mumbai — Blog — Thomas Chen Photography

My observations in Mumbai:

1. With regards to motor transportation, Mumbai almost seemed as if it were a lawless place where people do whatever the hell they want. Horrendous traffic is mixed with every driver trying to beat out the car next to them. They squeeze their car in any possible space turning 3 lane roads into 5 lane roads. No real barrier between pedestrians and motor vehicles, even on the highways.

2. It was really eye opening to see how bad the impoverished areas really are where there is no running water and no electricity. It truly makes you grateful for what you have.

3. It's the first time in a long time where I've been able to catch sunrise coming up over the mountains. It was a truly awesome sight.

4. The food is AMAZING. I gained a good amount of weight in my short time in India due to me stuffing my face at every opportunity I got. Most of the time I was eating in a cafeteria and I had no idea what I was eating, but it was always delicious.

The service was amazing. A lot of the restaurants would serve all the dishes into your plate.

Okay I think I went a bit overboard with posting pictures of food. Crap... now I'm hungry.

I recently had the opportunity to go to Mumbai for a few work meetings. With this being my first time to India, I had no idea what to expect. I arranged my schedule to arrive a day early so I could check out the local sights in Mumbai.

I grabbed lunch at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, which is right across from the Gateway of India.

Here's a night shot of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel:

Up at the top of the hotel, there was a great view of the Gateway of India down below.

The Gateway of India is Mumbai's top attraction. There were lots of local photographers offering to take your photo and print it out on their portable printer. It also seemed to be a local gathering spot for friends and family to eat and relax.

From the Gateway of India, there is an hour long ferry ride to go to the Elephanta Island, where the Elephanta Caves are the main attraction. When you arrive at the island, you're faced a long stairwell up to the entrance of the caves. Lining the sides of this stairwell are street vendors selling food and the typical touristy souvenirs.