We’re staying at the Taj Mahal Palace, the grand dame of Mumbai – set right on the promenade in the heart of the city. Built in 1903, this landmark has a magnificent Moorish and oriental facade. Walking up the grand main staircase to our luxurious suite takes us travelling back to the era of the maharajas. We indulge in a sumptuous high tea in the elegant Victorian style at the Taj overlooking the Gateway toIndia, a huge arch built to honour King George V’s visit toIndiain 1911. When the Taj opened in 1903, the Times of London called it “the finest caravanserai in the East”.
Whenever we walk past the cabinets of old black and white photographs, we celebrity spot more faces of the rich and famous who have stayed here over the centuries – John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Mick Jagger, Tina Turner, Richard Gere, Robert Plant, Michael Douglas, the Clintons, Barack Obama …. The Taj has a fascinating history – it was founded by JN Tata, a famous industrialist, because Indians were not allowed into the European hotels of India in the colonial days. Today the Tata family own some 80 hotels like the Taj Hotel in Cape Town, and major steel and auto companies.
We joined the throng of locals strolling the promenade right across the road from The Taj. At Sassoon Dock we watched the local fishermen unload and dry the catch. Sachin Tendulkar’s Café – one of the trendiest hangouts in Mumbai – serves his mother’s recipe for Bombay Duck! You might be surprised to find out Bombay duck is in fact fish not fowl – bombil fish, a sun-dried and deep-fried specialty! We dined at Masala Kraft at The Taj, home to Wasabi, rated one of the top fifty restaurants in the world. Executive chef Hemant Oberoi, one of the most famous Indian chefs prepared a feast of prawn, crab, pomfret fish, shrimp and vegetarian curries and chatnis for us.
The Taj even has a special “under the weather” tea menu – with a “virgin toddy” for stomach disorder and a hot mud apple milkshake for sore throats. We enjoyed the wonderful masala dhosa pancakes for breakfast and the amazing chai menu – teas from the first and second “flush” harvest, orange Pekoe, Darjeeling and aged monsoon coffee – as well as some ofIndia’s own tropical wines – good Chenin Blanc!
We came across some of the local “Mumbaikers” (the proper name for the city residents) at the outdoor laughter clubs started in the city in 1995 by a local doctor who believed “laughter is the best medicine”. They get together for a good laugh at 7am every day at the Gateway of India and the Hanging Gardens on Malabar Hill. We also watched all the crows and vultures flying over “the tower of silence”, the Parsi crematorium where corpses are left to decay in the air in a macabre funerary ritual. The 60 000 Parsi Zoroastrians who live in Mumbai hold fire, earth and water sacred.
You need at least three days in Mumbai to see the main tourist sights – the wonderful old colonial architecture of Victoria Station (a heritage railway station that looks like a cathedral with its gargoyles, flying buttresses and steeple). Mumbai is rated the world’s second best art deco destination afterSouth BeachFlorida. We took a guided walking tour to see the old art deco cinemas, hotels and buildings. The Prince of Wales museum and national gallery are famous for their collections of ancient and modern Indian artefacts and art – located nearby The Taj, they are well worth a visit.
We found the best way to experience the city is on foot. Seeing the sights of Mumbai is like looking through a kaleidoscope. We watched a colourful procession of white horses and tourist carriages festooned with red roses, the snake charmers, the giant balloon sellers, the tourist touts, street food vendors, chai wallahs (tea-sellers), peacock feather sellers and stallholders … I got used to being called Ali Baba! – and more politely tata and baba (old man). Boys in whites play cricket everywhere, everyday on the oval maidens (grassy commons and parks). All you hear is howzat! Our Indebo guide said “You Britishers gave us two things – cricket and chai (tea)!”
One of the most amazing sights in this colourful, exotic city is the washerman’s ghat – the world’s biggest outdoor laundry where we watched 5000 dhobis (washermen) washing clothes and all the hotel linen in 800 troughs right next to the railway line in the shadow of skyscrapers! The dazzling, white rows of washing lines are an amazing contrast to the grime of the city. When the washing is clean and dry, they set off with huge bundles of washing on the back of bicycles and hand-carts. I wished I’d brought my own laundry! Where else but Mumbai is a laundry a tourist attraction?
We visited the Mahatma Gandhi Museumat Mani Bhavan – the three-story residence where Gandhi stayed from 1917 – 1934 and launched his satyagraha campaign of civil disobedience for Indian independence. His simple room with its spinning wheel, writing desk and printing press is very evocative. Far from home, we came across the exhibits on his days inSouth Africadefying the pass laws – including the famous incident where he was thrown off a whites-only train carriage inNatal. We also spotted his boer war medals awarded for his pacifist work in the ambulance corps. Gandhi believed, “Non-violence is the greatest virtue – and different religions are flowers from the same garden … branches of the same majestic tree. I want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible!” Right on brother!
On Sunday we took a sixty minute ferry ride to Elephanta Island from the marina at The Gateway of India. We joined all the locals on a popular daytrip taking their families to picnic among the amazing temples and statues of the Hindu god Shiva cut into the rocky caves of this ancient shrine. Couples come to worship the lingam – the phallic shrines to fertility inside the caves. This Unesco world heritage site with a three-headed Shiva statue from the 5th century is one of the city’s top attractions. The locals were very curious to know why we had come such a long way to Mumbai.
Mumbai is one of the main gateways to India. The third biggest city in the world and the biggest inIndia (with around 20 million), it is the centre of the Bollywood industry with huge film studios (visitors can sign on as extras if they’re shooting and earn US$25 a day!). Mumbai is set on seven islands linked by a causeway to the main peninsula – with the main tourist areas in Colaba, marine drive and Chowpatty beach. Mumbai was the setting for Slum Dog Millionaire and Gregory Roberts’ cult novel Shantaram. In fact our first sight on flying into the city was the slum which comes right up to the airport perimeter. Mumbai is a heady, colourful introduction toIndia.
Mumbai is closer to South Africathan you think – a short hop across theIndian Ocean. We used the new direct service betweenJohannesburgand Mumbai operated by Jet Airways, one ofIndia’s leading airlines. The nine hour daylight flight leavesJohannesburgin the morning and gets into Mumbai later on the same day. We were very impressed by the in-flight and ground services of Jet Airways. The food was excellent, with a choice of Indian food before you even get there – great in-flight entertainment including Bollywood movies – and good onward connections.
I flew from Johannesburgto India on Jet Airways (www.jetairways.com – call 0860 JETAIR) and stayed at Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces (www.tajhotels.com). I travelled with www.egyptandbeyond.co.za and www.championtours.co.za, tel: 011- 678 6165, email [email protected], who runs a well-known travel agency based in Johannesburg.
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