Beautiful and Bustling Mumbai...
After a full day of travel, it’s always nice to find a comfortable place to recover. Our arrival at the Taj Mahal Place Hotel was the perfect landing spot for this very necessary recovery. It is one of the most beautiful Hotels I have ever experienced. One of those places that could take you days to really fully appreciate its architecture, beauty and attention to detail. It sort of takes your breath away when you first see it.
When it opened in 1903, the hotel was the first in India to have electricity, American fans, German elevators, Turkish baths and English butlers. By 1905, it added something that was perhaps of equal importance: the city's first licensed bar in India. Part of the Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, this hotel houses 560 rooms and 44 suites and is considered to be the flagship property of the group employing approximately 1,600 staff. The hotel is made up of two different buildings: the Taj Mahal Palace and the Tower, which are historically and architecturally distinct from each other. The Taj Mahal Palace was built at the start of the twentieth century and the Tower was opened in 1973. The hotel has a long and distinguished history, having received many notable guests, from presidents to captains of industry and stars of show business. It is obvious - just judging from our limited amount of people watching - that this Hotel also has a pretty robust social scene happening as well.
Unfortunately, the Taj also has some not so pleasant history that is worth mentioning, if only to illustrate the people of India’s resiliency and commitment to rebuilding. In 2008, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel was attacked by a terror group who struck multiple targets throughout Mumbai; viewed as a "striking a blow against a symbol of Indian wealth and progress". During the attack in November of 2008, the Hotel sustained significant material damage, including the total destruction of the hotel's roof. Hostages were taken during the attacks and at least 167 people were killed - including many foreigners. The casualties were mostly Indian citizens, although guests who were found carrying foreign passports were those believed to be singled out. It took a full year to fully rebuild the Hotel, but the end result was a bigger and bolder Taj Mahal than ever before. In November 2010 - almost two years to the date of the attacks - President Barack Obama became the first foreign head of state to stay at the Taj Mahal Palace. In a speech from the terrace of the hotel, Obama said that "the Taj has been the symbol of the strength and the resilience of the people of Mumbai”.
After having a little breakfast, we headed into our Golden Eagle Group Orientation and then off to our first official tour of the trip. The orientation this time around was not unlike my experience during the Africa trip. Walking into a room full of total strangers that you were going to be spending the next two weeks with - like it or not - had all of us both excited and anxious. Everyone was sizing each other up. Trying to figure out who they were drawn to…and maybe….who they weren’t. This group of 68 guests represented a number of countries around the world with a variety of languages and, likely, personalities. As I sat waiting for the orientation to begin, I couldn’t help but make a few assumptions as to who I thought I would click with….and who I thought maybe I wouldn’t. It’s human nature. I’m sure - at the end of the trip - there will be some assumptions that were spot on…and some that were dead wrong. But, that’s the fun of trips like this. What I was also relieved to discover is that there were three other kids on the trip from London who were all around PJ’s age. Whether he ends up hanging out with them or not remains to be seen. At the very least — he won’t feel like he is vastly outnumbered by us boring adults.
When the orientation wrapped up and we were given our marching orders for the day, we ventured out of the Hotel over to India Gate to start our tour. As luck would have it, our first real outdoor experience in Mumbai happened to be on the very same day as one of their largest public celebrations centered around the creation of their government. Given that Mumbai is India’s largest and most populous city, with an urban population of over 22 million people, I shouldn’t have been surprised at the crowds in the City Center. But on this day in particular, I can safely say I have never seen so many people gathered in a one block radius than I did today. Living in a big City, I’m used to crowds. Rarely do I ever feel overwhelmed by them. But walking from our Hotel to the India Gate monument where our boat to Elephanta Island would be departing, I found it hard not to be completely overwhelmed. With that said - the energy was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.
