Mumbai

Another early start today as we berthed just before 7.00 and we had to present ourselves and our passports to the Indian authorities on board before we could disembark. The process was painless and we soon found ourselves on the dockside with our Aussie friends Margaret & Norman.  A free shuttle took us to the Green Gates, where we were surrounded by anxious cab drivers of all sorts.  After a bit of haggling we agreed $US40 for 4 hours.  Off we went to visit the main sights of this town of 20 million people.  Incredible.

Fortunately it was a Sunday morning and the streets were relatively quiet.  Our taxi was an air conditioned SUV and was comfortable with leather seats.  I know why.  We quickly established that there are no road rules in Mumbai after driving on both/either side of the road, at times directly into oncoming traffic.  Our driver explained that Mumbai drivers consider themselves "tigers" and only give way to bigger "tigers" :-)   The miracle is that most of the cars are completely undamaged and the only thing that must work is the horn.  A blast on the horn seems to open the road magically.

We saw all the sights, including Ghandi's house, Prince of Wales Museum, Jain Temple, train station, Dhobhi Ghat (where all the whiter than white washing is done), Gateway of India and finally the Taj Mahal Hotel.  We made the fatal mistake of mentioning that we were looking for a shirt for me & another blouse for Vivian.  This meant 3 stops at "very good value shops sirs", but in reality they had nothing and we soon escaped and told our driver that we were no longer interested.  Our trip was actually only 3 hours but we felt that we'd seen enough of the city and elected to get off at the Taj.

Security is now tight at the hotel, with screening of all visitors and cars entering the hotel courtyard.  No problems for us, and the ladies changed their shoes for something more presentable and we entered the hotel foyer.  There are many restaurants - Indian, Asian & others that we not too sure about, but we found out that the Middle Eastern restaurant was on the 20th (top) floor, so up we went.  What a magnificent sight of both the vista outside & the food inside.  This was a top class and award winning restaurant and on Sunday's they served what they termed a "brunch" but was really a buffet of magnificent middle eastern cuisine.  The food was superb and a glass of French champagne was included.  OK, this was not a cheap meal, but we thought that we had good value at $60 a head.  We were pretty well the only diners there, so we had great service from 3 waiters and we got to meet the Chef, who was from Syria.

The views were outstanding and we got some great photos of the Gateway of India, directly on front of the hotel.  Our berth was in the commercial harbour, which is also the large naval base, so we had a dozen or so warships as well as 2 aircraft carriers adjacent. Funny how we seem to have attracted the various navies over the course of our journey.

While at lunch, a local couple were dining and he was wearing a shirt like I wanted.  We established that there was a shop behind the hotel that sold men's shirts.  So after lunch, we head out through the crowd to find this shop.  We pass dozens of men sleeping on the footpath, dogs and generally a downtrodden part of town - immediately behind the opulence we had just experienced.  By great fortune, Norman spoke to this well dressed woman, out with her husband and young son.  She knew the shop and took us there - down more dingy/dodgy alleys.  In a rundown building, off a courtyard, off a side street, off the beaten track (I think you get the idea), a sign directs us to the first floor, once again up a deserted building we go, the women are not too sure.  But there we are - bright lights, air-conditioning, Taylor Swift music, and this amazing store.  Needless to say, we bought shirt & blouse and were happy.

Made our way back to the Taj and jumped a real local taxi (yellow & black in air conditioned) for a trip back to the dock.  His English was not good and he delivered us to the market on the other side of town.  When we told him this was wrong, we retraced our route and were delivered safely.  Two things - I was in the suicide (passenger) seat & the traffic was a lot heavier in the afternoon.  An experience I will treasure (or something like that).  Good to be back on board and although we know that there is a lot more to Mumbai, we are contented with what we did today.  Tomorrow of course is yet another sea day in preparation for our 2nd Indian port of Cochin.