That’s what I thought, waving goodbye to my husband last Friday, as he was leaving to Mumbai for the conference. Of course, when one is going on business trip, they’re not expected to have the same entertainment as normal tourist would have. So I didn’t expect him to see a lot. Beside, while helping him to find pre-information of places of interest in that area, I knew already that Mumbai hasn’t got as much touristy attractions as Northern India, where there is Delhi, Taj Mahal, Kashmir, Rajastan and many others…So, I was ready to be satisfied with the stories he would tell and pictures he would take.
Mumbai through my hb’s eyes look like a big construction site. Wherever the pictures were taken on the streets of the city, there are always some houses in scaffolding or in half-demolished state. Call it “accident”, but this is what I saw. Of course, he did visit some interesting places too. Mostly the temples. There are many temples everywhere in India, yet not many of them are famous. So, he just saw few random temples, which happened partly thanks to the Mumbai’s taxi drivers. Like in Cairo, they couldn’t read maps and each knew only a random set of tourist landmarks, so if you’d want to get to definite place, you need to rely on your luck, that driver would know where it is. Of course, they will never tell you that they do not know where to go, they just take you to the place, which they think, you’d fancy to see as a tourist. Then you would need to find another taxi and rely on his knowledge, which in its turn could bring you to some other, totally unknown place. So you just keep trying visiting the places your taxi divers decided you must see and eventually you may even get to the one you wanted in the first place, if you lucky enough. It took my hb three different attempts to get to one temple he was determined to see, couple of times during this journey, the drivers delivered him to the same location, he’s already been before. So yes, getting around Mumbai by taxi could be an exciting experience – you will never know where you will end up, even if you had a plan and a map in the first place.
Old name of Mumbai is Bombay. And it is a current capital of India and also known as a Bollywood city. There are few places of interest there including famous Gateway of India (hmmm…big gates?)
And Elephanta Caves. These caves are actually not in Mumbai itself, but on a small island, about 1 hour from the city. And basically it is a collection of caves (name kinda rings a bell, doesn’t it?), cut directly in the rocks. Those caves filled with stone sculptures of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. But mainly these temples dedicated to Shiva. (Shiva is a Destroyer of the Evil. Represents change. However, this change is positive, as the creation follows after any destruction)
And the little doggy is actually –a little monkey. I've been told, those little beggers are everywhere on that island.
There were some other places of interest in Mumbai that got caught on our camera. I’ll just share a few pictures of the most prominent of them:
This is the ceiling of the Adishwarji Jain Temple. (no Photoshop fixes!). Jainizm is a religion that teaches the immortality and transmigration of the soul. And this is the entrance to the same Jain Temple:
A beautiful carved in white lace temple with no name. (not nameless for real, just with a name that nobody remember). All I know - they don’t allow take pictures inside:
Mumbai street scene:
This is not a palace…this is just a hotel…Taj Mahal. Unfortunately it has absolutely nothing in common with the famous World Wonder of the real Taj Mahal:
Well I have nothing much to write about India, as I haven’t seen it by my own eyes. I thought I’d just share few pictures, I found most interesting. I did get a special gift among all the other gifts that I've got - a carved figurine of Ganesha - he is the Lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles. He is also worshipped as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth...Ganesha is also the destroyer of vanity, selfishness and pride (who can go wrong with such a set of benefits?!)
The more I look at him, the more I think, I need to read more about him now, since he lives in my house. This Ganesha is too cute and enigmatic...
Mumbai through my hb’s eyes look like a big construction site. Wherever the pictures were taken on the streets of the city, there are always some houses in scaffolding or in half-demolished state. Call it “accident”, but this is what I saw. Of course, he did visit some interesting places too. Mostly the temples. There are many temples everywhere in India, yet not many of them are famous. So, he just saw few random temples, which happened partly thanks to the Mumbai’s taxi drivers. Like in Cairo, they couldn’t read maps and each knew only a random set of tourist landmarks, so if you’d want to get to definite place, you need to rely on your luck, that driver would know where it is. Of course, they will never tell you that they do not know where to go, they just take you to the place, which they think, you’d fancy to see as a tourist. Then you would need to find another taxi and rely on his knowledge, which in its turn could bring you to some other, totally unknown place. So you just keep trying visiting the places your taxi divers decided you must see and eventually you may even get to the one you wanted in the first place, if you lucky enough. It took my hb three different attempts to get to one temple he was determined to see, couple of times during this journey, the drivers delivered him to the same location, he’s already been before. So yes, getting around Mumbai by taxi could be an exciting experience – you will never know where you will end up, even if you had a plan and a map in the first place.
Old name of Mumbai is Bombay. And it is a current capital of India and also known as a Bollywood city. There are few places of interest there including famous Gateway of India (hmmm…big gates?)
And Elephanta Caves. These caves are actually not in Mumbai itself, but on a small island, about 1 hour from the city. And basically it is a collection of caves (name kinda rings a bell, doesn’t it?), cut directly in the rocks. Those caves filled with stone sculptures of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. But mainly these temples dedicated to Shiva. (Shiva is a Destroyer of the Evil. Represents change. However, this change is positive, as the creation follows after any destruction)
And the little doggy is actually –a little monkey. I've been told, those little beggers are everywhere on that island.
There were some other places of interest in Mumbai that got caught on our camera. I’ll just share a few pictures of the most prominent of them:
This is the ceiling of the Adishwarji Jain Temple. (no Photoshop fixes!). Jainizm is a religion that teaches the immortality and transmigration of the soul. And this is the entrance to the same Jain Temple:
A beautiful carved in white lace temple with no name. (not nameless for real, just with a name that nobody remember). All I know - they don’t allow take pictures inside:
Mumbai street scene:
This is not a palace…this is just a hotel…Taj Mahal. Unfortunately it has absolutely nothing in common with the famous World Wonder of the real Taj Mahal:
Well I have nothing much to write about India, as I haven’t seen it by my own eyes. I thought I’d just share few pictures, I found most interesting. I did get a special gift among all the other gifts that I've got - a carved figurine of Ganesha - he is the Lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles. He is also worshipped as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth...Ganesha is also the destroyer of vanity, selfishness and pride (who can go wrong with such a set of benefits?!)
The more I look at him, the more I think, I need to read more about him now, since he lives in my house. This Ganesha is too cute and enigmatic...