Many who live here still call this city Bombay; which is how it was referred until 1995. The name change from Bombay to Mumbai was due to a shift in their political party. The Shiva Sena assumed power over the City and viewed “Bombay” as a lingering legacy of British colonialism and preferred that the new name reflect the city’s Martha Heritage. By renaming it Mumbai, they were paying tribute to the goddess of Mumba, which is the local incarnation of the Devi (Mother Goddess). As I would learn throughout the day, religion plays an enormous role in almost every aspect of life here. - including politics.
Mumbai is India’s leading center of commerce, generating well over 6 percent of the country’s GDP and accounting for 25 percent of its industrial output. It also handles a remarkable 70 percent of India’s Maritime trade and close to 70 percent of capital transactions to the market. As a result, it serves as the headquarters to several major financial institutions: the Reserve Bank of India, The Bombay Stock Exchange, the National Stock Exchange of India and SEBI. It also serves as the headquarters for several India companies and multinational corporations. Not to be forgotten - and perhaps equally as notable - Mumbai is home to India’s Hindi Bollywood and Marathi cinema industries. Mumbai is considered by businesses and individual citizens - both domestically and internationally - as a hub of growth and opportunity, and so attracts migrants from all over India and the world beyond. This makes the city a proverbial “melting pot” of communities and cultures in every aspect.
Mumbai also calls itself home to three UNESCO World Heritage sites, one of which was our main tour destination for the day: the Elephanta Island and Caves. This island can only be accessed by boat, which was an interesting experience in and of itself. In Mumbai, they have these very large “taxi boats” - some which are used to take tourists to Elephanta and some that are used as actual water taxis for their residents. Because they do not have formal docks in India, they lined these very large wooden double decker boats together side by side while guests loaded in.
As it goes then, Boat One ended up being the furthest boat from the loading area, which involved guests jumping from boat to boat until they reached their assigned boat. As our luck would have it, we were assigned Boat One…and let’s just say it is a minor miracle that I am still here to write about it. Once we loaded into the boats, we set off for our one hour trip to the Island.
Our route took us north and east through a section of the Arabian Sea, which is a major seaport in India. Once we arrived to Elephanta Island, all of the boats tied together and we repeated the death defying process of getting off the boat without becoming the first tour casualty. Once we made it safely off the boats, we boarded the Elephanta Island “Tour Train” , which was - quite literally - a Toy Train…but for adults. A strange experience, to say the very least. The Toy Train took us to the foot of the mountain where we had to climb just over 120 cobble stone stairs up to the rock cut Temples of the Gharapuri. Those who were not physically (or mentally) prepared to climb this amount of stairs were scooped up by groups of four Indian men carrying large wooden chairs attached to long wooden posts and carried up the stairs. The ease with which they did this - in 85 degree weather no less - was jaw dropping. I think the same group of men made 3 trips while I was just trying to survive one. Once we all got to the top and caught our breath, we headed into the caves.
Created between AD 450 and 750, this massive maze of caves are home to some of the most intricate and incredible temple carving imaginable. Known in ancient times as Gharapuri, the name Elephanta island (Portuguese: ilha do Elefante), was given by 16th-century Portuguese explorers, after seeing a monolithic basalt sculpture of an elephant found near the entrance. They decided to take it home but ended up dropping it into the sea because their chains were not strong enough. Whoops.
This island was also once the capital of a powerful local kingdom, but now is most specifically used as a tourism destination for the City of Mumbai. The island is thickly wooded with palm, mango, and tamarind trees and is home to close to 1,200 inhabitants mainly involved in the trades of growing rice, fishing, and repairing boats.
The focus of these caves is a deeply religious one, and centered mostly around the most well known Gods and Goddesses in India. In totally, there are 33 million God and Goddesses that are believed to bring good luck, good fortune, peace, stability and gratitude among - well - 33 million other things. These Gods and Goddesses are divided into three distinct religions: Mother Goddess, Vishnu and Shiva. There are stories behind each of the carvings throughout these caves and our guide told us we would have to spend 2 weeks in total inside of these caves to be able to experience them all. So - she gave us the Cliff Notes version.
