First full day

Trip Start Apr 07, 2008

Trip End Apr 30, 2008

Loading Map

Map your own trip!

Map Options

Show trip route

Hide lines

Where I stayed

The Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai (Bombay)

Flag of India Mumbai (Bombay), India
Wednesday, April 9, 2008

First full day in Mumbai. Still, even as a New Yorker, can't get over the size of the place, the vast throngs of people. My impressions are generally the same, decidedly non western but not the assault on our senses I was preparing for. People are extremely friendly, believe it or not they actually seem to like Americans.

Took the obligatory city tour, Ghandi Museum, Hanging Gardens, Prince of Wales Museum, etc. Ok, especially the Ghandi Museum, but not really what we came here for. As for what we did come here for it was to see the people, get a feel for, a real sense of what India is. As much as anyplace what's given us a sense of that is the Dobi Ghats(http://www.mumbainet.com/travel/dhobighat.htm) where professional washmen take the clothes of their clients to be washed. Hard to describe what made it unique, afterall a drycleaning plant wouldn't give you a sense of the U.S., but it is truly unlike anything I've ever seen anywhere.

Leopold's

Having been in Montreal a few days before, 2 hours from home and bilingual but decidedly French, I am just amazed by how prevalent English is here. I knew it was spoken but you'd be hard pressed to find a billboard in Hindi.

Since arriving I've been connected to the web and purchased a SIM for my phone; half a world away and I can check my voicemails and turn on and watch my satellite receiver in Stowe(slingbox.com, can't beat it).

Met our first locals(apart from tour guides), a nice young couple sitting next to us at Leopold's. For anyone out there who has read Shantaram, yes Leopold's really does exist. From Bombay but spoke with absolutely perfect British accents. Two of the nicest people you could ever meet and the personification of what westerners would classify as the "New India." High tech jobs, connected to the globe. Hopefully their next backpacking trip might take them to Vermont.

Those Kingfishers are telling me I'm too tired to write much else, please post and tell me what you think.

Slideshow