mumbai is probably more in the news these days than any other indian city...first because of bollywood, and 2nd because of 26 november...we arrived in mumbai the morning of 22 jan...there are no rickshaws in central mumbai, which means we had to take a taxi from the train station...the first offer we got was for 270 rupees...we got it down to 80...(though the other taxi drivers weren't too pleased with our driver)...mumbai has some of the most expensive accomodation in india...we paid more there than anywhere else!!!
the daily average income in mumbai is three times the national average...yet more than half the city lives in slums...some of you have probably heard of slumdog millionaire, the movie that has won several awards...much of it was filmed in mumbai, a couple of the child actors in the movie still live in the slums...our first day there, layna and i walked through a very small area of slums...surprisingly, it was one of the friendliest places we've been...the streets are small, and everything is crowded, but the people were really friendly, and eager to talk...the movie opened in india quite a bit later than in the states...(it had already won several golden globes before opening in india)...we went to see it opening night...though it has it's share of complainers, we enjoyed the movie...i wonder if we enjoyed it more because we are currently in the middle of everything it shows?
at the end of the day, ben arrived in mumbai...he's another american, 31yrs old...i know some of you think i've done a lot of traveling...but compared to ben, i've never left my couch...his travelogue gets 5000 hits a month!!! anywho, this is his first time in india, so we introduced him a bit...he just had surgery on his acl a couple months ago, and has only been mobile for 2-3 weeks...he wanted to strengthen the muscles, and reverse some of the atrophy...so we walked...a lot...he said that in the past he's always been the one to want to walk more, but that we put him to shame...hee hee...most of our days in mumbai we walked at least 15K, sometimes as much as 20K...mumbai was our first warm city, so we went from being cold much of the time to sweating much of the time...
asia's busiest train station is in mumbai...it used to be called victoria terminus, and now has a long indian name...people still call it victoria terminus, or vt for short...it's shown several times in slumdog millionaire...we saw the oldest english building in mumbai as well, a church...there are a lot of memorials in the church, and it was interesting to see the differences...some described entire careers, some said how the person died, and some seemed to place more emphasis on who built the memorial...there are lots of colonial style buildings all over mumbai...it's easy to imagine the british there...very very easy...
one of the british influences in mumbai are three different maidans...(think big empty field)...the oval maidan is probably the most well known...the only organized activity allowed on the maidan is cricket...there were LOTS of different games going on...with bowlers coming from every which direction, and balls flying everywhere, it was amazing people weren't being knocked down left and right...the last time we walked through this maidan was republic day, one of only three national holidays...(yup, the entire country only celebrates three holidays together...each state has plenty of it's own holidays and festivals though, and they're awesome)...republic day was very very very security conscious over the whole country...because of additional terrorist threats and a foiled terrorist plot in delhi just the day before, delhi was practically on lockdown, and there was a lot more security in general...during the republic day parade in delhi, the airport wasn't allowing flights in or out...because of what happened in mumbai in november, there was also a lot of additional security...
one activity that ben has become involved in during all of his travels is hashing...it's a running club, much of the time with a drinking problem...it's international, with different kennels in every city and country imaginable...anywho, ben found a hash for us to run, or so we thought...after arriving at the proper place, we realized we were 2.5 yrs late...the owner of the house had even passed away!! note to the mumbai hash club: update your website!!!!!!!! instead of going back to our hotel, we went to the biggest laundry area i've ever seen in my life...HUGE...they do laundry in india by beating the dirt out of your clothes...they slam it against stone again and again and again, in between soakings...it's rather impressive...nearly all the laundry done in the city is done in this one area...i wonder how it doesnt get all confused and returned to the wrong people...
that afternoon we took the ferry out to elephanta island...the guidebook talked about caves with buddhist carvings, and i thought they sounded interesting...as this was only ben's second day in india, and he's got the world's most sensitive stomach (after all his traveling you'd think it wouldn't be that way anymore...when he was in turkey he lost 25lbs in one month!!) he had to run back to the hotel, so he ended up on a different ferry...hee hee...the caves didn't end up being all that great...we liked the ferry ride better than the caves!!
our last day in mumbai we walked to chowpatty beach...it's a reasonable beach, but the water is NOT CLEAN...toxic maybe?...so people just stand around a bit, but don't go in the water much...after the beach we continued walking, all the way to malabar hill, which is supposed to be the ritzy area of town...it's definitely nicer than other areas, but maybe we missed the best spots, because it didn't seem that fabulous...layna and i have developed a love for curd, and when we saw buffalo curd advertised, we couldn't resist...we devoured a half kilo of the stuff, in record time...i don't think ben was very impressed...he loved his lassi though...
in keeping with habits layna and i have developed, we stuck to local places to eat...we rarely eat in places mentioned in the guidebook...we've found that places crowded with locals offer better (and cheaper) food...YUM!!!
