Mumbai...what do I say. It was the best break I've had yet! The three volunteers and I along with Mary T and Darshana went to Mumbai for 2 days. Darshana is from Mumbai so along with her friend Jimmy we had our own personal tour guides for our stay in the immense city. We arrived late Tuesday night after a five hour bus ride into the city. Jimmy picked us up at our bus stop and took us to get food and tour us around a little before taking us to the Maharashtra Guide Centre in Mumbai. It was a small building with one gymnasium, and 2 basic dorm style rooms with beds and a fridge and bathroom. It was not exactly a luxury hotel, but at their asking price of 10 rupees a night (25 cents canadian, that they didnt even make us pay) we couldn't complain! The space around the centre was really nice though, it backed onto a huge park where lots of people played cricket, jogged, etc. And right across the street were Cafe Coffee Day and Barista, the two coffee chains Christa and I have become addicted to. Also it was about 3 minutes away from the sea, so if you walked to the end of the street you could check out the view. So that night the 5 of us set up in the dorm, and I got to re-live my childhood days sleeping on the top bunk again.
The next morning we met up with Jimmy and Darshana, Jimmy was fabulous and drove us around town during our stay or lent us his car and a driver so we could travel in style...it made the trip so wonderful! Getting away from rickshaws for a few days was amazing.So we drove around town for a while stopping at some of the big landmarks. We checked out the hanging gardens (where I got to touch my first elephant...too bad it was made out of a bush), to the gateway of india, to chowpatty beach, saw some churches and temples, etc. It was a great tour. We had lunch in the fashion district and afterwards went for some bargain shopping at a market along the street. I got some great deals on beautiful jewellery and clothing!
In the afternoon we went to this *beautiful* mosque, Haji Ali Dargah. It's in the sea, with a long walkway up to the building. We drove past in the morning during high tide and saw the waves crashing up and over the walkway, so we went back in the afternoon during low tide. It was my favourite part of the whole trip. This mosque has thousands and thousands of visitors every week.
It was just such a beautiful space, we saw the shrine inside the mosque, and then wandered around on the rocks down to the sea. The view looking back on the city along the coast is beautiful. There's something about how things are set up here that makes me understand the communion between spirtuality and atmosphere. You will always find incredible temples, mosques, etc. at these incredibly beautiful and important spots in cities.
So after spending a lot of time there, picking sea shells, and revelling in the fact that we were at the edge of a foreign sea we went back to our place at the Bharat Scouts and Guides centre and freshed up for the evening.
So after spending a lot of time there, picking sea shells, and revelling in the fact that we were at the edge of a foreign sea we went back to our place at the Bharat Scouts and Guides centre and freshed up for the evening.
That night we had Frankies for dinner, this delicious chicken thing in a tortilla...so greasy and delicious. Street meat is always the best, back home or in India.
Then we headed out for the evening, we decided we would check out Chowpatty beach at night to see the "Queens necklace" which is what people call the coastline at night with all the lights, its very beautiful, and again we got the chance to revel in the fact that we were thousands of miles away. We hung out on the beach, and took the oppportunity to sink our toes into the sand and took our first dip (feet only) in the Arabian Sea! Then we were going to go out on a night cruise, but Darshana got a call from her niece who reminded her that if we didnt go visit them that night that she would be at school when we stopped by. So we headed across town to Darshana's family's house and met her brother, her sister in law and her fabulous niece! It was fun to hang out and spend time with a family, but it made me miss my friends and family back home and the comfort of talking to people who know you best. We also got to see Victoria Terminus, the train station that has the most beautiful architecture, and some other spots on the drive home.
The next day we did some more sight seeing, we checked out the ritzy areas in town, and because we had asked Jimmy to point out all the Bollywood stars houses - be obliged and took us past where a bunch of them live. We did a bit more shopping that day for those of us who hadnt spent enough (me, me, me...haha) and then after some more sights before headed back to the centre to pack up and make the bus back to Pune.
It was really sad to get back into town and have to take care of ourselves. Jimmy and Darshana had been such amazing tour guides and friends that we didnt want to say goodbye to Jimmy. It also didnt help that we had to trade in driving around by car to going back to the rickshaw.
We start our next event "Ambassadors for Children" tomorrow morning...and while it will be lots of fun I am wishing I had more free time before it starts. We have 50 participants for 12 days, and for 4 of those 12 we will also have 25 kids between the ages of 8-12 for the kids camp that is a part of the event. It is bound to be a hectic event, and I think I need a few more day to prepare myself for the chaos that is bound to come with facilitating 75 people!
Oh well, all in a days work I suppose...
Then we headed out for the evening, we decided we would check out Chowpatty beach at night to see the "Queens necklace" which is what people call the coastline at night with all the lights, its very beautiful, and again we got the chance to revel in the fact that we were thousands of miles away. We hung out on the beach, and took the oppportunity to sink our toes into the sand and took our first dip (feet only) in the Arabian Sea! Then we were going to go out on a night cruise, but Darshana got a call from her niece who reminded her that if we didnt go visit them that night that she would be at school when we stopped by. So we headed across town to Darshana's family's house and met her brother, her sister in law and her fabulous niece! It was fun to hang out and spend time with a family, but it made me miss my friends and family back home and the comfort of talking to people who know you best. We also got to see Victoria Terminus, the train station that has the most beautiful architecture, and some other spots on the drive home.
The next day we did some more sight seeing, we checked out the ritzy areas in town, and because we had asked Jimmy to point out all the Bollywood stars houses - be obliged and took us past where a bunch of them live. We did a bit more shopping that day for those of us who hadnt spent enough (me, me, me...haha) and then after some more sights before headed back to the centre to pack up and make the bus back to Pune.
It was really sad to get back into town and have to take care of ourselves. Jimmy and Darshana had been such amazing tour guides and friends that we didnt want to say goodbye to Jimmy. It also didnt help that we had to trade in driving around by car to going back to the rickshaw.
We start our next event "Ambassadors for Children" tomorrow morning...and while it will be lots of fun I am wishing I had more free time before it starts. We have 50 participants for 12 days, and for 4 of those 12 we will also have 25 kids between the ages of 8-12 for the kids camp that is a part of the event. It is bound to be a hectic event, and I think I need a few more day to prepare myself for the chaos that is bound to come with facilitating 75 people!
Oh well, all in a days work I suppose...
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