Mumbai

Chris > We are sitting at Leopolds for a few hours before our train. We found time here to catch our breath. Today there is an entire special edition of the Times of India comparing India to China on the day it has marked the 60th borthday of the People's Republic. Steph and I have long chats that leads to many comparisons of our own while the Times takes an insecure tone towards Chinese development. There is a steady roar around us from the loud groups of friends under the towering pillars and tired retro clock. It's sad to see the bullet holes in the front glass and the multiple guards at each entrance since it was attacked last November...but the crowds still pour in from Colaba Causway and the city pushes forward, inside and out.

I also realized here how much I truly enjoyed this cosmopolitain city and would add it to my short list of places to return one day for unfinished business (with Hong Kong and Shanghai). I don't think Steph would agree with this choice. Unfortunately wecame during a holiday weekend, limited by both the heat and heavy rain. It was not difficult to get around - the bumble bee cabs were great - but we had a very hard time finding a decent place to stay and this can make or brake a city as chaotic as this. Mind you, Steph also had to put up with me marching us around to find the city's famous eats. Still feel we only touched the tip of the iceburg...

This is city that India promotes as having 'made it' with it's booming middle class, but continues to turn it's back to seas of urban poverty. Greater Mumbai has 18 million people and is expected to grow to the world's most populous city by 2020. There is 1 bus / 1300 people, 17 toilets / 1 million people, and just 1 civic hospital for 7.2 million inside Bombay. There are sharp contrasts here. Our visit was decisively SoBo (South Bombay) where in the old British neighborhoods. Not only did we avoid the biggest slums in Asia, but we also missed some of the hotter neighborhoods of "NoBo" like the yuppie Bandra, or Jumu where Bollywood hangs out.

Mumbai has both old charm and an electric energy. Those who are fueled by a city's energy will be hungry for more.