We're in Mumbai/Bombay, obviously. I, at least, had heard a lot of sketchy things about this place, and also heard that overall its just too crowded, noisy, etc etc.....so far we like it a lot. I know there is definitely a bad part here, but perhaps we just have not seen it yet. Crowds? i haven;t seen anything worse than NY. Dirt? I've seen worse in Vellore. Shady characters....see DC, New York, etc etc. So far, its been a pretty good time. Admittedly, we've been doing touristy things and pretty much frequented the tourist-heavy areas, but we'll be venturing out a little more tomorrow, so we'll see....
Here's a pic from Trivandrum of the local Hindu temple. Felicia hadn't seen one of these yet, so she thought it was pretty neat. Lots of religious trinkets and stuff for sale around it. And a big "pond" for sacred washing. Lots of people showed up for evening prayer when we were there.
Closeup of the intricate details on this temple. Every inch is some sort of figure doing something.
In Mumbai, there are areas like the Mall in DC, or big parks, called "Maidens". The Oval Maiden is the most famous, especially for the constant games of cricket going on. Here is one of them.
A view of the Queens Necklace at dusk, wrapping around the back bay of Mumbai. Felicia and I sat here for a while. Lots of people strolling and just sitting happily.
The Gateway of India. Iconic, on the waters edge near the Fort and Colaba. We departed from the steps here on our boat to Elephanta Island today.
View of the Gate as we pulled away on the boat.
Neato Victorian architecture abounds, amidst heat, humidity, palms, etc.
One of the many very large figures in Elephanta Caves. It is a world heritage site 1-hour by boat from Mumbai. These are giant caves carved from solid rock around 6th century AD, with many columns, and large figures of the gods doing all kind of stuff. A lot were damaged by the Portuguese and others over the years. Here is Felicia for scale.
There is a giant 3-faced Shiva in the center of cave 1. Actually, the whole site is all about Shiva. This depicts 3 different faces, a fourth implied facing backwards. He is destroyer, kind, wise, all kinds of stuff in these. Amazing stonework deep in a cave temple (about 50 yards), all done by hand.
Another view of 3-faced Shiva, flanked by attendants.
Shiva again. Felicia is normally about 6 feet tall, so look how big this is in comparison!
Here's one of the cave temple entrances for example. They go real deep, with the large figures of Shiva and others all over. Too many awesome pics to post.
Churchgate train station at night. Lots of double-decker buses running around here. Pretty fun to see.
More cricketers at the Oval Maiden, with the High Court behind.
OK, that all from me. See you later. 1 more day, then home! I'll post a follow-up w/ more pics once I get home! -chris
Words from Felicia:
Hey all,
We have had a couple of really long days, so I'm being really lazy and I am not going to post any pictures this evening. I just want to say a few things. I think Mumbai may be moving to the top of my list as my favorite city we have been to in the past two weeks. The old European buildings with modern Indian people and lifestyle is very interesting and unlike anything we have seen thus far. Today we committed one of the seven deadly travelers sins. We ate at McDonalds. But I have to admit after weeks of eating Indian food something familiar we GREAT. Maybe there will be time to post tomorrow before our flight home, but in case there isn't time this has been a great trip and it has been fun sharing it with all you loyal readers out there.
Felicia
