Mumbai Weekend

Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and a typical crowd of selfie-takers

We are safely back in the US, but I wanted to do one last post about our last few days in India.  They started out with a trip on the night train from Miraj to India.  The train trip was uneventful (if you don't count trying to use the bathroom while the train was bumping over the tracks), but our driver to the train station was a hoot.  He told us that Miraj was the city of 3 D's: Dust, Doctors and Donkeys.  This is a pretty accurate summary of the main features of Miraj :)  After a very bumpy train ride, we arrived in Mumbai.  On our first day, we visited the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, or King Shivaji Museum.  Shivaji was the founder of the Maratha Empire, which ruled India in the 18th century, and many places in Mumbai are named after him, including the airport and a train station.  The museum is a beautiful old building surrounded by a perfectly manicured lawn and many statues of Buddha.  My favorite exhibits were the many statues of Hindu gods and goddesses, which despite being hundreds of years old are perfectly preserved and carved in minute detail.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya

On the second day of our visit to Mumbai, we visited Elephanta Island in Mumbai Harbor.  Unfortunately the island does not have any elephants living on it, but it is covered in cave temples built between AD 450 and 750.  The island was named by Portuguese explorers after they saw a large statue of Ganesh at the entrance to the island.  The get to the island we took a ferry ride.  The sky over the harbor was very hazy but it was wonderful to escape the crazy crowds of the streets of Mumbai and enjoy the breeze. On the trip back a very nice Bengali women shared her umbrella with me when she saw my sunburn.  On the island we explored the beautiful temples and watched the cute puppies and aggressive monkeys that live there.
6m tall, three-headed Shiva statue

Monkey very focused on her snack

Puppy nap time on Elephanta Island

More beautiful statues and crazy crowds

Monkey and mandala

My favorite day in Mumbai was our third, when we visited Crawford Market.  The market is inside a building built during British rule and sells everything needed to cook in India.  I bought way too many cinnamon sticks and cardamom pods and admired the stalls selling everything from mangoes to knock-off Urban Decay eyeshadow palettes.



Garlic-only market stall

Does anyone know what this fruit in the foreground is?  It looked like a dragon egg

The best part of Mumbai (and India in general) was everything we ate and drank.  Here are a few of the highlights:
Waffle and upma at Kala Ghoda Cafe

Mango delight and coconut crunch ice cream sandwiches from K Rustom, established in 1953

Thank you so much to everyone for following along with my adventures and for sharing your comments!  I am so happy I was able to have this experience in India and I feel lucky to have been able to share it with all of you.
Love, Aleze
Taj Mahal Palace hotel and the Gateway to India from the ferry to Elephanta Island

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