Sari Shopping in Mumbai

Cricketers playing in central Mumbai

More pictures from our trip are available in the album.

Our first day in Mumbai started out fairly late since after a long baggage wait, we didn't get to our hotel until 3am. So, we started with a late breakfast at a South Indian place recommended by our hotel called Cafe Madras. There, we were able to sample a large selection of South Indian breakfast fare. We were introduced to a number of new dishes like:

Idly - small rice pancakes

Neet dosa - a fluffier dosa served with fresh butter on top 

Uppuma - a gritty wheat porridge sprinkled with coriander and other spices

Uttapam - a rice based pancake with onions mixed in 

After a very filling breakfast, we tried to find sari blouses for Catherine. We started in one area recommended by the hotel, but they only sold full saris there and Catherine just needed matching blouses for the saris she had borrowed. Though they didn't sell the blouses, they pointed us to a matching center, which we discovered is a shop that specializes in exactly the problem Catherine had. They just had racks and racks of pre-made blouses and they just find one that can match the sari. The specimen for the first sari was a green and gold one although when Catherine tried it on, it was way too small; she looked like a woman stuffed into a little girl's outfit. The guys running the store were adamant that the blouses were supposed to be tight and that it was right as is. Yeah right.  Fortunately, a nice lady who was also shopping (and spoke English) helped us get them to open up the stitches a bit so that it fit better.

After finding the sari blouses, we decided to head downtown. We were right near a train stop, so we decided to take the commuter train. We were warned by the guide book not to take the train during rush hour because it's packed and can be tricky for foreigners but since it was noon, we thought it would be ok. Well it was ok in the end, but it was a challenge. The trains were quite full although that's partly illusory because whether the train is stuffed or not, some men will be hanging out of every door. They also have special compartments that are for women only. Outside of those compartments, we only saw a couple of women and they were basically being protected by their boyfriends. So on the first train, we got in a split car where Catherine went to the women's section and I was in the men's. On the second train, we followed another couple into a mixed area and Catherine and the other lady were in a corner guarded by me and her boyfriend. We were also the only white people anywhere near those trains, which made us automatically the center of attention for a captive audience. All told, it was a little bit of an uncomfortable experience, so we decided to stick to the $2 taxis to get everywhere.

Noontime at the train station

Once downtown, we toured the older, touristy sights of Mumbai. Mostly, this was looking at the architecture of the buildings built by the British, but we also went into the Price of Wales museum, which houses some excellent carvings and paintings from around India. We saw some great art and had a nice little intro into the Buddhist pantheon. 

After the museum, we checked out the gateway of India, which was swarmed with Indian tourists and photo takers offering to take your picture in from of the gateway for a fee. The gateway was built in the 1920's to commemorate a visit by King George. It's also where the last British regiment in India paraded. Frankly, it's kind of crazy that a monument built in the 20's is such a draw in a country with such a rich history that's thousands of years old. It kind of felt like the Indian equivalent of Niagara Falls.

It was getting on in the day, but it wasn't quite dinner time yet, so we popped across the street into the famous Taj Hotel. It's like super fancy hotels all over the world, although maybe with more security than average because of the terror attacks a few years ago. We decided to relax for a bit in one of the bars and had a cocktail each. They were decent cocktails. Well balanced but nothing that pops. However, keep in mind that at this point, we're spoiled living in San Francisco.

For dinner we made our way to Trishna, a seafood restaurant near the university. It was a little bit of a challenge to find it in the maze of streets, but eventually, we sat down to a fantastic dinner. We had a butter and garlic crab, which was swimming in garlicky goodness. That was accompanied by Hyderabad tandoori pomfret, which is roasted fish coating in a flavorful rub made mostly of black pepper. Finally, we had some braised eggplant and tomatoes to add a little bit of veg to the meal. To drink, we shared a glass of local sauvignon blanc, which was surprisingly good. The wine was from Nashik, which is not too far from Mumbai. In the last 15-20 years, they have started to make higher quality, international style wines. Their sauvignon blanc was simple, crisp and well executed. In short, perfect for a seafood meal and much cheaper than the imported wines.