Mumbai, India: Day 1

Nothing can prepare you for the sights and congestion of Mumbai, India.  There are people everywhere, and the traffic is most impossible.  Bribery is a common activity, and our bus driver had to pay the police a bribe of 100 rupees to avoid a ticket.

The tour included time at the following sites (click the link to find out more):

• Gateway to India
• Mani Bhavan (Gandhi's home in Mumbai)
• Dhobi Ghat (where laundry gets done)
• Prince of Wales Museum

We arrived in Mumbai at 8am.  The site, which is also part of the Indian navy, is under tight security.

The Gateway to India has been attacked 3 times by terrorists (two times in 2003 and 2008).  It is a big tourist draw in Mumbai.



This is the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel which is one of the finest in India.  Over 167 people were killed in a terrorist attack in 2008.

This is Gandhi's bedroom (note the simple mattress on the floor) in the Mani Bhavan which was his Mumbai headquarters.

It was from Mani Bhavan that Gandhi initiated the Non-Cooperation, Satyagraha, Swadeshi, Khadi and Khilafat movements.

There are rows of open-air concrete wash pens, each fitted with its own flogging stone. This is called the world's largest outdoor laundry.

This is a weekly service.  They pick laundry up and return it the next week clean and pressed.

There are beggars and people (lots of kids) selling items everywhere you go.  Yes, that's a cow in the street; however, it wasn't selling anything.

Just one of the historical buildings found in Mumbai (often still referred to as Bombay).