Mumbai Tag 2

5.5.2024 Mumbai

At 8.30 a.m. the tour booked with Anish Kumar began with the departure of our bus.

This led us to two of Mumbai's landmarks, the "Gateway to India", an archway built to mark the visit of a British king, and the luxurious Taj Hotel.

Our actual goal, however, was the jetty there for speedboats, with which we wanted to reach our destination for the day: Elephanta Island.

A short distance from the island's jetty is the stop of a small train that took us part of the way. This ended at the bottom of a steep and seemingly endless staircase. I groaned inwardly because I still remembered the other staircase where I almost collapsed. The offer from four young men to carry me up the mountain in a primitive sedan chair for US$ 30.00 seemed tempting. But on the one hand I have reservations about using people like slaves, and on the other hand I didn't want to expose myself in front of my fellow travelers.

So I panted up the stairs, wound my way between some dogs lying around, took frequent breaks and finally reached the top. A short time later, the tour began into the impressive "Elephanta Caves", a cave system created by people in the 5th to 6th centuries with many statues of gods. The whole thing is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

At some point I had enough of the caves and preferred to spend time with the monkeys climbing around outside. I once managed to stroke the back of a mother monkey, but unfortunately she fled with her offspring.

Shortly afterwards we started our way back. I took a break at the Taj Mahal Hotel with a few companions and treated myself to an outrageously expensive cocktail.

The bus took us back to the ship.

I fell into bed tired and exhausted and skipped dinner after my lunch had only consisted of a can of beer.