After going to bed finally at nearly 4 am, I was up by 7:30 am, having only had a few hours of sleep. We started the morning with a walk on Marina Drive near Nariman Point along Back Bay part of the Arabian Sea. The bay curves around with coastal building on its edge and a walkway along the bay too. There was a pungent smell in the air, possibly coming from the water. In the distance and across the bay, we could see the many tall buildings in the Malabar Hill district, Mumbai's richest neighborhood. We were told that our view was particularly clear today as fog from pollution is common.
We went out exploring around the Colaba area where our hotel, The Oberio, Nariman Point is located. Colaba is one of the oldest parts of the city, and with one of the main commercial drags on Colaba Causeway. While it was suggested to us to take a cab over to the Colaba shopping street and the "Gateway to India", on the map it looked close enough and walkable. Well, it was an adventure finding our way through the curvy and crowded streets, and a bit death defying to cross at all the intersections with the noisy, fast moving congested traffic. Colaba Causeway originally build by the British to connect Colaba island to Bombay is now an extremely hectic street with continuous shops at street level in the buildings and on the sidewalks. It is suppose to be great for bargains and frequented by tourist. However, I just found myself overwhelmed seeing lots of "stuff" (wanting to say "crap") and way too many people to enjoy the chaos on a very hot day. We did have a terrific Indian meal "Delhi Dorbor Restaurant" that was very reasonably priced.
Then we went to see the "Gateway of India", an 85 feet basalt arch completed in 1920s. The arch was built, basically to welcome the British and where the last of the British exited from too in 1947. I didn't take any picture of the, now, monument. It was beautiful, but full of tourists and locals constantly trying to sell us pictures and tours. The area is fairly well secured and to enter you must pass through a check point. The Taj Mahal Hotel is right there too so the security was tight. The Taj Mahal Hotel was one of the 8 sites bombed by terrorist in 2008. There were 6 bombs at the Taj and it was the last site secured. Our hotel had one bomb go off too so the security to get in the hotel is also very tight. Every time I return to the hotel my bags are x-rayed and I get scanned with a wand.
We took a taxi over to the Koli Fishing Village. I read on this site http://mumbainet.com/mumbai-in-1-day/ about the village and I thought great photo ops. "A trip to Bombay is not complete without a look at the city’s original inhabitants – the Koli fisher folk. Take a taxi to Cuffe Parade. On the way to your right, you will see colourful fishing boats. This is a little Koli village that has kept its traditional occupation and culture. You’ll see salted Bombay Duck, hanging by the dozen, drying in the sun. You’ll see fishermen mending nets. Walk into the village and you’ll see the women selling fish at the markets. You’ll see little kids flying kites and playing cricket. There’s a village temple, a barbershop, a goldsmith, a grocer, a tailor, a small jewellery store – all in a little 10-minute walk. The fishing community has a clear division of labour. The men go to fish, while the women take the fish to the markets. So the fisherwomen – the Kolins – hold the economic reins of the household. Nobody messes with them!"
When we arrived I immediately felt like maybe I shouldn't be there, especially to photograph. It is clearly a very poor community and I wanted to be respectful of the people living there. Instantly a few children hung around us asking for money. A bit overwhelmed and nervous, we started to walk forward to the beach and then walked around a bit in the village to anther area near the water. Their fishing boats are colorful and the shore was covered with colorful trash and clothes in the mud and shoreline. We saw maybe 10 large structures on the shore of what looked like broken parts of styrofoam piled up into a rectangular shape maybe 3 or 4 feet high all covered and held together with a black netting. Later, I saw they were creatively constructed rafts from trash styrofoam, when a group of guys were on one in the water and one guy was paddling with a wooden pole to get to their boat moored out in the bay.
Later, by a rocky shore line, I noticed a few guys squatting down, and I finally realize they were moving their bowels right out in the open on the rocks. I still can't get the sight or thought of it out of my mind. I realized that another area of the city we were walking around today had a lot of what we though was dog poop on the sidewalk and I had thought, how do the dogs seem to know to go all in the same area? Then I realized it wasn't dog poo but human waste. It was an area on the sidewalk were the street people empty their bowels. As we walked, we did see many building that were public toilet and bath houses. Many of the people do not have plumbing where they live and many people just live on the streets.
This is my first blog ever and I am learning how to use this site. Please see my travel photo from India at http://www.zenfolio.com/cathytobias/e/p946220332