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| The interior of the VT is equally impressive and remaniscent of a by-gone era of British imperialism. You could almost imagine Viceroy Mountbatten stepping off one of the trains with his entourage. |
| At the tail end of my visit to India, after one too many sleepless nights on buses and trains, I treated myself to a first-class sleeper train from Goa to Bombay (aka Mumbai). I found my way down to the Colaba district at the southern end of the city, and got a room near the "Gateway of India", with the intention to spend the final three days sightseeing and buying last-minute souveniers. Like many visitors, I was surprised at how much of the British colonial era continues to be reflected in the architecture, automobiles, trains, and administration of Bombay. It is also a more modern city than I expected, although this phenomenon appears to be limited mainly to the central business district. Unfortunately Bombay, a city of 15 million people, also has more than its share of poverty, disease, and people living in cardboard boxes, but I confess I spent most of my time in Colaba and around the Fort area, which is quite pleasant. |
| Two views of the Fort area near the Victoria Terminus (VT) train station. These buildings indeed date back to the Victorian era, with the VT completed in 1887 when Queen Victoria was already declared as the "Empress of India". If it weren't for the odd palm tree you could mistake it for Manchester or Leeds! |
| And of course what is more British than Cricket in the park? It is an extremely popular game, and many times if I would say I come from New Zealand, people would launch into a volley of questions and comments about New Zealand cricket and of course I would have to confess total ignorance. Next subject please! |
| I was curious to know what they make Big Macs from if cows are sacred animals. The answer is that of course they don't have Big Macs in India. Instead I went with the "McAloo Tikka" burger which is a potato patty with curry sauce in a bun - not bad, but I think I'll stick with the traditional stuff next time. |
| Bombay is also famous for its "Bollywood" film industry which churns out hundreds of films each year. Going to the cinema is a favourite evening activity, and gaudy hand-painted film posters are abundantly displayed throughout the city. Almost without exception the plot pertains to a "forbidden love" and contains at least one fight scene between the good guy and 47 bad guys in black trousers. The good guy beats them all and runs away with his true love and then they sing a passionate duet on a grassy mountain top. |
| The "Gateway to India" was built to commemorate the visit of King George V to India in 1911. It is a popular place to hang out in the evenings or watch the many ferries come and go throughout the day. People even bath in the water here, despite the very murky appearance of the water. |
| The "Gateway to India" by night... |
| Sitting next to the Gateway is the immensely ornate and expensive "Taj Mahal Hotel", where the best rooms go for $400USD per night. I stayed five minutes walk down the street for $15 but a visit inside the Taj is free - and well worthwhile. |
| Back at the Gateway next morning it was hard not to notice that some of the people were painted pink. Then I remembered about the Holi Fest - oh dear. |
| The "Sassoon Docks" line this harbour of fishing boats on thiis hot afternoon when all the fishermen were sleeping and I seemed to be alone. I found out later I'm not allowed to make photographs here without permission from the Mumbai Port Trust - Huh??? Anyway, it is a nice scene. |
| Holi is a festival held each year to mark the beginning of Spring, and it happened to be on my last day in India! Holi is all about colour - coloured water and paints and powders are everywhere and on everybody, and it's hard to not get caught up in it. Similar to the Songkran water festival in Thailand, on the day of Holi you are likely to be attacked by young people with water and coloured powders, and they had no mercy on a poor unsuspecting tourist like me ;-) |
| I prepared myself for the worst and went into the crowd with my camera. I was definitely the only tourist around, and when the guys saw me many of them ran over and started jumping all over me and making poses for the camera while others were vigourously covering my head and clothes with this coloured powder. |
| I met an Indian man during my breakfast who was discussing the Holi fest with me and he then asked if I'd like to come to Chowpatty Beach with him to check out what's going on there. So we jumped onto a moving bus and jumped back off at the beach, and sure enough it was a mob scene there. |
| There were hundreds of young people - mostly teenage boys jumping around in the surf and throwing coloured powder all over each other. Even the water was tinged with purple. |
| I took several pictures of this intense scene while hands were being shoved into my shirt sleeves and collar and trousers to make sure I was as thoroughly colourised as possible (or to take anything they could get ahold of from me). I was lucky to lose only the lens cap for my camera. |
| I spent the rest of the day walking around Colaba and drawing stares and laughter from the local people and other tourists. I even took a boat tour of the harbour and visited some of the shops before I finally went to my hotel and had a look at myself in a mirror. I showered at least five times before I started to look normal, and even a few days later when I returned to Germany I was still coloured in certain places. It was funny to participate in the Holi Fest, but I think once is enough for me. ...but India is a country I'm sure I will visit again! It was perhaps the most fascinating place I have visited, but then again it is so diverse and multi-faceted that I can't think of it as one place. I would say the most excellent experiences were in Varanassi, Pushkar, and Hampi, although if I want a place in the world to relax it would have to be Arambol or Palolem in Goa. After nearly three months in India it was nice to come back to modern European life where you don't have to hassle over the price of a banana and so forth - but only for a while. Now I'm headed back to Thailand... |
| Then a guy ran up to me, apparently shaking with fear, and he told me emphatically that I should leave right now and that it's not safe for me here. So I took his advice and got out of there, but not before a few more doses of colour had been shoved under my clothes, and one guy even pulled off my sunnies and tried to shove silver paint into my eyes. Some did get in there and it was very painful for the next few days and I was worried I might go blind. These guys were really aggressive - just on the borderline of danger I would say. In fact I later read in the newspaper that at this exact spot on Chowpatty Beach just shortly after I left, one of the guys was drowned in the sea by the mob. I'm glad I left when I did. |