Showing posts with label victoria terminus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label victoria terminus. Show all posts
27 January 2009
31 December 2006
HONG KONG, SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION, CHINA
Sunday, December 31, 2006
HONG KONG, SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION, CHINA
The Hong Kong part of my winter vacation was completely mellow…Ivan and I flew from Beijing to Hong Kong, which actually ended up being the longest flight of the vacation…3.5 hours…not too shabby…the Hong Kong airport is a lot nicer and more modern than the Beijing airport…MUCH more modern…the oddest part of the flight was checking in at the Beijing airport…you have to go through customs before you check in…very strange…getting off the airplane in Hong Kong was nice…it was a LOT warmer, so we didn't need 67 layers of clothes anymore…we hopped into a cab, and found the hostel where I had made reservations…it was in chungking mansions, which is basically one GIANT building…filled with many hostels, stands to buy just about anything, a few places to surf the internet, Indian restaurants, money exchangers, etc…and tons of touts…Beijing was nothing compared to the number of people who are trying to sell stuff or get us to go to their hostel/restaurant…I'm glad we had reservations ahead of time…we checked into our room, which was tiny…newer than the Beijing hostel, and with a TV…we found it had the wonders of bbc, one of the best news channels ever…
Since we had a few hours, we decided to go to the peak, to see Victoria harbor at night…I'm glad we did, even though it was pretty windy and chilly up at the top…after taking the subway/bus and walking a bit, we found the bottom tram station…the tram ride up is really steep…enough so that they build the steps in the middle of the tram at an angle for those who end up standing…the view at the top of the peak is great…at night, when all the buildings are lit up, it's amazing…many of the buildings are supposedly coordinated together in a light show, but we didn't really see that…there are definitely buildings with changing lights, but they didn't seem coordinated…Ivan is much more a photographer than I am, but I think the two of us took equal numbers of pictures…I played around with the settings on my camera for the first time ever, and found all sorts of good ways to take pictures…black and white, sepia toned, adjusting the shutter speed, etc…fun times…
The next day we didn't set an alarm…didn't even bother to think about what we wanted to see until after getting ready for the day…we walked for what seemed like ages to find breakfast, but we didn't see anything…annoying, so we ended up settling on a convenience store breakfast…ice cream, chocolate and chocolate milk for me, a sandwich for Ivan…we decided to check out Hong Kong park…it's built in the middle of Hong Kong, an 8 hectare park…it's not a huge park, but they have managed to cram a number of areas into it…a fountain plaza, conservatory, Olympic square, viewing tower, museum and aviary…it's a bit odd to see the contrast in photographs, with the park surrounded by skyscrapers…the aviary is nice to walk through, according to the signs, it is home to 600 birds of 90 different species…we did howeva, skip the museum of tea ware…we figured we didn't need to see a museum full of antique tea ware…bowls, teaspoons, brewing trays, sniffing cups and teapots…how exciting does that sound??? Not very…after wandering around, we had lunch at a small sandwich type of place…I guess it was later than lunch, but not really dinner yet…after that came the Hong Kong space museum…it's shaped like a ginormous golf ball…there is a lot about Chinese space history, some of the legends of space, and some hands on exhibits illustrating the laws of physics…you get to see a lump of moon rock, and the 1962 space capsule from Mercury…some of the exhibits were outdated…for instance, Pluto is still listed as a planet, and at least one globe showed Yugoslavia as a country…there is also an IMAX theater…Ivan and I each picked a 'movie' we wanted to see, and agreed to come back the next night…dinner was at Murphy's pub, an Irish pub…they had street signs from a few places in Ireland…one of them was from Ivan's hometown, and a town very close to his…what a small world…
The next morning was the morning Saddam Hussein was executed…since it was pretty much the only thing on the news, it prompted an interesting discussion between Ivan and I about the death penalty…it's always interesting to hear the reasons people have for the way they feel…or the lack of reasons…we ended up getting moving late again, and after breakfast at the Irish pub again, we got on the subway to see the chi lin nunnery…it's a Buddhist nunnery…it's not as large as other temple complexes…but it still has plenty of gates, as I've come to expect…it's like Hong Kong park, in that it's very peaceful…until you look up and see the skyscrapers close by…(also like Hong Kong park)…we didn't actually see any nuns while we were there, but we did see a number of buddhas…after coming back, we walked along the wharf, seeing all the buildings as they slowly lit up for the night…it was pretty hazy, though we weren't sure whether that was due to pollution or just not so clear weather…(the pollution is one of the worst things about Hong Kong)…either way, it wasn't as clear as we would've liked…we went to the Irish pub for one last dinner, before heading up to our room to pack up…over to the space theater again to watch our two movies…Ivan chose one about the exploration of the moon, I chose one about speed…(movement, not the drug)…both were good…howeva, I got really really motion sick during parts of the movie about speed…who would've thought I could feel that sick from just a movie?? Ugh…a quick walk back to the hostel, a taxi ride to the airport, and hop on our flight back to Seoul…arriving back in the land of cold and wind…but it's home, at least for now…
