We slept wonderfully, and woke around 5am. We got ready to explore and then ate breakfast at the hotel. They had a wonderful buffet with Indian, Asian, French, and British breakfast foods. You could also order foods to order. Then we waited to hear from Xytel India about our driver. Once we finally made contact, they arranged to get the driver to us by about 9am. So we went back to the room for awhile.
Once the driver arrived, we headed into Mumbai. To get to the south tip of Mumbai, the road passes through the slums and then the nicer part of town. It was an experience!
We drover over their suspension bridge. It was a long, low swoop.
He dropped us at the Gateway of India...an arch that was built to commemorate the royal visit of King George V in 1911.
Taj Mahal Hotel
We made plans to meet him back at 3pm.
Then we bought tickets and took the ferry to Elephanta Island. It took about an hour.
Then we walked about 1/4 mile along the pier and coast. We paid a tourist tax and then headed up another 1/4 mile stairs. At the top, we paid an entrance fee and went into cave complex.
There were monkeys everywhere. All the tour books said be careful about food. They'll take it right out of you hands! After walking around, I totally believe it!
The caves felt like the dwarf caves from Lord of the Rings. Lots of stone pillars and large statues. Interesting fact, none of the pillars are exactly the same size or exactly in line.
In each set of caves, there is a round stone that acts as a shrine to Shiva. Another interesting facts, those stones are made from a rock that is not found on the island...so it must have been brought to the island from elsewhere.
We explored all of the caves...not just the main one.
While there, we saw a Bollywood movie being filmed!
Then we walked to the very top of the hill and explored the two cannons left by the Portuguese when they left India in the 1960s.
It was a HOT climb. Both Spencer and I were drenched with sweat.
Climbing the hillside, watching the hawks spiral on the currents, feeling the heat, and just experiencing India, I can see why so many people fell in love with India!
And then I looked down, and the ground is just covered in garbage. Everywhere...along the path, along the coast, in the water, in the trees...everywhere there is trash. It just saddens me that such a beautiful place is covered with so much trash. It also makes be appreciate all the men and women over the years that have fought in America to protect and preserve our natural places (and even not-natural places) and keep them clean!
We caught the 2pm ferry back to the Gateway of India.
We could not find our driver anywhere...and I did not want to just hang-out in the area...so we started walking to the Prince of Wales Museum. When we were across the intersection from the museum, the driver caught up to us! He found a parking spot near the entrance and we agreed to meet back at 6pm when the museum closed.
The Prince of Wales Museum has been renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya. It contains a collection of Indian artifacts...from the earliest Indus valley civilization that disappeared to the current times.
There are stone statues from hundreds and thousands of years ago, coins, armor, and the like.
They also have a natural history section very similar to what we saw in New York.
They have ancient stones just sitting outside on the porch. Spencer touched all of them, just because he could.
This statue was made recently and won an art competition. It is made entirely from tree bark that has been rolled flat into paper. Very impressive!
We had planned to stay until 6pm, but after about an hour the sun and heat and lack of sleep caught up to us. We were exhausted and brain dead. So we headed back and found our driver.
As he was driving us to the Hanging Gardens, he apparently ran a red light and got a fine! We didn't know what was going on at first, so it was quite exciting!
We stopped by the Hanging Gardens because Jay (from the airplane) recommended them. They were a large park with walkways, benches, and manicured gardens. It would be nice to explore...if you were not totally exhausted. After staring around for a few minutes and having no desire to move, we simply returned to the car.
The drive home went smoothly. I think. Spencer and I were both falling asleep.
Once back at the hotel, we showered. It felt so good to scrub the grim of the day off our bodies. Then we had dinner at the hotel and crashed early!
Tomorrow...we fly to Jamnagar!
We drover over their suspension bridge. It was a long, low swoop.
He dropped us at the Gateway of India...an arch that was built to commemorate the royal visit of King George V in 1911.
Taj Mahal Hotel
We made plans to meet him back at 3pm.
Then we bought tickets and took the ferry to Elephanta Island. It took about an hour.
Then we walked about 1/4 mile along the pier and coast. We paid a tourist tax and then headed up another 1/4 mile stairs. At the top, we paid an entrance fee and went into cave complex.
There were monkeys everywhere. All the tour books said be careful about food. They'll take it right out of you hands! After walking around, I totally believe it!
The caves felt like the dwarf caves from Lord of the Rings. Lots of stone pillars and large statues. Interesting fact, none of the pillars are exactly the same size or exactly in line.
While there, we saw a Bollywood movie being filmed!
Then we walked to the very top of the hill and explored the two cannons left by the Portuguese when they left India in the 1960s.
It was a HOT climb. Both Spencer and I were drenched with sweat.
Climbing the hillside, watching the hawks spiral on the currents, feeling the heat, and just experiencing India, I can see why so many people fell in love with India!
And then I looked down, and the ground is just covered in garbage. Everywhere...along the path, along the coast, in the water, in the trees...everywhere there is trash. It just saddens me that such a beautiful place is covered with so much trash. It also makes be appreciate all the men and women over the years that have fought in America to protect and preserve our natural places (and even not-natural places) and keep them clean!
We caught the 2pm ferry back to the Gateway of India.
We could not find our driver anywhere...and I did not want to just hang-out in the area...so we started walking to the Prince of Wales Museum. When we were across the intersection from the museum, the driver caught up to us! He found a parking spot near the entrance and we agreed to meet back at 6pm when the museum closed.
The Prince of Wales Museum has been renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya. It contains a collection of Indian artifacts...from the earliest Indus valley civilization that disappeared to the current times.
There are stone statues from hundreds and thousands of years ago, coins, armor, and the like.
They also have a natural history section very similar to what we saw in New York.
They have ancient stones just sitting outside on the porch. Spencer touched all of them, just because he could.
This statue was made recently and won an art competition. It is made entirely from tree bark that has been rolled flat into paper. Very impressive!
We had planned to stay until 6pm, but after about an hour the sun and heat and lack of sleep caught up to us. We were exhausted and brain dead. So we headed back and found our driver.
As he was driving us to the Hanging Gardens, he apparently ran a red light and got a fine! We didn't know what was going on at first, so it was quite exciting!
We stopped by the Hanging Gardens because Jay (from the airplane) recommended them. They were a large park with walkways, benches, and manicured gardens. It would be nice to explore...if you were not totally exhausted. After staring around for a few minutes and having no desire to move, we simply returned to the car.
The drive home went smoothly. I think. Spencer and I were both falling asleep.
Once back at the hotel, we showered. It felt so good to scrub the grim of the day off our bodies. Then we had dinner at the hotel and crashed early!
Tomorrow...we fly to Jamnagar!
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