8th May – Mumbai
We arrived in Mumbai to a hot steamy day, but immigration was a snack. So easy. So different to the other times I’ve been here.
20 of us headed off in a lovely big bus with lots of room.
Mumbai is a city of 25 million people. That’s the whole of Australia in one city. Last time I was here I did a ship tour and had a fantastic guide.
We got onto the bus and headed off. The guide started talking and I thought….cannot be!
I asked for if she had done a year in the US as a kid. A shocked yes was her answer!
25 million people and I got the same tour guide – 4 years apart! And she was still fantastic.
We started with a drive to one of the busiest train station. They ‘allow’ the tour company’s to buy tickets and take tourists on rides as long as we head against the peak traffic. We just wouldn’t fit on at peak time.
We travelled first class. Marla, the guide, told us that the difference between first class and general was the body odour of the people in the carriage.
We then got off and walked up to the Dhobi Ghat. The biggest outdoor laundry in the world. This gigantic outdoor laundry was constructed in 1890 and is a series of open drains and channels.
Up to 10,000 people live and work there, all from the untouchable class and illiterate to our methods of written communication.
Yet these people manage to collect, wash, dry and press and deliver back to their owners, over 100,000 items a day. They never mix up people clothing. It always goes back to the correct person! Private homes, hotels, clubs etc.
One hanging line might have a few hundred white shirts, or blue jeans – from all over the city. Yet their systems never get it wrong. And the clothing is so amazingly clean. The water they are washed in looks pretty brown, but the whites are so white and bright.
They are iron with giant nine pound irons filled with coals.
Washing plots are owned by families and are handed down over the generations.
It’s an amazing process. But so sad that such hard work and poverty is nestled in below Bollywood and the IT industry.
Next stop was back at the train station in time to see the Dabba Wallas. They are the guys who deliver the hot lunches to the husbands at work.
At about midmorning the wives cook a hot lunch for their husbands. They are packed into ‘tiffens’ – multi layers, round, metal lunchboxes. These are the original lunchboxes. The idea was adopted by the English and spread world-wide. One for rice, curry, nann bread and so on.
Over the next few hours about five different dabba wallas handle that lunch box. One collects it and takes it to the train station. Another takes it and carries it on the train to the distribution station. It is then handed to another who takes it on a bike, or on a huge rack on his head, push cart or by some other manner and delivers it to the man at work. He happily eats his hot lunch! Some of the head trays were more than 40kg.
Then another dabba walla comes and collect it and it goes back through all the hands to the home. Talk about Uber Eats not being an original concept!
This costs a sum of around $90 US a month and is usually paid for by the corporation the man works for.
Once again these people are illiterate but have an even lower error rate than the clothes washers. They earn about $150US a month – which is a great wage, even though many of them come from the one town and travel two hours to get into town.
As we were driving off we passed the
most expensive private house in the world. A squillionaire bought a 60 story
building and converted it to a 27 story private home.
One floor was changed into a cow pasture as they wanted fresh milk, and of
course it is good to have a sacred cow!
Another floor is a ‘snow room’. Yep. A snow room – where you go in and it snows.
Just like the ski resort in the mall in Dubai.
Eight people live in this house! Not counting servants and workers.
But just to put things into perspective – when his daughter got married the
invitations were worth $8,000US each. Gold and jewels on them.
And for his wife’s birthday he bought her the ………. Indian Cricket Team!
We went past the main railway station – a copy of St Pancras in London, built by the English of course. Grand cricket clubs and many, many games of cricket.
Traffic was nuts. But worked. A few traffic snarls had police on point duty. One had a big stick – huge and was not afraid to whack cars that did the wrong thing.
We saw a water station where some well off people built a block that had fresh water taps for the homeless.
Next was the ‘Gateway to India’. The large memorial built to commemorate the visit of King George and Queen Mary. The first thing the English saw when they arrived and the last thing they saw when they left.
Opposite was the Taj Mahal Hotel, site of the 2008 terrorist attack where 167 were killed. More at other sites. Still massive security to get in.
And then the Crawford Markets. Home of everything! Especially mangos. Caged birds are very popular in India. Mainly Budges and Canaries. So many of them. Everywhere.
Lunch was amazing.
Then back to the ship. Shower and
cool. It was hot. Only mid 30’s but so humid! Disgustingly humid. Dripping into
your sunglasses hot!
Sea day was next.
I tried the Schwan Red – a Chinese restaurant on board. I have half strength
mild spice and it was lovely.
That night we went to ‘Hot Pot’ for dinner. Like Steamboat. Fantastic. So much
seafood. As much as you wanted. It was wonderful.
9th May – Cochin
Cochin today! A group of us headed of to the Backwaters of Kuttamangalam on the Chambakulam River. I checked with the tour company about six times to make sure we had another big bus.
Well we got out bus, and yes it was big. Looked just like a normal coach – until we climbed in a realised it was stumpy. Only a 22 seater….so we were all cuddled up in the heat.
But we didn’t care about being squashed up. We were in too much terror on the roads.
In India – they drive on the left hand side…… unless they are on the right. There is a system of overtaking. Biggest vehicle has right of way. When two buses or trucks are heading at each other in the middle of the road – everyone else – cars, scooters, tuk tuks, carts etc are just pushed aside. We didn’t even see a near miss – but damn, it was scary!
But after two hours we got to our destination and boarded our houseboat for our 3 hr cruise. It was quite surreal to then be peacefully gliding along.
The house boat was a three bedroom, three ensuite, with an open lounge area and a kitchen. There were hundreds of them. All full of tourists out enjoying the day. But the vast majority of them were India people who had come to the river for the weekend. Large family groups out having fun.
Other people were outside their homes going about their business – mostly washing, fishing or cleaning fish. Goats and chooks were all around.
We stopped and called into a small shop – a local shop and bought more beer and soft drinks. And of course fresh fish for our lunch!
Our lunch was awesome. Beautiful King Fish culets and so much more.
We then had to get off and endure the drive back.
Lucky there were interesting things to look at. Little shops, strange vehicles. By mid-afternoon lots of small food shops were doing a roaring trade – like Saturday cafes at home.
We then went to the Chinese Fishing Nets. The giant nets that date back to the 1840’s. It takes six people to lower and raise them. They go in for a few hours and the fish swim in. There were also heaps of little fish markets. Selling fish from big kingfish to tiny – really tiny things.
Families were out enjoying the beach.
I was surprised how Christian this area was. So many more churches than temples.
Then back to the ship and good by India. Still a wonderful place…but so hot.
We went to Teriyaki for dinner and had a wonderful time. And of great excitement – I CAUGHT THE EGG THAT WAS FLIPPED AT ME. Caught it in my mouth that is!
And more joy – four sea days.
More of the same. Trivia, hat, sleep, eat, chat, drink, eat, chat, repeat.
I’ve been to a few more shows on board.
Amazing. Silk Road opened this leg. 50 minutes of amazing dance, aerials, trampolineing, creepy contortionists, and more.
Life is good on a ship.
I have tried to ring you but will try again in a few days.
I WILL KEEP TRYING TO GET PHOTOS UP>