Waking up in the Big City! Mumbai here we are!!!

This morning we enter the harbor of Mumbai.  I think I am finally getting used to the industrial entrance to each harbor.  I have a new appreciation for just how much the world depends on shipping. Each port is always loaded with ships obtaining some precious cargo waiting to either be loaded or unloaded. I will never look at shipping containers the same ever again!

We arrive at noon and will leave shortly afterwards to have a face to face immigration meeting and off for a panoramic tour of the city. India has a very strong security, I imagine brought on by previous terrorists attacks.  We will need to show passport, visa and electronic landing card before we can even get near a bus!

On the way to immigration 

Many of my pictures today will be taken from the bus.  I know we will get out occasionally but ….

Once again, the buildings are a mix of Colonial design from British influence and local design with Hindu influence.

One of the beaches. Alongside the beach this park is quiet, shady and looking close there are rocking chairs formed in the wrought iron fence.. the grandmothers garden. You must be over 65 to go in this area.  

Just looking down the street gave me an idea of the amount of people who call Mumbai home.  20-22 million people call this area home.  It reminds me of the crowded streets of Hong Kong! Everywhere you turn there seems to be people!

 After a short drive we got out to walk around this park.. called The hanging Gardens of Doongerwadi.it is a nice park with walking paths .. and interestingly it sits right on top of a water reservoir. It was designed to cover the water from the potentially contamination activity of the nearby Towers of Silence, the burial spot for the Mumbai Parsi community. The community does not believe in cremation or burial, instead Amy’s their dead at the top of a tower so that the vultures and clarion birds will feat the flesh and thus the Circe of life continues. Its a hard concept for most of us foreigners to grasp but if their entire focus in life is to not harm a living thing then I guess it makes sense. You need to look up the Parsi (Zoroastrians) religion beliefs to find out the entire story. 

One of the Towers of Silence

A view of the square shaped building belonging to the richest man in India.  Supposedly he has 7 floors just devoted to storing his automobile collection and one floor just for snow (because his mother likes snow). It cost 2 Billion dollars ( yes that’s a B)to build. and then we continued to the Dhobi Ghat. This is an open air laundry where many hotels, homes and businesses take their laundry to be cleaned. The dhobis ( washers) work in the open air to clean clothes and linens.For 18-20 hours a day, 7000 people flog clothes and clean them here. The clothes are washed in the mornings and dried in the afternoon. 

The laundry is right beside a railroad stop

After our laundry stop we headed off to see the home of India’s great man.Mahatma Gandhi

Along a quiet tree lined street away from the hustle and bustle of the city, a friend had a house that he always lent to Gandhi to use.  The quietness of the street was wonderful to experience. 

The house was impressive compared to others we’ve driven by. Inside on the ground floor the entire floor has been made into a library of peace and political action resources. You can go there and research many different subjects. It was also really quiet. Many of his comments were printed along the walls and words of encouragement.

At the end of the library was this monument to him.

On the first floor was his bed on the floor and his working desk. The only modern convenience for him was the phone in the corner. The second flor contained dioramas of the important moments in the life of Gandhi and depictions of how his life in political life  evolved according to the events he faced. It was an inspiring visit.

On the way back to port we drove through an area of colonial buildings that were modeled like the area in London where there is a circle of these homes. They curve slightly and all ring around a park in the middle of the road. 

Mumbai has a large Art Deco collection of apartment buildings and I found this Aquarium building one of my favorites,. Unfortunately the aquarium was closed. 

St. Andrews’ Cathedral ( Church of Scotland) 

Street scenes

All in all, our first look at Mumbai has been fun and we are looking forward to seeing more of this city!Tomorrow we head to Elephanta Island to see the Cave Temples dedicated to Shiva

Goa, India..DAY 100 of the Trip

 

Stop no.2 in India. Today we head to the rural area of Goa to visit a spice farm. I’m looking forward to finally seeing the plants I’ve grown up using in my cooking.

