3 Days in Bombay...
We're actually in Bombay, India. Since being on the Amsterdam and having the luxury of my own room, I've been catching up on my series of Alias. It's a fabulous TV show with stories of CIA, black ops, and exciting undercover adventures of this woman who goes on these missions with her many different personas (Aliases). She always goes to different places in the world in the 80 or so episodes I've already watched. It's always exciting to see the stock footage and know I was actually there since in filming a TV series they can't always get to these places, but only use the stock footage they have available for the show that week. 
The other parts of the scene they just recreate using sets or locations that later have a matte painting brushed into the film. Today I was in Bombay. It wasn't quite the place I had pictures in my mind or remembered seeing in the movies. The city was a bit crowded, dirty, and smelly, but the architecture and the sights were still amazing. 
We started off the day haggling for a cab pier side before we finally found one guy who spoke some broken English (enough to get by) and who agreed on our price (which in actuality is extremely cheap to hire a cab for the price we were asking for 4 hours of time all over the city). The ride was adventurous again. It was in the old 40s style cars you see in the films from that era. He was driving like a maniac darting in and out of oncoming traffic. He wasn't the only one though since others were doing the same and even coming into traffic from side streets as if they commanded the road. We made our first couple stops at some carpeting and jewelry places. It was part of the agreement for keeping the price low and he would get a small commission off of the owners. We really had no interest in carpets or jewelry. The carpets were absolutely gorgeous, but how would I even think of transporting them? I would also have to keep them in storage with my other things until I finally got a place of my own. Oh well. I have a feeling I'll be traveling again someday. We made our first tourist stop at the Taj Mahal hotel just up the street from the gateway to India archway. We stopped and took some pictures of course and then made our way to see the hotel. The people are relentless here. Aggressive salespeople. They pester you and follow you for many minutes before you ignore them so much they just walk away. Sometimes even so much that they won't stop until a third party stops them like when you go into a building or back into your cab. Yikes!! The hotel was beautiful. Rich in all aspects. Names like Lacoste, Coach, Armani, Bulgari and various others lined the window fronts of the stores you could visit inside. The inside was so breathtaking. It must cost quite a bit to stay here. I wanted to pretend I was in my own episode of Alias and feel like I was actually staying here. We browsed in the stores and determined this was beyond our budget, so we left in our cab to another stop. A few more stores along the way and we went to a waterfront view of the city line just across from the known Chowpatty Beach. 
After this stop we were whisked away again to visit Gandhi's house where he lived from 1919 - 1934. Gandhi!!! There was a big statue of him in the park as we were on our way to the waterfront view. Now we were seeing one of his old homes. He was quite the remarkable man. I don't know much about him only that he was a great peacekeeper and revolutionary. His home was full of relics and history that offered great insight into his life. It was a tremendous learning experience. One quote in particular that stood out considering the upcoming elections was "To call women the weaker sex is libel; it is man's injustice to woman… If by strength is meant moral power then woman is immeasurably man's superior… If non-violence is the law of our being the future is with women." He had so many great thoughts. Here I even read a letter to Adolph Hitler pleading with him to not take on a war that would cause so much hatred and destruction. He addressed him as "Dear friend" noting his peaceful nature and care of humanity. We left the house after fully exploring it and soaking up as much as we could.
We traveled through the city to the hanging gardens on top of a plateau in the city. I guess they are noted as hanging gardens because this park is situated on top of a reservoir that provides drinking water to the city. The gardens were beautiful and we got some great sights of the city below. After this last sight we went to lunch at a place recommended by our cab driver. It was a nice hole in the wall place much like the places you see in NYC. We even had a few visitors crawling up the wall like some of the places you see in a major city as well. This didn't deter us because the food was so good. I never thought I liked Indian food, but there were so many new flavors crossing my palate. It was delicious. It was also very spicy. 
Whoa!!! I was sweating at some of the flavors. I had chicken tikka masala. I think that's what it was. The tikka was how it was cooked (in a clay oven). The masala was the spice and whoa was it hot. We also had some pita bread that was roasted to a crisp and spiced and that was also very delicious. We headed back to the ship in our cab just to get our bearings so we could leave the cab and walk around for a bit. 
