Part 1: Mumbai
We arrived in Mumbai (formally known as Bombay) in the middle of the night. Bright and early we awoke to experience our first taste of India in the form of an Indian breakfast consisting of masala dosa (flat rice pancake) stuffed with potato curry and idli (a puffy steamed pancake made from lentils) served with coconut chutney and a tomato sort of sauce. After breakfast we met up with Erin's friend Rahul, who lives in Mumbai with his family. We we're toured around the city, a lush place with Imperial influenced architecture that's bursting with life in every nook and cranny. Mumbai has many charming qualities such as the taxis that are all 1960's fiats and the most elaborately decorated silver horsedrawn carriages. We went to the Taj Hotel for afternoon tea in the Sea Lounge, a popular spot for concerned Indian mothers to go to arrange marriages for their children. We drank buckets of delicious masala chai and munched on popular Mumbai street food dishes including puffed rice and panipurri, which are hollow puri shells stuffed with chickpeas and chili mint water. Absolutely delicious. We then strolled around the neighborhood, popping into stores Bombay Electric and Good Earth. We eventually ended up at the Gateway of India, a giant arch monument built by the British in 1911, where vendors sell magical giant balloons and bright pick puffs of cotton candy. Another memorable meal in Mumbai was at Swati Snacks, where we ate local street food and got our first sips of lassi, sugarcane juice, limewater and masala soda. One particularly site filled day we went to Haji Ali, a mosque located in the middle of the sea accessible only during low tides via a long narrow pathway. After we visited Dhobi Ghat, the worlds largest outdoor laundry, and Banghanga, a holy bathing spot in the middle of Malaber Hill. In Mumbai we also visted the Ghandi Museum located in where Ghandi lived from 1917 to 1934. Rahul was sweet enough to take us to his family's Hindu temple. He described various rituals of the religion and we were anointed and had our wrists tied with bright red and yellow string. One of our favorite meals was at Indigo restuarant, a who's who kind of place with a bright pink wall. Every night in Mumbai we were enchanted with the most vibrant orange sunsets. Mumbai feels dated in the most perfect of ways because the architecure is a mixture of every decade majorly decayed and thus utterly charming and seemingly retro. Our last night in Mumbai ended on a sweet note with kulfi (Indian ice cream) and paan (after dinner digestive of chewing betel leaf with nuts and lime).
