Around the World Part 7; Mumbai, India

Destination: Mumbai India

Date: March 2012

At the Haji Ali Mosque in Mumbai
India, March 2012

What an amazing day!  India is everything I've ever seen on TV and more.  The sights, sounds and smells of India are hard to describe and it can be a wearisome event, but because it is so different from anything that I have ever experienced in my travels I love India.  We started off our day by disembarking our boat.  Because India requires special visas along with our passports it takes a little more time to get off and on to Indian soil. 

Clay on our walk into the city
Mumbai, India 2012

Once outside the ship we had to walk along the port to get to the main gate and get out of the port area.  There were armed guards checking paper work against IDs, and since many of our crew on our ship were Indian there were many that were going out for the day.  They were visiting their families and taking along souvenirs and gifts they had picked up in other ports.  All of this extra baggage made our wait a little longer as the guards were checking all of their parcels.  Trent finally ended up going over to the other gate exit, that was closed, and slipped a guard five hundred rupees (about $10) to get us through the gate with our party of ten.  

Taxis in the city
India, 2012

Bailey and Clay at the Gateway of India
Mumbai, India March 2012

Outside the green gate we were overwhelmed by taxi drivers.  Everyone wanted to have us hire them for the day.  We had heard this would happen but urged not to do this since traveling in India by taxi is so cheap, and a all day taxi driver is not necessary.  So driver after driver refused to just meter taxi us to our destination so we decided to walk out to the main road to get away from all of these crazy drivers.  We finally caught a metered taxi that took us to the Gateway of India for about one hundred rupees ($2).  The gateway of India is  massive arched building on the water that was finished in 1920 and is a welcoming point for westerners.  It was a great place to take pictures and feed pigeons and look over to see the Palace Tower next door and its beautiful architecture.

The Gateway of India with Trent, Bailey, Clay and Me
Mumbai, India March 2012

After a few pictures we caught another taxi and had them take us to Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat.  It is a huge laundry in the middle of Mumbai and it has a huge dirty, dank looking organization to it.  It was impressive to see how the Indians have this organized system of doing their laundry.  We could see dozens of uniforms hung in rows as well as costumes, and local clothing.  It was a sight to behold with the irrigation systems of water and soaps running through the floors of this open aired laundry.  

At this sight we also met a few new friends.  We never got to find out their names but they were two of the most adorable Indian boys we have ever met.  One was older probably seven and holding a baby around ten or eleven months in a sling on his side, the other boy was probably six and full of personality.  Our friends the "R"s had already met the boys on the street as they begged at their taxi door for money in which the "R"s gave them some money and some gum.  The boys loved it so much they followed the "R"s taxi to Dhobi Ghat and found us all together there.  Though they didn’t speak English and we had no words in Hindi to share, we had a small relationship for a few blocks as we walked from the Dhobi Ghat looking for our next destination the Haji Ali mosque built in the Indian Ocean in 1431.

These two boys stole our hearts because of their happiness.  They both were dirty, and looked like they had been wearing the same clothes for as long as they could probably both remember, the little baby girl had on minimal clothes but she had sparkling dark eyes and small little jewelry wrapped on her wrists and ankles.  They begged for money but they did it with smiles on their faces and personality oozing out of their ears.  I don’t know how to explain them.  The smaller boy climbed right up the pole at the stop light as we waited to cross just to get face to face with "J." and beg at eye level.  When I gave the older boy, with the baby, a ten rupee note, about twenty cents, the other boy was sad because I didn't have any other small notes on me.  Then Clay found a coin in his pocket.  We didn’t know how much it was worth but Clay gave that to the younger boy.  He quickly folded his arms, curled his lip under in disgust pouting that we had given the older boy more money.  It was so adorable I had to try and figure out ways to break some of our larger bills to give to these adorable boys.  

One of our taxis dropped us off in the middle of a freeway much to our surprise
Mumbai, India March 2012

While we were crossing the street the boys disappeared for a moment and soon came back without the baby girl. They were just the two of them now and they walked with us several blocks as we looked for the mosque.  Soon the baby girl caught up with the mother, we presumed, and after giving the mother some rupees the boys were off and we said our goodbyes.  It was good to see that in their life of poverty that they could have so much happiness on their faces.  

The trash found near the ocean while the tide was out
Mumbai, India march 2012

Some typical living quarters for the people of Mumbai
India, March 2012

By this time our walk to the mosque was getting longer than anticipated.  In a land where taxi rides cost $1 we were getting sweaty and hot for no reason.  One sight disgusting sight we saw on our walk was two blocks that must have been designated by locals as a human latrine.  There was human feces everywhere and it had the most horrific smell.  We couldn’t believe what we had come across, and that in the middle of a city on a paved road, there could be human poop on the street.  On our walk we passed slums and women sweeping the dirty floors of their little areas in ragged clothing with brooms made from branches and twigs.  It was a humbling sight. 

The Haji Ali Mosque
Mumbai, India 2012

Walking the pier to the mosque, yes that is trash off to the side in the water
March 2012

My friend "S" wasn't willing to try this refreshing drinking water at the mosque
Mumbai, India March 2012

After walking about one and a-half miles we finally got to the mosque.  Since the tide is out on Thursdays and Fridays we were able to get access to the mosque.  We walked along the pier and passed many crippled men, women, and children with all forms of ailments.  There were missing arms, legs, a man that looked like he had leprosy, a child with a huge brace screwed into his leg and he wasn’t more than 3-years-old.  One man made me feel so guilty because he was so severely burned I couldn’t look at him.  My heart ached for these people as I tried to stay strong for the sake of my kids.  It was hard on Clay and Bailey to see this kind of suffering and wonder why no one was helping them.  Since it was a far walk out to the mosque we decided not to give any money to the beggars until we were on our way back because having only been in Mumbai for three hours we had learned that handing out money creates a large following of beggars.  

