Arriving to Colaba

Blog 1 6 2011

Mumbai

With all the warnings we’d been given about the Mumbai airport and what to expect on our drive to Colaba, I came to Mumbai with apprehension about what we would encounter once here, what actually happened was relatively easy.  It took only a few minutes to clear customs.  We headed in the wrong direction from there. The line to clear customs was quick.  We had been told to expect up to a two hour delay in getting our baggage, but by the time we got a duty free liter of Absolute Vodka and turned ourselves back toward the right direction for retrieving our one piece of checked luggage, it was already making its way around the turnstile.   There were no crowds to speak of either.  I had braced myself for much worse.  Donna, the woman I had spoken to about Amma, on the plane, came over and offered me some water that Amma had blessed.  She sprayed some in my mouth and then poured a bit into a fresh water bottle I still had in my purse, telling me to add a drop to my coffee or tea, to help me to stay healthy while here.

We almost made the mistake of hiring a prepaid taxi at the first booth we saw with a sign advertising the service.  They wanted 1000 rupees for an air conditioned taxi.  We were about to pay for it when I remembered Abbas telling me that it should cost about 450.  Being tired and wanting to get to the Hotel Harbour View sooner than later and not wanting to begin our time here with haggling, I was ready to agree nonetheless.  Then Sam noticed an official looking sign indicating a prepaid taxi booth further along.  We proceeded there and hired a taxi from Mumbai to Colaba, a nearly one hour drive, for 580 rupees, or $12.50 USD.  Our driver, Tuma, spoke barely a word of English and he wasn’t sure just exactly where we were headed.  As he drove toward Colaba, navigating through vehicles in a way that would make some people’s hair stand on end, especially when he approached solidly red lights without any sign that he saw them until the last second.  The first sign of Colaba was a fountain that looked like it had been lifted over from Rome, with statues of Romanesque gods adorning it. The buildings also had a decidedly western European architectural style, unlike the ones we had passed along the route.  Those decrepit looking buildings seemed condemned or at least abandoned until I noticed an occasional light or TV on in a few of them.  Most likely the rest of their inhabitants were fast asleep by now. Some of them had mammoth air conditioners balancing on the windowsills. 

As soon as Tuma turned left off the main thoroughfare, I saw bodies of people lying on the sidewalks, and in doorways, some covered with thin sheets of fabric.  There were a lot of them.  As we got even closer to Colaba, I saw groups of people sitting on the sidewalks and curbs, surrounded by mounds of some kind of plants that had been harvested.  They seemed to be busy with them but I couldn’t tell what it was they were doing. They could have been families harvesting something, but I don’t know what and wondered at their doing with in the wee hours of the morning. 

I had given Tuma the printout f the hotel’s information and he pulled the taxi over and tried to call the Hotel.  No luck with that.  So we continued a bit farther.  I told him it was near the water and he found his way t the harbour.  As chance would have it, we passed a sigh for the Strand hotel and it caught my attention.   I remembered that the hotel is owned by two brothers who had feuded after being left the hotel by their father.  They resolved their issues by dividing the hotel horizontally.  Our hotel was on the top two floors and The Strand had the bottom two levels.

I found mixed reviews on Trip Advisor about the Harbour View, but decided to take a chance because it’s in a great location and the rates were reasonable.  So far, I am not disappointed.  It has marble floors and tall ceilings and our door opens onto a view of the harbor across the street.  I expect that street to be a whole lot busier when we awaken tomorrow, but it’s quiet tonight.   There’s a toilet, a shower and an air conditioner.  What more could one ask for?