This may annoy those of you who think travelling alone is easy, but, my advice as a woman travelling alone in Mumbai is always find someone to accompany you when venturing into the city. I don’t mean to be anti-feminist or come across as weak, but it is always best to be safe. When faced with the prospect of travelling into the city alone in April I approached two couples I’d recently met on the ship. I didn’t have a fixed idea of where I wanted to visit in the city so I was happy to join them and see what they wanted to see. So, ludicrously early one morning as the temperature topped 80 degrees, the 5 of us, holding our bright yellow immigration cards, traipsed across the tarmac to the port gates. Train services carrying men to work rolled past us, creaking on their rusty tracks. Every now and  then men jumped down and sauntered to their place of work. Stripping off, they showered together by the street chatting together as they readied themselves for work.  As we exited the port, hoards of taxi drivers jostled for business, teenage girls holding tiny babies begged for change whilst police blew whistles to control the surge.

 

Suddenly I was gripped by the arm and saw Keith (one of the men from the ship I had ventured ashore with) and his wife, dragging me toward the taxis. Men started to shout at me then suddenly stopped as Keith shouted… “This is my daughter”. Apparently that’s all I needed to be for a free pass! So as Keiths daughter, with his lovely wife, (and the on-board art teachers, George and Mearle) we started our journey into the centre of Mumbai.

The taxi took us past the buildings I remembered from a few months earlier. The colonial buildings wrapped in vines and spiralling cracks, the train station standing huge and imposing over the busy streets. Cows roamed free and buses grumbled into spaces that seemed far too small!! Our taxi driver and George chatted about cricket as we wound our way to the Taj Mahal hotel.

Shops were only just beginning to open and street vendors were setting out their wares for the days trade. The ladies began to shop… Keith and George accustomed to this, took up residence outside shops befriending local kids whilst their wives picked up silks and hair-clips and I stocked up on Indian cloting for my sister and neice.

Now my husband has always said you can recognise people who have ‘been travelling’ as opposed to people who happen to travel, as the former always have a pair of travelling trousers. What are travelling trousers? I hear you ask. Well, travelling trousers are generally a pair of trousers that are baggy and are only acceptable wear if you are on a desert island or in the far east. If you wear them in the UK or anywhere else they can be seen as a sign you’ve ‘been travelling’ or on a gap year. It’s not a great look! Now, in the centre of Mumbai… I found some travelling trousers. Taken over by a fit of idiocy… I bought them… I still have them. I have no idea when I will wear them again… but their scratchy sequinned patchwork still lights up my closet!

Our happy rabble in the Taj Mahal Hotel

Armed with travelling trousers, saris and bags of impulse purchased beads we set off for the Taj Mahal Hotel bar… it was time for a drink.

The friendly Mr Mistry was our barman in the hotel. We sat in the booth he excitedly told us had been frequented in days gone by by John Lennon, as he talked to us about the 30 years he has worked in this one tiny bar in the most famous hotel in India. I ordered a Bombay sapphire…. (it had to be done!) whilst the others snacked on incredible vegetarian delights and listened to his stories.

From the window we could see the towering Gateway to India, surrounded by crowds of tourists. What a moment to remember forever… The opulence of that hotel is in so much contrast to the city buildings around it. You cant escape the juxtaposition of poor and insanely rich in Mumbai.

Changing into the travelling trousers (to save my skirt getting any more ripped) we made our way from the hotel to the huge monument by the bay. The gateway to India.

There are some very enterprising people working the crowds by the gateway. Men carrying printers and digital cameras take perspective pictures of tourists, selling them for a dollar. As I stood next to the monument a crowd of people gathered. I thought they were all waiting to take a photo from the angle I had chosen… then when I moved… so did they. The man with the printer it became apparent was charging people $1 to have photo taken with the blonde girl! Before I knew it I was posing next to the Gateway being handed babies and children whilst the enterprising young gentleman made his daily wage from the pictures!

Making my excuses, we headed back to the taxi. With 5 people and 4 seats… I fit snugly into the boot! Laughing with the driver as we rattled around the city, packages balanced all around me, I decided I need to see more of India.

Sitting in the boot!                                                                     Crazy vine covered streets!