After our cave tour, we made our way back down to our meeting spot and spent the remaining 30 minutes being entertained by a group of monkeys and a stray goat, who ended up joining PJ as he was resting on a park bench.
We were told by our guides that the monkeys were quite fond of Coke and Pepsi…which I actually thought was a joke. Turns out - he wasn’t joking. I witnessed this first hand when one of the older women in our group - apparently also thinking our guide was kidding - cracked a can of Coke and within seconds, she was surrounded. It was one of those moments where I was torn between trying to help her….and wanting to record every single moment. The monkeys surrounded her…she froze…they started jumping up and down….she started screaming….and then one of the monkeys jumped up on her shoulder, grabbed her Coke and took off. It was equal parts horrifying….and hilarious.
After the Elephanta Island tour wrapped up, our group was given the rest of the afternoon to ourselves. My Dad, PJ and I decided to head to the poolside lounge in the Hotel and have a nice, relaxing lunch. Not only was it a nice, relaxing lunch…but also the most amazing people watching imaginable. There was one gentleman, in particular, who was doing some hard core table hopping….in his (very large) bath robe. He seemed to know everyone in the entire restaurant. Because the Hotel also has a Membership option for local residents - all of whom are apparently very affluent in Mumbai - it seems reasonable that this was his “spot”. I noticed he was being paid close attention by the wait staff more so than others, so I suppose he may have been someone relatively important - or at the very least - around a lot. But when he told the Hotel staff to prepare a table for his daughter who was to arrive soon…the place went up for grabs. I probably should have stayed long enough to see what her story was, but between my persistent jet lag and a few glasses of wine, I just didn’t have it in me.
On the way back to the room for what I hoped to a quick nap, PJ asked me if we could venture out to the Markets in Mumbai. Though all I really wanted to do was sleep, I also thought it was awesome that PJ wanted to dive in head first and embrace the whole market experience. It didn’t last very long…for either of us. It was beyond crowded…and claustrophobic….and a total sensory overload. Those who work in the market are very aggressive in how they sell, especially to tourists. Though I completely understood that this was their livelihood and how they made money and survived, I don’t know that it was quite the experience PJ was hoping for. We ended up ducking into a nice local artisan shop, made a few intentional purchases with no negotiating whatsoever on my part and quickly made our way back to the Hotel to recover (with maybe a drink or two).
Our day ended at the Welcome Dinner, where we had a chance to start to get to know the rest of the guests on the train. We had a lot of really great conversation - though mostly small talk at this point - and a delicious Indian meal that we will remember for a long time.
One of the decisions that we made over dinner was that PJ needed to assume some serious responsibility on this blog….since everyone would quickly be sick of just hearing from me all the time (if it hasn’t happened already). What we decided was this: PJ would write about a few of his most “Memorable Moments ” each day. They didn’t have to be groundbreaking…or deep…or spiritual. Just simply anything that stuck out in his mind .
And - to be clear - his post will be only his words. Unedited and untouched by his mother, no matter what. It wouldn’t be fair for me to speak for him and what this experience is for him. It is entirely his. So - in that spirit, I am going to throw the remaining section of this blog to him. Please note: he will be expanding his list for this post specifically to include his memories from the flight over…so it may end up being his “Top Five” this time around…
Take it away, PJ:
Hey, PJ here. I was asked by my mom to include some of my favorite things that we’d done over the days on every blog post (Well, starting today because I was drop-dead tired for the first couple days). Keep in mind that this list will be a little longer than others due to this including the first couple days, not just a singular day. So anyway, enough with the prep and into the list.
1) Arriving on the plane. It was my very first ever First Class flight, and it was incredible. We had very nice and helpful people waiting on us, and they made the plane ride very memorable. Also memorable was the food. For lunch, I ate spaghetti (don’t judge me, it sounded good) and rice pudding for dessert. Now, the spaghetti was good, but this rice pudding- oh my god, I can’t even describe how good it was. It was very sweet, and it was flavored with saffron (I don’t know what saffron tastes like, but it was probably what made it taste so good). At dinner, I was a bit more adventurous, and went with lamb curry (VERY spicy!) and for dessert, I had this stuff called “Gulab Jamun” (thank you, menu, for telling me what it was called) which was basically these fried pastries soaked in honey or syrup or something. It was really good. We had a 2 hour layover in Delhi, which was very pleasant. We stayed in a very nice airport lounge which actually had some good food. After a 3-hour flight, we arrived in Mumbai.
