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  Walking around south Mumbai
 
2008-08-23

I decided to start exploring the city of Mumbai this weekend, so I hopped a cab into the city towards Victoria Terminus (now called Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) to get closer to the cool stuff.

Complicating matters was the fact that I lost my camera on the cab ride from the airport into the city when I arrived this week, so I had to first go find some place that would sell me a new one. In a mild stroke of good luck, I found the exact same camera for the exact same price, so I just grabbed one of those. I already had a full battery and large memory card, so I was ready to go in ten minutes.

Without really knowing where I was going, I just started walking, seeing what downtown Mumbai had to offer. I first went south and east towards India Gate, and then walked over to the west side of the peninsula to Marine drive where there were tonnes of locals hanging out and waiting to watch the sunset.

[Click on any photo for a larger view]
First stop: getting a new camera. Luckily, the camera district is exactly where I wanted to go, and I managed to get the same camera I had before!
This is VT (now CST), an old building that is one of the more famous landmarks in the city and supposedly busiest train station in Asia.
Trains are actually a much better way of getting around this city -- traffic is just horrid.
I also found the "computer bookstore" neighbourhood by accident and found one that had a copy of my book. w00t!
There are lots of guys selling DVDs and the like here.
There's an odd mix of old colonial era buildings and weird new India buildings.
Old Ambassador taxis!
There are huge areas where there are guys selling English books.
I started walking into this market area, with lots of shops. But nobody who would sell me a bottle of water!
In the middle is actually a big (baby blue) synagogue. Go figure.
I think the Bombay Stock Market is in here somewhere.
This is the Wellington Fountain roundabout, which has a parking lot in the middle.
This is arriving at India Gate.
Under construction!
This is the Taj Palace, a swanky hotel and upscale shopping centre.
Crappy Panorama of the Taj hotel and the waterfront down here.
You can get a boat here to Elephanta Island, where they have lots of monkeys.
Always somebody selling some fruit here in India.
Cool guards!
I started walking along the Colaba Causeway, which is a huge market and definitely home to the most foreigners I've seen so far!
It's not affordable to live here.
There is a lot of political rhetoric here.
Cute baby kitties!
Find an open piece of grass in this town, and there are kids playing cricket.
This is the University of Mumbai.
This is the High Court.
This is Churchgate Train Station.
Now that's what I call a BIG TV HO! Hahahhaha.
Oddly enough, the Churchgate Train Station isn't really underneath the Churchgate Train station building. It's underground across the road.
Marine Drive.
It's panorama time!!!
Lots of people hanging around here sitting on the promenade watching the ocean.
Tourist guides, to a one, recommend heavily against swimming anywhere in Mumbai.
Hey, chickens!
This is in the cab ride home. Very few of these cars actually really work properly.
A nice introduction to the city. It's huge, and I've seen only a tiny portion of it.
 
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