Bombay Dreams: Living like Kings

The Gateway of India and
the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel
Originally uploaded by rtw2007.

We were reluctant to leave Jaisalmer and the desert: we had both really enjoyed the change of scenery, the incredibly colourful dress and experiencing the local way of life. We hit the road east back towards Jodphur and then south towards the celebrated Jain Temples at Ranakpur.

Hidden away in a range of wooded hills in southern Rajasthan, Ranakpur is a really interesting complex of ornately carved white temples. The carvings include Buddah-like seated figures adorned with rather scary reflective eyes; big balloon-breasted dancers; stately elephants; and lots of intricate columns. The repeated patterns throughout the complex are particularly striking, with whole banks of the same carving repeated numerous times in a small area to great effect.

Deeper into the hills, we visited Kumbalgarh: a large sprawling fairy-tale stone fort perched on a high hilltop, proudly boasting a 36km surrounding wall. The views across the hazy surrounding area were impressive, and at an altitude of 1,100m we enjoyed the fresh breeze. The only slight downside was the presence of a group of riotous, whooping Indian school children who seemed to find European tourists far more interesting than the fort itself.

Our final stop in Rajasthan was the town of Udaipur, which is the home of a famous Lake Palace, now a luxury hotel. During our time in the town, we enjoyed a boat trip on the lake and a lovely meal on a terrace overlooking the lake and the stone City Palace façade. Udaipur boasts one of the largest of the Rajasthani palaces, but it was whilst walking around this that we realised we have now reached the limit of our palace appreciation skills and are suffering from Indian palace fatigue. We instead spent lots of time relaxing and bracing ourselves for the 800km journey south to Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay). On the downside, Udaipur is incredibly touristy and reams of cafes selling bad banana pancakes to appeal to streams of Lonely Planet readers isn’t really why we came to India. The Lake Palace is rather plain and the lake itself is pretty filthy and quite dried up, so somehow it seemed a little underwhelming. The sheer number of tickets that we were forced to buy to see anything in town (three to get into the palace, for example) helped to contribute to our ongoing underlying feeling that few people here are genuinely friendly. Their seemingly friendly conversations are usually just disguised sales pitches or demands for money. So different to so many of the countries where we have been earlier on this trip.

We set off bright and breezy from Udaipur towards Mumbai and in the end the journey south wasn’t too bad, helped in no small part by two stretches of new expressway. We managed 500km on the first day before collapsing exhausted in the van in an oh-so-glamorous service station car park, where they insisted on a playing (very loudly) a Hindi Bollywood movie on a big outdoor screen all night. The next day’s drive was slightly more frustrating. We tried to negotiate our way around Mumbai to the small ferry port of Mandwa, so as to avoid driving in the city centre. Unfortunately, following the signposts proved to be a mistake as they took us into heaps of traffic: at one point it took three hours to drive 35km (20 miles). Amazingly, though, we managed to hold off on opening our final pack of Haribo Tangfastics, our final supply of UK sweeties, which we are still saving for a real crisis moment.

When we eventually reached Mandwa’s sandy beach, it was the first time we had seen the sea since Ukraine. The next morning we took the early commuter ferry into the centre of Mumbai. We arrived into the city at the Gateway of India, a large stone monument on the waterfront which was built to commemorate the visit of King George V in 1911. All very dramatic. Mumbai is so different to anywhere else we have been in India. The city centre has a far more European feel, with pavements, vaguely orderly traffic and incredible colonial architecture. It seems really civilised and cosmopolitan. In the city centre, at least, there seems to be a lot more money kicking around than in your average Indian town or city (no doubt the huge slums on the way out to the airport tell a very different story, though). Our main activity has been wandering the streets and soaking up the atmosphere, occasionally dropping into an air conditioned coffee shop for a break from the searing, humid heat. A highlight was visiting the Oval Maiden, a large grassy meadow where the only activity allowed is playing cricket. Countless impromptu games take place in the sunshine in the imposing shadow of the impressive, gothic High Court and Bombay University buildings (the later has an 80m tall, Big Ben style clock tower). I developed a taste for fresh sugar cane juice, which appears to be the refresher of choice for cooling down the cricketers – at only six rupees (7.5p) for a half litre “Jombo” glass it was just the job.

For our final night in town we decided to bite the bullet, blow the budget and treat ourselves to an early joint 30th birthday present: a night at the luxury Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. The Taj is an amazing building located on the harbour right next to the Gateway of India. The whole place is steeped in history, with black and white photos of the Queen and all the other digantaries who have stayed here over the years. On arrival, we were greeted by a red carpet, photographers and a long row of smart black cars outside the hotel. Sadly this wasn’t all because they had heard that we were arriving: the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is staying on the same floor as us and the whole place is crawling with police and her enormous German bodyguards. We have spent the last 24 hours revelling in luxury: room service, films on demand, an enormous shower and a huge comfy bed, all with a beautiful view out over the Gateway and the harbour. It’s a tough life this travelling lark!! An amazing location in which to contemplate the prospect of reaching the grand old age of thirty…..