Mumbai - City of Dreams
Colonial heritage
Mumbai, formerly Bombay - the melodious metropolis of 20 million people on the Arabian Sea. A place of longing and attraction for fortune seekers and visitors from all over the world. Here, magnificent Victorian buildings meet glass skyscrapers, slums and markets meet glittering Bollywood. A flying visit to the City of Dreams.
The Coloba district is the ideal starting point for exploring the city's colonial heritage on foot. From there, the Gateway of India, Mumbai's landmark, is quickly reached. The monumental triumphal arch right on the harbour commemorates the first visit of the British King George V and his wife Mary in 1911. Despite the early morning hour, the place is teeming with people: Businessmen, beggars, street vendors and tourists combine to form a lively, colourful mix.
One more glance at the world-famous Taj Mahal Palace Hotel opposite and we continue – past the Prince of Wales Museum with its impressive dome and the wonderfully peaceful park, along Mahatma Gandhi Road to the university, whose 80-metre-high bell tower is reminiscent of Big Ben and also plays the same tune as its British model. Right next door is the Bombay High Court, which at 170 metres long and almost 60 metres high is one of the largest Victorian Gothic buildings in the city. But the most beautiful monument with a colonial past is the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST). Built on the model of St. Pancras in London, the station, which was initially called Victoria Station and was only named after the great Maratha warrior king in 1996, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004.
Meeting place Chowpatty
If you want to enjoy the sunset on the beach, you will definitely not be alone. Juhu Chowpatty, Mumbai's largest beach, is a popular meeting place in the evening and densely populated with families, lovers and, of course, tourists. By the way, the tourists seem to be the only ones who are bothered by the rubbish lying around everywhere.
Sea promenade with art nouveau flair
A hop-on-hop-off tour by taxi is a good way to explore the gigantic metropolis individually. A trip along the 3.6-kilometre-long Marine Drive, also called Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Road, is not to be missed. With its wide beach promenade on one side and the beautiful Art Deco-style buildings on the other, the street has a very special flair. On top of all this, there is an unobstructed view of Mumbai's skyline.
From Malabar Hill to Gandhi
If you wish, you can take a detour through the noble and pleasantly quiet residential area on Malabar Hill and make a short stop at the Hanging Gardens. Then you have already reached the Mani Bhavan. Mahatma Gandhi lived and worked in this residential building from 1919 to 1934, and it was from here that he launched his first mass movement for freedom. The house has retained its original condition and provides an interesting insight into the various stages of his life. It is worthwhile to be there early in the morning before the tourist buses arrive.
The largest laundry in the world
From the bridge at Mahalaxmi Station, the world's largest open-air laundry is at your feet. At Dhobi Ghat, almost 1,000 stone washbasins line up. There are huge industrial dryers and an impressive tangle of washing lines on which trousers, shirts, bed sheets, towels, work clothes for waiters and cooks and even police uniforms flutter around colourfully. More than
5,000 people work here and wash all the clothes by hand. It is unbelievable that with such quantities of laundry, the individual items find their way back to their owners.
A market for everything and a legendary café
A very interesting experience is the Crawford Market. In this Norman Neo-Gothic market hall dating from 1871, there is just about everything that the inhabitants of this city of millions need, from fruit and vegetables to household goods, shoes, toys and live animals. There is an exotic atmosphere beyond all European animal welfare and hygiene rules. If the noise, heat and crowds are too much for you, you can take a taxi to the legendary 'Leopold Café', well-known from the novel 'Shantaram', and end the day with a cool drink and a 'pav bhaji', a spicy potato curry.
