The most busiest Place I have ever been to is London. Always London, have you guys been on the underground? with my height 5’3, I’m always just under someones underarms, or worse. Seriously London is crazy, its manic, its busy, its fast paced, its chaos, its everything I love and hate at the same time…. that was up untill I landed in Mumbai.
Mumbai Oh Mumbai. …. Its madness, its crazy, its manic, its busy, its fast paced,its chaos- (im sure Ive used all these words before), its preety, its dirty, its smelly, its all things I love and hate at the same time.
Their is no place like Mumbai- did I mention we landed at 5am- Mumbai Time, and its chaotic! Does Mumbai sleep?
By the way- before I continue I need to do a quick shoutout to Southhall travel! www.southalltravel.co.uk Have you ever been on holiday and your flight gets delayed? and your stuck in the airport for hours on end (me, me, me). Well that would’ve happened (again) if we didnt get a call from Southhall Travel- who advised us that our flights been delayed and that we neednt go too early to the airport (who does that!!! Southhall travel do that!! Just how precious is that!!) Honestly they deserve a 100/10 for that. Yup you saw it correctly Im giving them a 100/10 because that is customer service on another level!
Our stay in Mumbai was once again Novotel on Juhu Beach, by the way, this hotel is round the corner from Amitabh Bachans house (evan I know who he is!)
And since we got there at 6 am-although we were tired, and jetlagged, and needed bed…..we made it in time for our first breakfast whilst in India!!! (because we were awake and breakfast starts at 6am. But lets not focus on that….. Then we went to sleep straight after and woke up at our usual time of afternoon. ***rolls eye***).
My oh My. What a breakfast, I got my Idli and Sambhar, Indian tea, Aloo Paratha, and ended it with a fresh Donut with Cinnamon and Suger, and the sleep afterwards was heaven.
First thing we did!? its India. We jumped on a Ricksaw….
Ricksaw Riding
Juhu Beach
In our ricksaw we went straight to Juhu beach- (the busy part) where we dropped off to have Pav Bhajii on the beach (and im getting frustrated as I cant find the damn photo!) By the way about Juhu Beach- is just that, its a beach, theres no sunbathing going on, no sitting around on sunbeds, or taking in the sun….. its actually filthy, the water is so dirty…. so dirty. The famous Juhu beach -the difference between city and country so apparent here straight away.
The Gateway Of India
One of the most historic tourist places in India, this huge structure was built in 1911 to welcome the King and Queen of England. Because it is a tourist attractions, its busy all the time, and there are loads of street vendors around.
Set over the Arabian Sea, its beautiful to look at, and take photos
The Famous Taj Palace
Sits opposite The Gateway of India, and what a beauty it is. Built in 1903 it is heritage 5 Star hotel visited by celebrities. It is also the main site targeted in the Mumbai Attacks in 2008.
Celebrity Houses
After this we were taken to a couple of Indias celebrity/superstar houses, naturally gated up, so we just took glimpses from outside.
After this we kind of gave up taking photos. I didn’t really know any other actors, and all we can really see are gates and in all honestly even if any of the actors were to come out- I would be none the wiser.
Elco Veg Restaurant
The amount of people that told me to go here for the Pani Puri. It needed to be ticked off on the diary.
I wanted Pani Puri, but didn’t realise I would have to eat it out of the man’s hand…..first time for everything. I guess.
It was divine! Absolute yum. And it was so weird just seeing people come past, take Pani Puri off the man, eat in front of him, pay him and walk away. After the boys saw me, they decided it’s not for them though. They missed out!
Mohammed Ali Road
The famous Mohammed Ali road. A road very famous for its food. You can smell the kebabs and the tikkas from afar. Shop after shop offers food. No one can say they were left hungry here. The variety of food is immense, and then you also get the shop stalls with the traditional churrus (bangles) and Indian jewellery in between. We didn’t come out here, but it’s on our to do list for next time for sure. The road goes on and on, and so do the people, there’s hounds of them. I think it’ll be a challenge to get through. Something I’m looking forward to.
Shiv Sagar
One of the oldest and most popular restaurants in Juhu. Set just across Juhu beach, full of locals and foreigners. We couldn’t go back home without saying we hadn’t eaten here, and there’s a reason for that. The food is amazing. It is pure veg, and finger licking. I went for the masala dosa (as I always do) and the men in my life, had chilli chips, dhaal makhani and nans. And it was devoured
Arab Street
Just round the corner from. The Taj Hotel, you get Arab Street. Another street just like Mohammed Ali Road, but you see a lot of arabs here, also Arabian food stalls and restaurants and not to forget….. Gold shops.
It actually reminded us of Makkah. It really felt as though we were transported there. We chose a restaurant to eat at, and devoured finger licking Arab food (I must get my phone in order. Can’t find the damn pics!!).
Last Bhel at the Airport
How did we end our trip? Well next up was Dubai, so that’s a goodbye to veg food, so we said our goodbye to Mumbai by ordering bhel puri at the airport. (Honestly street food is far better.)
And that’s Mumbai all wrapped up. Would I go again? Yup. I really don’t think I’ve seen anything yet. Two days definitely isn’t enough, it felt like such a short and packed visit.
I absolutely loved jumping from one ricksaw to another, and when you have awesome food- it makes the whole trip far better and obviously the well needed top up of Vitamin D
Hope you enjoyed our little journey,
Moving on to Dubai next. Do join me.
Love and regards
M11bna
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