Mumbai

Mumbai was the gateway to India for the British Empire and as it turned out for me as well. Mumbai has about 14 million people who generate a third of all Indian (1.2 trillion people) tax incomes. It is the nucleus of the moder n, economically successful Indian civilizati

on. That is not exactly what you see if you land at Mumbai airport. The last stretch takes you over the never ending slums which are seriously polluted in the traditional way and in that particular section must have awful noise pollution as well.
A rickshaw ride takes you through the new slums in the north of the city where Indians from all over come to have a part of the cake. I checked into the Salvation Army Hotel right in the colonial heart next to the Taj Mahal Hot el, which famously got attacked by terrorist a few years ago. The Salvation Army staff are r

uthless assholes and the least christian people in the world. No casual discussion - just "pay now" and "go away". The dorms have 20 beds, no sheets and are badly maintained over the last several decades. So everybody is sweating all the da

y into these thin mattresses and then checking out to give the next guy a chance to leave his mark. But it's cheap.
Looking back - Mumbai is the nicest of all major cities I saw in India. The Victorian architecture is all over the city center and left me as stunned as the Indians must have been back in the days. Especially the Victoria Train Station is a marvel you may otherwise only find in England it self.
Street life is buzzing all the time, Ind ian tourist make pictures of themselves and with Western tourists. Entry ticket prices vary by factor twenty for foreigners and locals. Beer is a luxury good and costs 3 dollar. Even toilet paper is and comes at a price of 1 dollar per roll.
It took me a while to get used to the new environ

ment, where cricket is important, foo d is completely different, mustaches everywhere, very traditional clothes of women (Saree's) and most of all: the almost total domination of males in the daily life.
I ate mostly Southern Indian food, which was interesting. A paper masala can be a thin roll of dough of up to 1m lengt

h and 10cm diameter. I checked out the Prince of Wales museum which showcases the relicts of Hindu culture and touches the other religions and fine art collected by the Tata family.
Further more there is the huge cricket pitch in the city center which offers some refuge from the awful, awful traffic.
After three days of adjusting, sightseeing and getting on top of things I stepped into the train which would take me to Rajasthan.