Mumbai

After spending 3 nights in Udaipur it was time to head on a very long journey to Mumbai! It was a 6 hour double decker bus ride from Udaipur to Ahmedabad, which broke down about 2 hours in... But in true India style the driver called his friend who came along to help and within half an hour we were back on the road! 

We stopped in Ahmedabad for a couple of hours to see Gandhi’s house and to go for dinner before our 8 hour sleeper train to Mumbai! I’d never been on a sleeper train before so it was another first experience. The train itself was clean (apart from the toilets which I managed to avoid issuing!) and each section of the carriage had about 10 people with 3 or 2 level bunks beds. I don’t think I actually got more than about an hours sleep but that’s because I’m generally a bad sleeper and even with earplugs and an eye mask it still couldn’t block out the noise! 

We arrived in Mumbai about 6am ish and as it was our only full day in Mumbai we had a packed itinerary! We headed to the hotel for a quick freshen up then to breakfast which for once wasn’t curry... Cinnamon french toast please! We then went out to explore Mumbai - we stoped a various parks and landmarks including the beach, the train station and the largest laundry business in Mumbai. Compared to Delhi, Mumbai is a really modern, organised city. They actually have traffic lights and driving lanes so you feel a lot safer on the roads. 

In the afternoon I’d booked to do a tour of the largest slums in India which is where the film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ was filmed. On the way there we stoped by to look at the richest man in India’s house (which was a skyscraper!) it was only less than a 30 minute drive away from the slums which was a real eye opener how you can have such differences so nearby in the same city.

When we arrived in the slums we were given a small tour of some of the local businesses and met some of the people who live there. The living conditions of the slums were awful and by far the worst I’ve seen. I think the photos show it all. Again another time where I feel unbelievably grateful for everything. 

In the evening we went for dinner and drinks before having an early night. The next day we had a flight to Goa!!!