The area where we docked and the remote city weren't very nice places to walk around. I've never seen a city so impoverished it makes the ghetto areas of the USA look wealthy. The streets and sidewalks were just torn up and the city doesn't really have a proper garbage disposal system so the streets can be, at times, lined with garbage. It causes for some interesting smells. We had reservations that night for dinner at Khyber restaurant (also well-known and recommended) so we headed back after a bit of walking around to clean up. I could feel the filth all over my body from the day. I had a good scrubbing when I came back to get ready for dinner.
A large group of us headed out that evening to fulfill our dinner reservation. It was crazy. As soon as we crossed the port gate a heard of taxi drivers flooded us with prices and offers. When we all got to the restaurant we got to our tables and began the feast that was about to happen. The restaurant was so nice and had a fabulous Indian atmosphere about it. One thing I learned very quickly was that any sweet drinks that you'd normally get elsewhere (tequila sunrise, mai tai, or daiquiri) were oversweet. Whoa!! Also, Indian house wine is not the best wine. In fact I find it undrinkable. We stuck to simple beverages if we could. I had a pumpkin soup appetizer and it was amazing and spicy. Ever since having pumpkin soup for the first time, I've been fascinated with different recipes and ideas that use the pumpkin for anything other than pie or carving. My dinner tonight was with garlic naan (which is a baked pita bread with garlic sauce) and a chicken dish with a spicy tomato and cream sauce. A-MAZING!! Wow!! My taste buds were mystified. I ended the evening with a dual layer mousse of dark chocolate and milk chocolate with a side of cinnamon coffee. Yum!! I was completely overstuffed and my senses were going wild. That night we hung out for a bit at this nightclub that was especially opened for the crew of our ship. It was nice to just dance and hang out with all the crewmembers. On board we have a bar we usually all go to, as entertainment staff, but the Indonesian and Filipino crew aren't allowed in that bar. It's for Officers only and even we, as entertainment staff, have a strip as an officer. The other crew doesn't have that privilege. I was finally tired and out of money for the day before heading back to the ship. What an amazingly exhausting day. I slept very well last night. Today I had to stay on board, but tomorrow I plan to go out shopping in the area and see what's out there. Three days in Mumbai (the city formerly known as Bombay).
The other parts of the scene they just recreate using sets or locations that later have a matte painting brushed into the film. Today I was in Bombay. It wasn't quite the place I had pictures in my mind or remembered seeing in the movies. The city was a bit crowded, dirty, and smelly, but the architecture and the sights were still amazing. 
We started off the day haggling for a cab pier side before we finally found one guy who spoke some broken English (enough to get by) and who agreed on our price (which in actuality is extremely cheap to hire a cab for the price we were asking for 4 hours of time all over the city). The ride was adventurous again. It was in the old 40s style cars you see in the films from that era. He was driving like a maniac darting in and out of oncoming traffic. He wasn't the only one though since others were doing the same and even coming into traffic from side streets as if they commanded the road. We made our first couple stops at some carpeting and jewelry places. It was part of the agreement for keeping the price low and he would get a small commission off of the owners. We really had no interest in carpets or jewelry. The carpets were absolutely gorgeous, but how would I even think of transporting them? I would also have to keep them in storage with my other things until I finally got a place of my own. Oh well. I have a feeling I'll be traveling again someday. We made our first tourist stop at the Taj Mahal hotel just up the street from the gateway to India archway. We stopped and took some pictures of course and then made our way to see the hotel. The people are relentless here. Aggressive salespeople. They pester you and follow you for many minutes before you ignore them so much they just walk away. Sometimes even so much that they won't stop until a third party stops them like when you go into a building or back into your cab. Yikes!! The hotel was beautiful. Rich in all aspects. Names like Lacoste, Coach, Armani, Bulgari and various others lined the window fronts of the stores you could visit inside. The inside was so breathtaking. It must cost quite a bit to stay here. I wanted to pretend I was in my own episode of Alias and feel like I was actually staying here. We browsed in the stores and determined this was beyond our budget, so we left in our cab to another stop. A few more stores along the way and we went to a waterfront view of the city line just across from the known Chowpatty Beach. 
