Going to Elephanta Caves-day number 1 in Mumbai
Security is very stringent…pain in the butt actually, since an attack by Pakistanis about 10 years ago. 

140 steps up to caves

1 hour on boat to get there.

Oh yes….forgot that they drive on the “wrong” side like in England.

Monkeys ok but don’t show bottles of water or food cuz they will grab it from you…even if you put it into backpack they will steal the pack.

There are to be no pictures of military installations, for example aircraft carriers on way to Caves. We rode on a boat that travels about 7 miles an hour……questionable safety …would never pass inspection in Canada.

In the 1500’s, a 7 by 13 ft rock elephant was found by Portuguese so they named the island Elephanta.

Going to Elephanta Caves-day number 1 in Mumbai
Security is very stringent…pain in the butt actually, since an attack by Pakistanis about 10 years ago. 

140 steps up to caves

1 hour on boat to get there.

Oh yes….forgot that they drive on the “wrong” side like in England.

There are to be no pictures of military installations, for example aircraft carriers on way to Caves. We rode on a boat that travels about 7 miles an hour……questionable safety …would never pass inspection in Canada.

Monkeys apparently are ok but don’t show bottles of water or food cuz they will grab it from you…even if you put it into backpack they will steal the pack.  They are macaque monkeys.  They have long red faces with no facial hair.  They aren’t very big.

 In the 1500’s, a 7 by 13 ft rock elephant was found by Portuguese so they named the island  

Temple is “monolith rock cut cave” as opposed to a natural cave. It was first excavation by Hindus. It is a “Shiva” god temple.  It was started 1500 years ago and two centuries to complete.  The caves are chizzelled out of basalt…..volcanic ash that through time changed to basalt..  These caves were first started by the Hindus, then the Buddhists and finally the Jains…..up until 1180AD.
Day number 2 Mumbai
 Mumbai…name means mother + bay

There are 7 islands 650 sq miles & 20 million people

Honking is one of the languages……lol!

There is a lunch program where 500 delivery people deliver 200,000 lunches daily from home….on bicycles….done with no computers with almost zero mistakes……some ridiculous number like 1 in 2-3 million.

Kolaba causeway…shopping area

Tata built Taj Mahal Hotel in 1903 after British had another that didn’t allow “Indians and dogs”. Banyan tree symbol if India. You see trees, particularly Banyan trees, painted couple of different colours. One reason is it has pesticides in the paint to prevent against insects, to indicate local govt is responsible for it and is that it is protected and the white to reflect vehicle lights at night.

Cricket is also a religion..lol!

There are lots of Bombay gymkhanas. They are private clubs for cricket, soccer, maybe lawn bowling, etc.

Trains transport millions of people every day. They stop only for 80 seconds. Everyone crams in so much that you get a “full body massage” every time apparently. We never tried. The “Victoria” terminus station was built by the British ….the municipal across the street from it. It is quite beautiful. There are 21 official language and 1600 dialects….. Hindi is the first language, English is second.

Educated people are only having one or two children partly because educated in private schools costs quite a lot. Poor and Muslim are still having lots of children though. 

The Parsi people are from Iran. There are only 100,000 in India. They are Rastafarians that don’t believe in fire so don’t cremate their dead. They just put them on rock slabs for vultures to pick the bones.

The beach is clean but no one goes in the water because with 20 million people….it is polluted.

1 million in slum..lots of industry mostly recycle plastic, leather (and artificial) and textiles

60% of Tata income is given to social services. They own the most expensive house at I billion dollar with maybe 6-7 people living in it but with 20,000 servants.   

400$/sq ft and up in this “nicer” area for apt or US$800,000 for 2000 sq ft. I saw a sign that said that housing in Mumbai is 42% higher than Delhi.

Hanging Gardens are not hanging but are above a water reservoir. While we’re there the workers saw a snake…..made one insane attempt to kill it with a garden tool much like an axe/hoe. I think they succeeded but totally blew the tool apart.

Metro (underground) has just been started… first line will be up and running in 2022. Up to now there has just been trains.

Monsoon lasted June, July and this year until October ……causes problems for the building of anything underground esp. when there are high-tides.
Dhobi Ghat biggest open air laundry……rocks to beat the clothes on…. water looks filthy but apparently they all come back spotless….about a week later.
Hinduism is 5000 years old. We went to Krishna Temple.

Krishna is a form of Hinduism…..is the blue god.
We also stopped by a museum but not any time to really check it out so was a waste of time.

Day number 2 Mumbai
 Mumbai…name means mother + bay

There are 7 islands 650 sq miles & 20 million people

Honking is one of the languages……lol!

There is a lunch program where 500 delivery people deliver 200,000 lunches daily from home….on bicycles….done with no computers with almost zero mistakes……some ridiculous number like 1 in 2-3 million.

Kolaba causeway…shopping area

Tata built Taj Mahal Hotel in 1903 after British had another that didn’t allow “Indians and dogs”. Banyan tree symbol if India. You see trees, particularly Banyan trees, painted couple of different colours. One reason is it has pesticides in the paint to prevent against insects, to indicate local govt is responsible for it and is that it is protected and the white to reflect vehicle lights at night.

Cricket is also a religion..lol!

There are lots of Bombay gymkhanas. They are private clubs for cricket, soccer, maybe lawn bowling, etc.

Trains transport millions of people every day. They stop only for 80 seconds. Everyone crams in so much that you get a “full body massage” every time apparently. We never tried. The “Victoria” terminus station was built by the British ….the municipal across the street from it. It is quite beautiful. There are 21 official language and 1600 dialects….. Hindi is the first language, English is second.

Educated people are only having one or two children partly because educated in private schools costs quite a lot. Poor and Muslim are still having lots of children though. 

The Parsi people are from Iran. There are only 100,000 in India. They are Rastafarians that don’t believe in fire so don’t cremate their dead. They just put them on rock slabs for vultures to pick the bones.

The beach is clean but no one goes in the water because with 20 million people….it is polluted.

1 million in slum..lots of industry mostly recycle plastic, leather (and artificial) and textiles

60% of Tata income is given to social services. They own the most expensive house at I billion dollar with maybe 6-7 people living in it but with 20,000 servants.   

400$/sq ft and up in this “nicer” area for apt or US$800,000 for 2000 sq ft. I saw a sign that said that housing in Mumbai is 42% higher than Delhi.

Hanging Gardens are not hanging but are above a water reservoir. While we’re there the workers saw a snake…..made one insane attempt to kill it with a garden tool much like an axe/hoe. I think they succeeded but totally blew the tool apart.

Metro (underground) has just been started… first line will be up and running in 2022. Up to now there has just been trains.

Monsoon lasted June, July and this year until October ……causes problems for the building of anything underground esp. when there are high-tides.
Dhobi Ghat biggest open air laundry……rocks to beat the clothes on…. water looks filthy but apparently they all come back spotless….about a week later.
Hinduism is 5000 years old. We went to Krishna Temple.

Krishna is a form of Hinduism…..is the blue god.
We also stopped by a museum but not any time to really check it out so was a waste of time.