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Mumbai
I landed at 10.30pm at Mumbai airport, greatful to have skipped the 19 hour train ride!
I was staying close to the airport but hadn't made any reservations once again, so fingers crossed they have room!
The hostel was more of a flat someone decided to stick in a few extra beds and rent out. I had the last "bed" which was actually just a room with a pile of blankets on the floor. I slept surprisingly ok, I think more so because I have been very tired. India is a hectic place... I need Goa really bad!
The next morning I had no idea really what to do or how I was going to get down to Goa once I was finished here in Mumbai.
The problem with India is that travel isn't made that easy. You can't really just jump onto a train and buy a ticket when you want, with 1.2 billion people in the county the trains get booked up months in advance and the buses aren't the best way to get about either.
Goa takes about 18-20 hours either way you choose to travel and once again I really don't fancy that, the sleeper trains are all fully booked up for the week so really flying is going to be my best option to avoid wasting time.
I managed to book a flight from Mumbai to Goa the following evening it takes only 45 minutes!!
I decided to try and make my way into the main touristy area of Colaba which was a few miles away. I decided to take the train into the city as it's one of the fastest ways about town.
When I arrived at the station I brought 3 samosas and a chai for the journey, one of the best breakfasts you can have i think!
After negotiating the busy ticket office and finding the right platform I waited for the train, all seven platforms were completely overcrowded and I stupidly was expecting a civilised journey! The train pulled into the station and before it had even really slowed down you could see people jumping off the trains and even more trying to get on to it! Honestly the sight of it I could only describe as a riot, I decided to skip this train in the hope that the next one would be a little more empty and I would be a little more prepared!
When it pulled into the station I had my bag on my front and like the crowd I pushed hard into one of the doors, I just about made it inside the carriage as it pulled away! I later found out that on average 10 people every day are killed falling off the trains here!
I walked around Mumbai seeing the sites of the Taj Mahal hotel which was impressive and also india gate.
I had heard about a tour company in Mumbai that takes tourists into the slums of India and it was certainly something I wanted to see. I managed to find the tiny office above a shop near to india gate and once again I was lucky that the last tour that day would be leaving in around 15 minutes.
We were driven past the red light area to start with which has over 10,000 women working in daily! The red light area had dramatically decreased since 1990s when it had around 60,000 girls working there, it's mainly decreased due to call out girls. The Main Street was full of small buildings with just a set of curtains covering the door. The women lined the streets ready for there next customer!
Our guide was really knowledgable and I fact lived in the slums still even though he had this good job as a tour guide, In fact we found out that the people who work in the city with good jobs still choose to live in the slums as it's where they know best, with all the family and friends living there too. The slums hold a staggering 55% of the population of Mumbai!
We visited the open air laundry which washes over two hounded thousand sheets a day for the hotels in Mumbai.
All the sheets are delivered at night and then all morning they are hand washed in these square water buckets and then swans around and slapped against the ground to dry. All afternoon they dry in the hot sun. The whole area is a mass of white bed sheets and pillows!
We arrived at the industrial end of the slum where most of the dirty work is done. We passed through areas where plastic bottles are recycled, washing machines are fixed and even melting down of metals. The whole area must have been so toxic, the air was full of fumes so we moved through fast.
The next area of the slum was for food production, everything from cakes to popadoms were made here. Houndreds of popadoms were laying on the rooftops and in batches on the streets to dry then out. All over India you can find soft drinks in the traditional glass coke bottles, here they recycle them, fist they wash them in ... Not so clean looking water and then fill and stamp a lid onto the top! The final area we visited made leather products such as wallets and bags. The tour had been really interesting and really showed the other side to India!
The next morning I flew to Goa!!
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