After this stop we were whisked away again to visit Gandhi's house where he lived from 1919 - 1934. Gandhi!!! There was a big statue of him in the park as we were on our way to the waterfront view. Now we were seeing one of his old homes. He was quite the remarkable man. I don't know much about him only that he was a great peacekeeper and revolutionary. His home was full of relics and history that offered great insight into his life. It was a tremendous learning experience. One quote in particular that stood out considering the upcoming elections was "To call women the weaker sex is libel; it is man's injustice to woman… If by strength is meant moral power then woman is immeasurably man's superior… If non-violence is the law of our being the future is with women." He had so many great thoughts. Here I even read a letter to Adolph Hitler pleading with him to not take on a war that would cause so much hatred and destruction. He addressed him as "Dear friend" noting his peaceful nature and care of humanity. We left the house after fully exploring it and soaking up as much as we could.
We traveled through the city to the hanging gardens on top of a plateau in the city. I guess they are noted as hanging gardens because this park is situated on top of a reservoir that provides drinking water to the city. The gardens were beautiful and we got some great sights of the city below. After this last sight we went to lunch at a place recommended by our cab driver. It was a nice hole in the wall place much like the places you see in NYC. We even had a few visitors crawling up the wall like some of the places you see in a major city as well. This didn't deter us because the food was so good. I never thought I liked Indian food, but there were so many new flavors crossing my palate. It was delicious. It was also very spicy. 
Whoa!!! I was sweating at some of the flavors. I had chicken tikka masala. I think that's what it was. The tikka was how it was cooked (in a clay oven). The masala was the spice and whoa was it hot. We also had some pita bread that was roasted to a crisp and spiced and that was also very delicious. We headed back to the ship in our cab just to get our bearings so we could leave the cab and walk around for a bit. 
The area where we docked and the remote city weren't very nice places to walk around. I've never seen a city so impoverished it makes the ghetto areas of the USA look wealthy. The streets and sidewalks were just torn up and the city doesn't really have a proper garbage disposal system so the streets can be, at times, lined with garbage. It causes for some interesting smells. We had reservations that night for dinner at Khyber restaurant (also well-known and recommended) so we headed back after a bit of walking around to clean up. I could feel the filth all over my body from the day. I had a good scrubbing when I came back to get ready for dinner.
A large group of us headed out that evening to fulfill our dinner reservation. It was crazy. As soon as we crossed the port gate a heard of taxi drivers flooded us with prices and offers. When we all got to the restaurant we got to our tables and began the feast that was about to happen. The restaurant was so nice and had a fabulous Indian atmosphere about it. One thing I learned very quickly was that any sweet drinks that you'd normally get elsewhere (tequila sunrise, mai tai, or daiquiri) were oversweet. Whoa!! Also, Indian house wine is not the best wine. In fact I find it undrinkable. We stuck to simple beverages if we could. I had a pumpkin soup appetizer and it was amazing and spicy. Ever since having pumpkin soup for the first time, I've been fascinated with different recipes and ideas that use the pumpkin for anything other than pie or carving. My dinner tonight was with garlic naan (which is a baked pita bread with garlic sauce) and a chicken dish with a spicy tomato and cream sauce. A-MAZING!! Wow!! My taste buds were mystified. I ended the evening with a dual layer mousse of dark chocolate and milk chocolate with a side of cinnamon coffee. Yum!! I was completely overstuffed and my senses were going wild. That night we hung out for a bit at this nightclub that was especially opened for the crew of our ship. It was nice to just dance and hang out with all the crewmembers. On board we have a bar we usually all go to, as entertainment staff, but the Indonesian and Filipino crew aren't allowed in that bar. It's for Officers only and even we, as entertainment staff, have a strip as an officer. The other crew doesn't have that privilege. I was finally tired and out of money for the day before heading back to the ship. What an amazingly exhausting day. I slept very well last night. Today I had to stay on board, but tomorrow I plan to go out shopping in the area and see what's out there. Three days in Mumbai (the city formerly known as Bombay).
posted by Chris | 12:52 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home