Mumbai

Looking more like a palace than a railway station, the Victoria Terminus is the highlight of Mumbai's Victorian Gothic Revival architecture and another UNESCO World Heritage Site.



The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and Tower, and the so called "Gateway of India" (on the right in front of the tower). The "Gateway of India" was the gateway for the British but I think the real gateway to India is the Kyber Pass, from Afghanistan to Pakistan, because that was the way that Alexander the Great (his army anyway), Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, the Afghans (the Ghaznavids, the Ghorids, the Durrani), the Moguls (Babur), the Kushans, and anyone else who wanted to invade India had to pass through to get there.



From Mumbai I took a boat to Elephanta Island to see the Hindu cave temples there that are carved from solid rock.



My hotel was the Salvation Army Red Shield House, another place I saw on TV and the only cheap place to stay in Mumbai.






The sacred Banganga Tank in Malabar Hill



Juhu Beach. Not a place for swimming, just a place for Indians to gather and stroll around. In the evening there are games, and carnival rides, and it has a really fun atmosphere.



Bhelpuri - essential beach food in Mumbai



I went to a supermarket and found some nice jam for my Jams and Jellies of the World collection.



And on my final day in Mumbai I saw a Bollywood film, Kabul Express, about some journalists trying to get to Kabul. It was mostly in Hindi with some bits in English but no subtitles and no song and dance routine. You have to see a Bollywood film if you come to India, this was mine.



Mumbai is one of the only places in world where you can find a Zoroastrian temple. Zoroastrianism is called the worlds oldest monotheistic religion and was once the dominate religion of western and central Asia. Learning more about Zoroastrianism was a big goal for my trip to Mumbai. I talked to a few (called Parsis in India) and they were friendly enough and answered my questions, but it's not a very open religion and non Parsis are not allowed in the temple.