2) The Taj Hotel. One of, if not the most pleasant hotel experiences I’ve ever had. The hotel was full of nice rooms, beautiful decor, great art, good restaurants, and expensive stores which we thankfully didn’t go to. I use logo brands like Adidas and Southern Tide, but I am not one for designer brands. The hotel stay was very enjoyable. We had a nice bed, good WiFi so that I could catch up with my friends, a great view suited for great sunrise pictures, and just an over all great experience. The hotel is so big, me and Mom got lost and stumbled onto someone’s WEDDING. Oops!
3) The streets of Mumbai. Three words: TOO. MANY. PEOPLE. Kinda scary, but still fun nonetheless.
4) Elephanta Island. The boat ride was relaxing, and around the 50 minute mark, some ravens joined the ride. I got to see a raven eating a fish, and after docking the boat we took an amusingly tiny train to the main area of the island. The island was littered with adorable monkeys, which stole people’s food, soda, and… beer. What’s funny is that they choose not to steal water. We then took a very sweaty 120-stair climb up to the cave areas, where some man may have tried distracting me in order to pickpocket me, but that didn’t work at all. Eventually we got up to the caves, and they were really interesting. The walls were littered with engravings of some of the thirty-three million Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Yes, you read that right. Thirty-three million. After the caverns, we walked back down the stairs and enjoyed some beverages (I had water, if you were wondering), and I saw a cat sleeping on a bench while I was on my way to a restroom. We were in the island’s main area for a couple minutes, and after an engaging conversation with a goat on a bench, the boat was ready and we hopped on. While heading to a boat, a native grabbed my arm without warning, which was specifically the arm I had my Apple Watch on. Hm, suspicious. It was a relaxing boat ride back to Mumbai. Overall, great experience!
5) The markets. Oh, boy, the markets. So, Mom and I decided to go to the markets to grab a souvenir for me and my brother (who hadn’t gone on the trip). We discovered that we hadn’t gotten any rupees beforehand, and went to go exchange some of our USD for some. The ATM actually didn’t tell us how many we exchanged, so my Mom just kind of guessed at a number. I was starting to worry that that we dried up her entire bank account. She really just wanted to exchange 300 USD, but it turned out that we only actually exchanged around 140. My Mom and I are not really good at math. We ventured out into the markets, and boy, was it crowded. It was already a holiday of sorts on that day, and Mumbai is a very populated place to begin with, so it’s only natural that there were like 119,363,46 people at the markets. That number is exaggerated, but if you were there, it would have felt like an understatement. I must had been touched without warning by 5 different people, one of which followed us for a couple of blocks before doing so. We walked past a McDonalds, and all I was thinking was, “Wait, isn’t the cow sacred here?” We went into a store selling very intricately made and hand-painted small little statues, which were just what I was looking for. I picked out 2 medium sized elephant statues (these ones are a couple inches tall), which were only 25 bucks apiece in USD. This was a HUGE steal because these things were very intricately made and hand-painted. If we chose to haggle for them, the guy would have thought we were insane. We went straight out of the market and tried an Indian Starbucks, which was very pleasant. I got an iced passion and hibiscus tea and a chocolate-chunk cookie, while my mom got a coffee. We then went back into the hotel and decided not to leave the hotel until the city tour the next day.
6) The welcome dinner. I don’t have much to say about this. It was very nice, being located at the top of the hotel. The food was good, and I had a lot of bread. It sounds random on paper, but they did bring a lot of bread out.
That wraps up the first 2 days of my trip, but you’ll definitely be hearing from me later. Bye for now!
