In October last year, one of my dearest friends from the UK came to visit - the very lovely {inside & out} Andrea. Andrea was one of my bridesmaids when I got married almost five years ago. We've been on a number of holidays together and Andrea was joining us on a holiday in India a few days after she arrived. We were doing a road trip : The Golden Triangle & Ranthambore National Park where we hoped to see tiger! Charlotte was flying out too! YAY! Before Charlotte arrived, Andrew & I showed Andrea around Mumbai and we took a ferry over to Elephanta Island on one of the days.
On the Saturday {18th October} morning, we headed down town to Mumbai for what turned out to be a busy day in crazy heat! We passed a market that operates everyday on both sides of the street. We stopped at the dhobi ghats along the way. We then went into Crawford Market where a huge variety of fresh produce is sold; this is one of Mumbai's main markets and I am sure the guy I buy my fruit & veg from here in Hiranandani Gardens, Powai buys his fruit and veg from the market early each morning! We then took Andrea to the fabric market {one of my favourite places in Mumbai after Leopolds!} where we each purchased fabric. Andrea had some skirts made up whilst she was here. I bought fabric to make various things and Andrew got fabric for a couple of shirts he's since had made up for a song!
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| almost all the fresh produce is has been sold at this street market |
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| part of the market on the side of the street |
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| selling marigolds for temple worship at the street market |
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| the dhobi ghat |
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| man bathing after the washing |
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| garlic and onions : Crawford Market |
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| carrots at Crawford Market |
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| fruit & veg at Crawford Market |
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| boxes are reused again and again |
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| Dragon Fruit at Crawford Market |
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| fresh herbs & a root veg of sorts |
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| one of the shops we bought fabric from |
After the busyness of the markets and the chaos of down-town Mumbai, we headed over to Leopolds for a yummy lunch! We weren't disappointed; the food is always fab! Once we'd eaten our full, we went to The Gate of India where we boarded the ferry to Elephanta Island. The journey was about an hour and in the baking hot sun! Andrea found herself some shade whilst Andrew and myself enjoyed the hot sun! Elephanta Island derived its name from one of the first rock-carvings in one of the carved-out caves on the island. These caves are no where near as impressive as Ajanta and Ellora but they are still worth going to see if you can't get to the above mentioned caves. The caves are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Collection. After about 1000 steps up the hill {not really, but it felt like it!} we arrived at the caves. We wondered around for an hour or so before returning to the ferry for our trip back to The Gate of India. The sunset was gorgeous thanks to the high levels of pollution and dust in the atmosphere.
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| lunching at Leopold's |
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| the Gate of India and the Taj Hotel |
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| oh my word it's hot! |
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| Elephanta Island was named after this rock-carved elephant headed human |
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| the above 4 rock-carved cave photos are Andrew's :) |
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| one cute kid! |
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| this is one very colourful house |
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| this is the train you can take from the harbour to near to where the 100's & 100's of steps start {we took it on the way to the cave carvings but walked back - we found out we could walk as fast as the train!} |
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| the Taj hotel at dusk |
You can't visit India without having street food {we'll, that's my opinion}! On the way home we stopped at Chowpatty Beach and had dinner. We {Andrew & myself} have eaten a number of times at Chowpatty; we know where to order 'safe' street food. Andrea loved her dinner! Chowpatty only cooks and sells vegetarian food. We headed home with tired bodies and full tummies. Our day in Mumbai was a very busy one!
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| very tasty street food can be bought from here! |
On the Sunday, Andrea came to church with us {I met Andrea at church : All Souls, Langham Place, London in Feb 2002} which she really enjoyed {we like our church too!} We headed over to the Mall for lunch where more street food was consumed before a spot of shopping {I think!}.
The following day we fetched Charlotte from the airport {Andrea stayed at the apartment working on her book} and that evening the four of us flew to Jaipur where our road trip started the following morning. The next three or four posts will be on the Golden Triangle and Ranthambore.
seen from or on the streets........
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| Haji Ali Dargah Mosque {island mausoleum and pilgrimage site} |
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| some of Mumbai's sky-line at night {with the moon in the top right corner} |