HONG KONG, SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION, CHINA
The Hong Kong part of my winter vacation was completely mellow…Ivan and I flew from Beijing to Hong Kong, which actually ended up being the longest flight of the vacation…3.5 hours…not too shabby…the Hong Kong airport is a lot nicer and more modern than the Beijing airport…MUCH more modern…the oddest part of the flight was checking in at the Beijing airport…you have to go through customs before you check in…very strange…getting off the airplane in Hong Kong was nice…it was a LOT warmer, so we didn't need 67 layers of clothes anymore…we hopped into a cab, and found the hostel where I had made reservations…it was in chungking mansions, which is basically one GIANT building…filled with many hostels, stands to buy just about anything, a few places to surf the internet, Indian restaurants, money exchangers, etc…and tons of touts…Beijing was nothing compared to the number of people who are trying to sell stuff or get us to go to their hostel/restaurant…I'm glad we had reservations ahead of time…we checked into our room, which was tiny…newer than the Beijing hostel, and with a TV…we found it had the wonders of bbc, one of the best news channels ever…
Since we had a few hours, we decided to go to the peak, to see Victoria harbor at night…I'm glad we did, even though it was pretty windy and chilly up at the top…after taking the subway/bus and walking a bit, we found the bottom tram station…the tram ride up is really steep…enough so that they build the steps in the middle of the tram at an angle for those who end up standing…the view at the top of the peak is great…at night, when all the buildings are lit up, it's amazing…many of the buildings are supposedly coordinated together in a light show, but we didn't really see that…there are definitely buildings with changing lights, but they didn't seem coordinated…Ivan is much more a photographer than I am, but I think the two of us took equal numbers of pictures…I played around with the settings on my camera for the first time ever, and found all sorts of good ways to take pictures…black and white, sepia toned, adjusting the shutter speed, etc…fun times…
The next day we didn't set an alarm…didn't even bother to think about what we wanted to see until after getting ready for the day…we walked for what seemed like ages to find breakfast, but we didn't see anything…annoying, so we ended up settling on a convenience store breakfast…ice cream, chocolate and chocolate milk for me, a sandwich for Ivan…we decided to check out Hong Kong park…it's built in the middle of Hong Kong, an 8 hectare park…it's not a huge park, but they have managed to cram a number of areas into it…a fountain plaza, conservatory, Olympic square, viewing tower, museum and aviary…it's a bit odd to see the contrast in photographs, with the park surrounded by skyscrapers…the aviary is nice to walk through, according to the signs, it is home to 600 birds of 90 different species…we did howeva, skip the museum of tea ware…we figured we didn't need to see a museum full of antique tea ware…bowls, teaspoons, brewing trays, sniffing cups and teapots…how exciting does that sound??? Not very…after wandering around, we had lunch at a small sandwich type of place…I guess it was later than lunch, but not really dinner yet…after that came the Hong Kong space museum…it's shaped like a ginormous golf ball…there is a lot about Chinese space history, some of the legends of space, and some hands on exhibits illustrating the laws of physics…you get to see a lump of moon rock, and the 1962 space capsule from Mercury…some of the exhibits were outdated…for instance, Pluto is still listed as a planet, and at least one globe showed Yugoslavia as a country…there is also an IMAX theater…Ivan and I each picked a 'movie' we wanted to see, and agreed to come back the next night…dinner was at Murphy's pub, an Irish pub…they had street signs from a few places in Ireland…one of them was from Ivan's hometown, and a town very close to his…what a small world…
The next morning was the morning Saddam Hussein was executed…since it was pretty much the only thing on the news, it prompted an interesting discussion between Ivan and I about the death penalty…it's always interesting to hear the reasons people have for the way they feel…or the lack of reasons…we ended up getting moving late again, and after breakfast at the Irish pub again, we got on the subway to see the chi lin nunnery…it's a Buddhist nunnery…it's not as large as other temple complexes…but it still has plenty of gates, as I've come to expect…it's like Hong Kong park, in that it's very peaceful…until you look up and see the skyscrapers close by…(also like Hong Kong park)…we didn't actually see any nuns while we were there, but we did see a number of buddhas…after coming back, we walked along the wharf, seeing all the buildings as they slowly lit up for the night…it was pretty hazy, though we weren't sure whether that was due to pollution or just not so clear weather…(the pollution is one of the worst things about Hong Kong)…either way, it wasn't as clear as we would've liked…we went to the Irish pub for one last dinner, before heading up to our room to pack up…over to the space theater again to watch our two movies…Ivan chose one about the exploration of the moon, I chose one about speed…(movement, not the drug)…both were good…howeva, I got really really motion sick during parts of the movie about speed…who would've thought I could feel that sick from just a movie?? Ugh…a quick walk back to the hostel, a taxi ride to the airport, and hop on our flight back to Seoul…arriving back in the land of cold and wind…but it's home, at least for now…
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