Mumbai

Mumbai is a big place. We flew in and were to the hotel around noon. Check-in was smooth and we were ready to go and explore in no time. We hired a taxi for the afternoon, which cost us about 4 dollars an hour. He took us to lunch and waited, then shopping to several stores. We got lucky with this guy; he spoke pretty good English and had some good shopping tips. He took us to some nice stores. I learned last time the goods sold by street vendors were not good quality. Most of their goods melted in water as fast as the wicked witch from Oz. We bought a few things to take home and went back to the hotel for some sleep.

The next day we had a driver and guide pick us up at 9am. Our guide was very Indian yet very familiar. He teaches a class to schools and takes students to a farm, has them grow foods, then harvest, cook, and eat. He was spiritual he said but no set religion. Loved breast feeding and recommended books to me about quiet home child birth. Vegetarian. Weighed maybe 85lbs. Long hair and a beard. Doesn't have a car, prefers to use public transportation or walk. Definitely a hippie. When he started complaining about formula and how women should breast feed it dawned on me... this is Dr. J Stinson as an Indian. I honestly laughed when he talked about the formula, the comparison so clear now.

He took us to several of the usual tourist sites. Victoria Terminus(train station in Slumdog Millionaire), Gandhi's Mumbai home and museum, a beautiful Jain Temple, and many others. We also checked out Dhobi Ghats. This is a laundry, row upon row of concrete wash pens, each fitted with its own flogging stone. The clothes are soaked in sudsy water, thrashed on the flogging stones, then tossed into huge vats of boiling starch and hung out to dry. Next they are ironed and piled into neat bundles. The most famous of these Dhobi Ghats is at Saat Rasta near Mahalaxmi Station where almost two hundred dhobis and their families work together in what has always been a hereditary occupation. Neat place, hard work, wonderful smell! Gotta love India.

2009 7-12