A Day in Mumbai

Mumbai is probably the most expensive destination in India. Lodging and food are considerably more expensive here. From a tourist perspective, it’s not a great place to spend a lot of time in given the costs and the lack of notable sights. However, if you have the money to burn it’s a wonderful place to spend your money on delicious food, drink, and shopping. Since I don’t have money to burn I only spent one day in the city. The main tourist area of city is Colaba, a 30 minute walk away from Victoria Terminal (CST), which is home to many historical buildings along MG Road as well as the Gateway of India. The Gateway of India is a massive basalt gate built by the British commemorating a visit by British royalty back in 1911. Ironically it was the site of a major ceremony of the departure of the British when India was granted independence on 15 Aug 1947.

Given the steep prices in Mumbai and my short time there I didn’t do much other than walk from CST to the Gateway of India along MG road. I also met my friend Kanika from uni who is working and living in the city. I wanted to visit Elephanta Island and Chowpatty Beach but unfortunately I didn’t have enough time since I arrived at 07:30 that morning from Ajmer and didn’t make it down to Colaba till lunchtime. My train terminated in Bandra in North Mumbai; from there I took a local train for 6 rupees to CST and from there found a place to stay nearby for 550 rupees, which was the cheapest I could find that was close to the station.
If you have money to burn then Mumbai is a great city to play in – great bars, food, shopping, and nightlife. Since I don’t have money to burn I only took advantage of the wealth of food options. It was challenging trying to decide where to fill up on calories =)