Our trip was only a short 4 days 3 nights stay. Why short? My sister refused to come back on the last day as she said this is definitely the best trip she ever had. (for the 1st time ever, we have to thank AirAsia X for re-timing our flight to later that night and we actually had more time in Mumbai!!! yeayyy!!) And I had to agree - the experience throughout the 4 days were awesome! hahaha.... next time we have to come back.
We knew that Mumbai has the largest slum area in the world. Upon landing, our aircraft flew above the slum area. We saw the whole huge area and we had mix feeling. Sad - yes. Looking at how their houses are. Scared yes, that too because we were not sure what to expect. Would they come and approach us and ask for money? Would they come and disturb us? Will we fall sick like most my friends experienced when they were there? The worst part, I had a chat with a friendly passenger onboard and he said during his first trip to Mumbai, he was supposed to stay for 4 days and he left on the 2nd day as the situation around his 4 star hotel was bad. He couldn't stand it! Hmm....and we booked a hostel instead of a 4 star hotel - I was imagining the worst scenario that could happen. Will we do the same and leave on the second day?
Upon arrival we were lucky to be greeted by my friends who work in the AirAsia office there. They explained briefly how Mumbai is and they told us not to worry on the security as people there are nice and they do not disturb girls. We could also walk at night! We also asked a list of food that we should try in Mumbai. Woah! They were very helpful and it made us hungry on the spot as they were providing us with the names of the food and how its made of!
Unplanned, at the last minute, a friend who is a Malaysian working in Mumbai picked us up and helped to send us to our hostel. It was not that easy to find but we managed. Luckily we arrived on a Sunday, therefore the traffic was good!! I even said , " hey! this is not bad for a traffic in Mumbai!! Not like what peple described! Well, traffic in KL could even be worst than here!! hehehehe..
For the first 2 nights, we stayed at Hotel Travellers Inn, a backpackers'/budget hostel near to Mumbai city centre. The rooms are basic but clean and nice and the important thing - the bathroom was also nice!
The activity: Since the location of the hostel was perfect , we could walk along the Indian Navy base to the famous Gateway of India, which is just around the corner of the famous Taj Hotel which was bombed a few years ago and reconstructed. It was a nice place as it faces the sea and in the evening, we could see the locals and foreigners, families and friends spend time in the area. Some playing games, some taking pictures and others having a picnic! You could also take the ferry for a short tour!
We also spent a lot of time walking and exploring the south Mumbai, along the corridor of shops and buildings, snapping pictures and trying out local food and desserts.I prefer walking as this is the best way to get close and personal to the locals and also to remember this place well enough to come back next time.
We walked to Marine Drive, a coastal road along the beach which is also called as the "Queen's Necklace" because of the shape. We walked along the beach, enjoying the seabreeze and watched people jogged and exercised!
The purchase: As we walked along the roads, window shopped from one window to another, we managed to get some good bargain on sarees, long skirts and kurtis (the long shirts for ladies) . Both of us are quite tall it was a bit difficult to find a nice ready made kurti however we managed to find long skirts at around RM20 each was a really good buy! And the sarees we bought were from Bandra. It was cheap!!! We also found out that the skin care products under the Himalaya brand was really, really cheap! It seems that it originates from Bangalore hmmm.how come I didn't know about this when I went there last year? Anyway, we bought quite a big range of items.
The transportation: We tried the slow train from Mumbai to Bandra. It cost only Rp6 per person. Then we tried the 1st class train from Bandra to Andheri which costs us Rp55 each. We were excited to see how busy the train station was and expect some people to be sitting on it however it was a public holiday on that day so the trains were quite empty. Maybe thats better for us J It was definitely a different experience as we managed to see some of the slum areas along the rail tracks. Arrived in Andheri we took the auto (tuk tuk) which was not allowed in Mumbai city , to Anjali Inn, where we booked for the night. We had to be careful of this as some of them just refused to charge using the metre. We also tried one of the cute taxi that we always see in the Hindi movies and just imagine 2 of us fit into it - our knees almost poking the drivers seat!!! Hahaha
The food: Only one word could describe it - YUMMY!!!! OMG!! as I am typing this, I am already hungry thinking about all the food we had there. For tea on the 1st day, we tried their local fish curry served with pav (pav pronounced as pau, a kind of soft bread) . For dinner, we tried out their famous pav bhaji, the soft bread again served with mashed vege cooked with herbs and curry and stuffs and pav bhaji with cheese. The next day, nothing could stop us from eating! We had masala pav bhaji, vegetarian briyani, mutton kheema , local made vegetarian sandwich,pani puri, mutton briyani with palak paneer, their local soup and also brain fried with eggs. Oh yeah!!! I guess we could eat more if we were to stay more days there!!!
And their dessert must haves for every meal!! Their crme caramel pudding is nice (we tried 2 versions), their sweet desserts like laddoo and gulab jamun and the one I love most was falooda!! Did I mention their mango juice which was made from alphonso mangoes are the best?? Arghhh..theyve got lots of good stuffs there!!!!
The people: Overall, everybody in Mumbai was very friendly to us. From the people we met at the 2 hostels where we stayed well the Anjali Inn brothers were so charming J , to the taxi driver who even showed us where Latha Mangeshkars apartment and Shah Rukh Khans house was, to the auto (tuktuk) driver who kept explaining to us our location and what to see, the waiters and owners of restaurants and stalls trying hard to explain to us what is nice about their food and allowed us to try some of it and the people we met on the train who informed us which station we should get down at. I am touched with how warm the people are. Amazing.
Overall, it has been an amazing, wonderful, beautiful and colourful trip. I love Mumbai and one day would love to go back there. And my sister has been asking me, Are we going to Delhi, next?
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