatively vacant of trash. I saw the first garbage truck of the entire trip in Mumbai which was a huge surprise; the fact that it was parked for three hours in the same place and had people going through the back of it was less of a surprise.

Our group of five spent most of the morning exploring the old city and meandering through the crowds around the 'Gateway of India', trying to decide if we wanted to visit Elephanta Island and if so when we should leave so that we could make it back in time for our flight. We eventually bought ferry tickets with the help of our friendly and unwanted guide (we gave him the name 'Brooklyn' becuase of his NYC hat) and headed to the nearby Taj Mahal Hotel to inspect their bathrooms, enjoy their air conditioning, and have a quick beer before we left. We ran out of time for a drink, but Susan made some new friends along the way (below) who insisted on a picture before we left.

(Taj Mahal Hotel in the background)

Elephanta Island is home to a series of caves housing an incredible collection of 7th Century Hindu carvings and reliefs. The island is also home to hundreds of wild dogs (they are very friendly) and wild monkeys (they are friendly and curious), both of which have become very accustomed to humans. The monkeys are very smart and can be aggressive if they see something they want. On our way up the island to the caves, we saw one lady attacked (the monkey literally jumped onto her) for her juice bottle and a few others fighting for food and other bits of garbage. Generally the monkeys were just curious bystanders but their total lack of fear of humans meant you could never totally let your guard down.

(7th Century Carving of Shiva)

I set my bag down at one point heading back to the boat, and before I knew it atleast six of them had surrounded me on the narrow stairs; each looked attentively at what I had just set down, salivating over what types of treats they thought might be inside. The dominant monkey quickly showed his fangs as soon as I went back for the bag; the others did the same, except this time the glares seemed more directed at the other monkeys than at me. Clearly, these guys were intent on getting whatever I had just set down and were all ready to fight me, and each other, for whatever was inside. There wasn't any food inside the bag but I stepped back, knowing I'd much rather give up some trinkets than end up with a monkey bite. However, I hadn't given up yet, and as soon I stepped back I started looking around for some kind of tool to defend myself with. I grabbed the nearest blunt object I saw - a handmade brick - and raised it over my head as if I was going to hurl it at one of the closer monkeys. Before my hand was even fully in the air, the first monkey, who now had his hands on my bag, lept back over the stone railing surrounding the staircase. The others were quick behind him, with some jumping into trees and others running off straight into the woods. My heart was racing, but Erin who was standing about 15ft back watching, photographing, and laughing wasn't even phased.


The return trip to Mumbai and Hyderabad was relatively uneventful (by India standards). On our way back to the airport we had our first experience riding 2nd class on an Indian train. It wasn't bad at first, especially considering that we all had seats, but by the 8th stop it became difficult to move and next to impossible to get to the door (10ft away). Alan texted me as we got close to the airport since face to face communication was impossible, eventhough he was on the other side of the aisle. 2 stops away from the airport, the five us began shuffing our way through the crowds and closer to the door. If you cropped the picture at about 5 foot 4 you'd think we were waiding across a river, each of us with our backpacks raised over heads and totally drenched in sweat, some ours but most of it belonging to the hundred other people in the car with us.

Make sure to check out my India flickr gallery for some new photos of the trip to Mumbai and Elephanta Island.