This poor man was suffering from an awful skin disease and begging on the street
Mumbai, India March 2012

The mosque wasn’t very exciting, we were mostly taken aback by all of the filth that surrounded this area especially since the tide was out and there was so much pollution in the seabed.  My friend "S" walked for ages with her coke can determined not to throw it on the ground like the locals, and tried to find a trash can.  It was sad to see so much filth surround what must have been a beautiful mosque at one time.  Out on the far side of the mosque in the rocks there were naked men bathing.

Bailey walking on the pier was overcome with the garbage
Mumbai, India March 2012

Baileys following of child beggars
Mumbai, India March 2012

Clay and Trent doing a little shopping on the pier
Mumbai, India march 2012

On our way back down the pier we ran into the same cripples and children and Bailey began handing out the money.  She had quite a following in no time.  She loved one particular girl who had such a beautiful little smile and reminded her of an Indian version of a cousin she loves.  By the time we got to the end of the pier one of the shop keepers threw sand at the children to get them to leave us alone as we searched for a taxi to our next stop.  There are all different levels of people in India and these beggars and cripples are so far down and so worthless to so many people that they have no problem showing cruelty to get them to obey.  It was another harsh reality for all of us.

Clay wasn't willing to eat on the street
March 2012

Bailey and friends "S" and "J" in a taxi ride in downtown Mumbai
March 2012

Our little reprieve at the Four Seasons in Mumbai
March 2012

By lunchtime we were ready for a break from this new, interesting, but sad world.  We needed to find a clean bathroom, and a place to eat a safe lunch so we found a Four Seasons Hotel on our google maps and headed off to refuge.  We had a great lunch that cost about $25 per person but at that moment we needed a break.  Sounds selfish I know, but we needed to regroup before heading back out to this foreign land.

Trent never stops negotiating our taxis for us where ever we go!
March 2012

Clay and me in an open rickshaw or tut-tut near Linking Road
March 2012

We were told by the hotel concierge and many others that there was great shopping up at Linking Road so we grabbed taxis for our twenty-five minute drive north.  For two hundred and twenty rupees we were dropped off for more shopping where I bought some Mac makeup, two bags, four pair of shoes for my girls, and some pants for Bailey.  It wasn’t the best shopping but it was fun haggling and hunting for treasure.  When we left Linking Road we took a rick shaw to Hill Road in Bandra and when we got out of the rick shaw our driver said it was seven.  Trent was confused at what "seven" meant and so he gave him a hundred rupee note.  The driver gave Trent ninety rupees back and realizing that he meant only seven rupee (about fourteen cents) Trent went ahead and tipped him another twenty rupee.  The money is so interesting because it is so little to us it is hard to grasp the value.  I never thought I’d be in a place where money would seem so worthless.  

Apartment living for the wealthier local
Mumbai, India March 2012

Bailey loved negotiating the amazing deals of India
March 2012

We shopped a little more but decided it was time to get back down to our ship area so we again grabbed another cheap taxi and headed back toward our ship.  We stopped one more time at the Taj Palace hotel, we haggled a little more, we ate ice cream cones at McDonalds all the while passing out money and candy, gum and power bars to beggers.  We ended up giving out all of our snacks we had packed that day, since we had eaten so well at the Four Seasons, and gave the kids  in Mumbai a little more to smile about.  Though we know we can’t change those children's lives, for that one day we could make a difference.  

This man was selling delicious looking grapes but with the water concentration of grapes we didn't
dare purchase any.
March 2012

A private school let out at this bus stop with lots of debris and rubble
Mumbai, India March 2012

One interesting tip for the day was always inspect what you are buying.  While we were near the Gateway of India some young men approached us to sell us some huge balloons.  They were carrying one balloon that measured about five feet long and two feet in diameter. Since Colton's birthday would be happening the day we flew back to the states I decided to buy some of these ginormous balloons.  So I made my purchased and received a package of balloons.  The boys that sold us the balloons quickly left and I thought I had made a good purchase.  Then another group of boys came by asking if we would like to buy their ginormous balloons.  I told them no that we had already bought some and they asked if we had bought the right size and asked to see our package.  I pulled it out and showed them, only to find out I had been hood winked.  My balloons once blown up were only about two feet tall and eight inches wide.  Frustrated, I bought the second set of balloons, which looked much larger in the package and thought again I'd made a good purchase.  Only when I flew home to the states and started blowing up balloons for Coltons birthday did I find that my balloons were a medium size at about three and a-half feet long and one and a-half feet wide.  I had been hood winked for a second time.  So next time I will always take out and inspect my package!

Bailey in our 20 cent rickshaw ride
Mumbai, India March 2012

Seeing these brahmas on the side of the road was a common site since they are considered holy in this Hindu culture.  Our friends "W" and his son "M" got up close and personal
Mumbai India March 2012

Out front of one of the nicest hotels in Mumbai, the Taj Hotel.
This hotel was a focus of a terrorist attack and bombed in 2008
Mumbai, India March 2012

After a very long, productive, and educational day we headed back to the boat.  The kids learned so much about this culture in just one day and I think it opened their hearts for a lifetime.  Safe and Happy Travels!!