10%

Mumbai

Maharashtra, India

By Altaaf Khan

April 26^th, 2020

January 2020

Mumbai, our final stop in India. We got here on New Years Eve. All I recall from our visit, is the traffic. It's on a whole another level. But it was still nice to take a break from visiting Palaces and Forts.

Gateway of India

It was built to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary, the first British monarchs to visit India, in December 1911 at Apollo Bunder, Mumbai, then Bombay.

Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

Situated next to the Gateway of India "The Taj" is a five star heritage hotel, commissioned by Tata in 1903. It is believed that Jamsetji Tata, founder of Tata Group, decided to build the hotel after he was refused entry to, Watson's Hotel, one of the city's grand hotels of the time, as it was restricted to "whites only". It was one of the main sites targeted in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Dhobi Ghat

Dhobi Ghat, an open air laundromat in Mumbai. The washers, known as dhobis, work out in the open to clean clothes and linens from Mumbai's hotels and hospitals. It was constructed in 1890.

Mani Bhawan

Mani Bhavan is a museum and historical building dedicated to Gandhi. It was the focal point of Gandhi's political activities in Mumbai between 1917 and 1934.

There is a library with a statue of the Mahatma where people offer tributes. A staircase dotted with Gandhi's pictures depicting his life leads visitors to the first floor which has a photo gallery with photographs from his childhood till his assassination.

The room that Gandhi used during his stay is on the second floor, where through a glass partition people can see two of his spinning wheels, a book and his bed on the floor.

Juhu and Bandra

Juhu and Bandra are anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half from the town center, even though it lies only 9km south. Guess you can blame that on Mumbai traffic. Considered the hip part of Mumbai and it is also home to many Bollywood stars.

These road side stalls wouldn't pass your food safety standards of the western world, but what the heck, Mumbai was the last stop. Got my hands on various street food; vada pav (highly recommend), pav bhaji, bhel puri, sev puri, batata vada and of course some masala chai to wash it all down.