India- Mumbai

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On Friday morning we took a quick 45 minute flight from Aurangabad to Mumbai, arriving at our hotel at around noon. We checked in, relaxed for a few minutes, and headed out for lunch at Pizzeria, a popular and tasty spot on Marine Drive with a view of the Arabian Sea.

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The view from inside of one of the thousands of black and yellow taxis that cover Mumbai's streets. After lunch, we rode from the Churchgate area over to the Colaba area on the other side of the peninsula that Mumbai occupies.

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We walked around near the Taj Hotel (above) and the Gateway of India (below). The gate was built to commemorate the visit of King George V in the early 20th century.

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Our next destination was the Colaba Street Market, where we did some last minute shopping. Along the way we walked through neighborhoods with tree-lined streets and taxi drivers napping in their cars.

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Back at our hotel near Nariman Point, a view of the Queens Necklace, the strip of Marine Drive that hugs Back Bay, so named for the lights that at night look like a necklace of jewels.

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Drinking mango juice by the pool.

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Sunset over the Arabian Sea, a perfect last night in India.

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Dinner at the India Jones restaurant in the Trident Hotel, Nariman Point. The name may be cheesy, but it suited our Indiana Jones theme, and served delicious pan-Asian food in a beautiful decor.

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Dessert.

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The beautiful yellow rose that graced our room.

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On Saturday morning we had a slow breakfast at our hotel before heading out to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, formerly known as the Prince of Wales Museum. The museum was opened in 1923 to commemorate the visit of King George V when he was the Prince of Wales.

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The Indo-Saracenic architecture of the museum was beautiful, and the interior spaces were designed in a very old-fashioned museum style. Fortunately, some of the exhibits had been recently rennovated, but others were in need of some updating. The most tragic thing about the museum was the lack of air-conditioning. Mumbai is a very hot and humid city, and the windows of the museum were open to the pollution outside. As we climbed to the third floor the heat became unbearable for us, and we did not linger for long in the museum. I was heartbroken to see works on paper, paintings, and metals housed in such stressful conditions.

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After the heat of the museum, we headed back to the hotel to have an iced tea in the lobby and cool down a bit.

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Late in the afternoon we went up to Chowpatti Beach, a popular gathering spot in Mumbai.

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Boats on the beach. The water is far too polluted to safely swim in, so we just walked through the sand and did some people watching.

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Our last stop of the day was Samaat Restaurant, back in the Churchgate area.

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One of my favorite things about India was the easy accessibility of vegetarian food. Every food product came with a small green or red dot on it telling consumers if it was suitable for vegetarians or not. Also the wealth of pure veg restaurants was wonderful. Samaat was a fantastic restaurant, and a perfect end to our trip.

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After dinner we picked up our belongings at our hotel and headed out to the airport. We caught an evening flight up to Delhi, where we had to wait for a 1 a.m. flight to Seoul (which was of course delayed). The Delhi airport was easily my least favorite part of India, it was crowded, dirty, and felt very insecure. By the time we boarded our flight we were exhausted enough to sleep the entire way to Korea, and from there we only had a short layover before the final leg of our journey, the hour and a half flight back to Kansai.

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Overall, our journey through India was amazing, and a true feast for the senses. Everything seemed to come with extra intensity, be it the intense colors of women's saris, the intense beauty of the monuments, the intense spices of the food, or the intense population, pollution, and poverty. Time felt different to me, and our 11 day trip felt like much longer. Even though we took over 970 photos, I have so many more snapshots in my head, and I think the visual aspect of India was my favorite part. While I thought that our journey was the perfect introduction for us, I would love to return someday to tour the Buddhist sights in the northeast, as well as Darjeeling or the foothills of the Himalayas.