Twenty-two hours in Mumbai

The train from Jaipur to Mumbai takes eighteen hours. The outskirts of Mumbai stretch for miles out from the city center--the train seemed to pass through dense developments for over an hour before we arrived. I was surprised when we pulled in almost on time at eight-thirty in the morning. My flight departure was scheduled for 5:55 AM the next day, which gave me very little time to look around. I took a taxi from the train station to the Colaba neighborhood in the southern part of Delhi and found a coffee shop for a much needed espresso.

Colaba is a bustling center of activity both tourist and commercial. It reminded me a bit of Saigon with its fast paced capitalism. However, whereas the sense of commerce seems quite new in Saigon, in Mumbai it feels modern but old and well-ingrained.

After trying to update my blog at a frustrating connection, I went on a walking tour of some of the sights. My first stop was the Gate of India, which is a huge arch right next to the water, commemorating a visit to Bombay by King George and Queen Mary in 1914.

Colaba is filled with old, beautiful buildings. From the Gate of India, I walked north past the Eliyahal Synagogue and the David Sassoon Library to Flora Fountain, which is an intricate construction in the middle of a large boulevard. West of Flora Fountain is a large grassy park called Oval Maidan surrounded by more impressive buildings. The State Public Works Department, the High Court, and the University of Mumbai all stand one after another up the east side of the park.

Mumbai was hot and the humid air prevented any sweat from evaporating. My shirt was constantly soaked. I stopped to watch one of the several armature cricket games in Oval Maidan for quite some time. The players were grown men, and the game seemed well organized, with referees and a scoreboard. As I watched, I realized how athletic the sport must be at the professional level, which is not always evident on television. A traveler I met here said, "I don't watch sports where they break for tea and crumpets", which is a sentiment I used to share. However, my respect has grown with my understanding.

After my afternoon walk, I headed to the recommended Leopold Cafe, a busy restaurant in Colaba with an incredibly diverse clientele. They seemed evenly split between Indians and foreigners. I met a Kenyan airline stewardess on holiday in Mumbai for three days and a young Irish man named Kevin who is four months into a six month stay. Kevin and I stayed until closing time when he returned to his hotel and I took a cab to the airport. I caught just short of an hour's rest before check-in for my flight began.