We were greeted this morning by music and dancers.  Often many of the smaller ports put on a show and have some music or cultural dancers to greet the ship when we dock. Its a very nice way to tell us that they  are happy that we are visiting their city. Its always a nice gesture, even if it is 6:30 am in the morning!

On our trip trip, looking over into the bay

As we pass through the city of Vasco ( named after Vasco da Gama) we see the daily market . People come every morning to purchase their food i teams for the day’s  

Not sure what was in his baskets, but looks interesting.

One of the many Catholic Churches.  There are 30 % of the citizens of Goa are Catholic

Hindu Temple. Like the churches, there seems to be a temple in every small area of houses.

An archway into a neighborhood.

Another archway announcing the entrance into a neighborhood

Along the country road ( where there was actually only one good lane of traffic and we often looked like we were in a duel with every other motor vehicle on the road) We entered the farm by crossing a marsh. Any any given time, especially during the rainy season, this would be filled up to the bridge with water. even thought the water was low, we were able to see water lilies and water fowl.

Arrival at the Tropical Spice Farm. We were greeted by a young lady who welcomed us and threw marigold flower petals of orange and saffron over us to bless us with good life.

We were given a little glass of mangosteen juice and some chickpea crackers to refresh before our tour of the spice garden. The farm itself is 150 acres and each area is developed by type of plant. Here in the demonstration garden they have planted a variety of plants and trees so we could see each plant in an easy manner. 

The first item shown was a still for making cashew alcohol.  After the nut is removes, there remains the actual fruit (the orange and yellow pepper looking things in the bowl). The fruit is chopped, pressed to get juice and then heated. The method of making the liquor is exactly like making any spirits. Later, after lunch, we tried some of this. WOW! The guide told us to use only 3-5 mls of it as a medicine for gastric issues & digestion….

The still

Green coffee beans

Cinnamon trees in there somewhere.

Heading into the. Garden…going into the jungle!

Nutmeg on the tree. The tree that gives double! When these nuts break open there is first a layer that peels off know as the spice mace and then the nutmeg.

These small oval shaped fruits are similar to star fruit and come from the same family.

Look closely.. the hanging red pods from the vine are red pepper pods.

small pineapple

The buffet line.Our plates were formed from beechnut palm leaves. A very good material for plates! Very compostable! The Buffett had wonderful food including rice, Dahl, fish, chicken stew, pickled vegetables (very Hot)and a sweet…formed from semolina flower and seasoned with honey and spices.

My plate. The nan was great and the popadam was peppery but crisp.

Al tasting the cashew liquor…

Two happy tourists!

When we got back to our bus we had a visitor. A water buffalo was roaming around checking us out.  He has a lovely beaded necklace on and of course had the run of the area freely. 

On our trip back to the ship we continued to see interesting parts of rural Goa.  Below is a rice paddy. The rice paddies are only flooded during the early growing season due to the need for the water to be on other crops first. 

Our guide mentioned how to tell if a house is occupied by a Christian or a Hindu family.  The Christian’s will have a cross somewhere on the first block of the house when it was laid during construction.  Then they will have a cross at the front of the gate or property. 

Look closely at the bottom block on this house.. there’s the cross. 

A Hindu house will have an alter out i the front yard.  The alter  has a center pot filled with basil, considered a holy plant. Each morning the woman of the house will get up, pray to the Gods, circle the alter five times and say prayers. Then she will take care of the basil plant and after that she is free to continue with her daily routine.

When we returned to the ship, after another Mario Andretti bud ride, we were again sent through some of the most strict immigration procedures yet.  India certainly takes its security seriously, although I really can’t imagine they wouldn’t take one look at the group of senior citizens before them and think …humm…I mean , half of us walk with canes, a third of us need help getting in and out of the bus..and most of us are focused on finding a clean restroom. I can’t really see us as fitting the profile of terrorists.. But we once again showed our paperwork with our immigration stamps and our room keys to get inside the dock!