Day 15: Mumbai, Maharashtra
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After a morning at sea and lunch
aboard the ship,
we do a whistle-stop "highlights" tour
of the city in the afternoon.
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After a quiet night
and a peaceful morning at sea, the skyline of Mumbai emerged
while we were having lunch. |
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After doing many cruises
on these ships, we know that Sunday lunch means a traditional
roast on the Lido Deck.Today, beef was on the menu and it
was done to perfection. |
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Initially, we thought
we might be going to dock alongside what looked like a brand
new cruise terminal... |
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...but then the ship
turned and we docked next to what looked like an old warehouse.
It turned out that this is the current international cruise
terminal. |
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It was good to see Varsha,
the local agent in India, waiting for us to dock. We last
saw her in Chennai a couple of weeks ago. |
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We were fascinated (and
somewhat mystified) by the lengthy and, in the end, fruitless
attempt by the port workers to install their own gangplank.
After taking ages to get it manoeuvred into place (long
before what can be seen in this video clip), the angle looked
so steep that nobody would have been able to walk down it.
Slide? Possibly! In the meantime, the ship's sailors managed
to drop our own gangplank quickly and efficiently! |
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At around 2:30 (half
an hour after the scheduled time), we were called to disembark
for the afternoon tour. Given that we had limited time to
see the city, the map below indicates that we managed to
cover quite some distance. We only got off the coach 3 times,
but we did manage to take a lot of photos from the coach
between stops, althought some photos were not of the best
quality. |
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From the cruise terminal
(bottom right), we drove south to the Gateway of India arch-monument,
then north past the university and the high court to the
railway station, where we paused briefly. Heading west,
we followed the coast around to the park and gardens on
Malabar Hill for our first stop. After a short drive north
we stopped again at Ghandi's one-time home, Mani Bhavan.
We continued north to the Mahalaxshmi dhobi ghat for our
final stop, before driving south again to the coastal road,
which took us back to the ship.
Click on the map for a larger version. |
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Mumbai,
also known as Bombay (its official name until 1995), is
the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It
is the financial capital and the most populous city of
India with an estimated population of 12.5 million. Mumbai
is also the centre of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region,
which is among the most populous metropolitan areas in
the world with a population of over 23 million. Mumbai
lies on the Konkan coast on the west coast of India and
has a deep natural harbour. It has the highest number
of billionaires out of any city in Asia.
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We weren't sure what
the occasion was, but subsequent research suggested that
pink turbans are sometimes worn by men at weddings. |
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The Gateway
of India is an arch-monument completed in 1924 on the
waterfront of Mumbai. It was erected to commemorate the
landing of King George V, for his coronation as the Emperor
of India in December 1911 at Strand Road near Wellington
Fountain. He was the first British monarch to visit India.
We were due to make a stop here, but the late start meant
something had to give. |
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The statue is of Bal
Thackeray (23rd January 1926 – 17th November 2012),
also known as Balasaheb Thackeray, who was an Indian cartoonist
and politician. He founded the original Shiv Sena, a far-right,
a pro-Marathi and a Hindu nationalist party, active mainly
in the state of Maharashtra. |
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Partially hidden behind
the trees, this is the campus of the University
of Mumbai, a public state university in Mumbai. It is
one of the largest university systems in the world with
over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges.
As of 2013, the university had 711 affiliated colleges.
It was established in 1857 following a dispatch from Sir
Charles Wood, President of the Board of Control, to Governor-General
Lord Dalhousie. There are courses available covering science,
commerce and the arts. |
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The Central Telegraph
Office. |
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Babu Amichand Panalal
Adishwarji Jain Temple. |
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Our first stop was at
the Kamala
Nehru Park, part of the Hanging
Gardens complex in Mumbai, covering an area of approximate
16,000 sq.metres. Located at the top of Mumbai's Malabar
Hill, it is popular with young children and tourists. The
garden has views of the Marine drive below – also
known as Queen's necklace. |
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Back on the coach, it
was only a short drive to our next stop... |
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After a very interesting
visit to Mani Bhavan it was another 20 minute drive to the
last stop of the tour... |
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...at the Mahalaxshmi
Dhobi
ghat (laundry-place or washing-place), which is reputedly
the largest open-air laundry in the world. |
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As the sun began to set,
we headed back to the port and to our ship. |
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Our last evening on
board and we decided that we needed a photo to prove that
we were here! |
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