Mumbai, India

           Monday, 20 Mar 2017 – Although we were still exhausted from the Taj Mahal trip, we didn’t want to miss seeing Mumbai.  Therefore, we were up by 6:00 AM in order to eat breakfast before meeting for our excursion, “Highlights of Mumbai.”  Our bus pulled off by 8:45 AM to start our four-hour tour, with Ragina as our guide.

Mumbai was our last stop in India.  The fastest growing, most affluent and industrialized (and possibly the cleanest) city in India, Mumbai represents the ever-changing face of today’s India – the old coupled with the dynamic new.  First, we visited a structure built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911, which is a principal landmark in Mumbai, the Gateway of India.

 After removing our shoes to enter, we visited the beautiful temple of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), where we witnessed prayer chanting offered for the welfare of humanity.  Some people were prostrate on the floor, and the inside of the temple was beautiful.

Krishna Temple (ISKCON)

Next, our bus made a stop at the Hanging Gardens.  Then, at the Dhobi Ghat we saw thousands of pieces of clothing hanging to dry on lines; such items are sent each day to be laundered, dried, and ironed by Mumbai’s’ laundry men and women, the dhobi wallahs.  Although we had noticed men on bicycles sometimes near our bus carrying large bags of garments, we didn’t know where they were going until we saw clothes drying on lines.

Sally’s favorite stop was Mani Bavan, the Gandhi Memorial.  The photos of the important events in Mahatma’s life are very interesting.  However, Sally took a little too long studying the photos and reading the captions because, when we were ready to leave, we couldn’t find anyone from our bus.  But soon someone came for us; he led us across a busy street, telling us, “Stay right by me!”  Holding out his hand to stop cars in each lane, he led us across!

Our last stop in Mumbai was at the Prince of Wales Museum, built to commemorate King George V’s royal visit to India.  This museum contains ancient artifacts, ivory carvings, and terracotta figurines – basically items found by archeologist in that area.  By about 2:30 PM, the bus returned us to the ship.

We were surprised by the fairly mild temperatures in India, maybe because it was overcast while we were there (by smog?).  At least, it was not nearly as hot as we had experienced in Malaysia.

After lunch, Sally slept from about 4:00 to 6:30 PM, and soon after that, we went to dinner.  While we were still at the table, a server brought a small cake to share for Jesse’s [belated] birthday.  The waitress wrapped the remainder (most of the cake) in plastic, and Jesse placed it in the fridge in our cabin to finish off with ice cream the next day.  We were soon in bed!