Here is the next city of my India series taken last year.
We arrived Mumbai in the morning after spending the night on the train. As we sped through the northern suburbs, we started crossing suburban trains, which on top of serving the greater city, are also the main transportation mode within the inner city. There are two parallel lines and the trains are
very crowded pretty much all the time. Surprisingly, Mumbai doesn’t yet have a proper functioning metro, apart from one line in the suburbs. Thankfully, they are currently building an underground line that will serve much of the inner city neighborhoods and the airport. Some welcome change that is due to open at the end of this year, unless further delayed.
Located on a peninsula acting as a choke point, Mumbai is one of those large cities that require an impressive amount of stamina to get in or out by public transport. For that reason we didn’t plan to visit the city on this trip, but while arranging for transport from our previous location, Jodhpur, to the southern beaches, no direct option were available. The best option was changing trains at Mumbai, including 2 different arrival/departure stations. We were put off by the idea of a stressful connection in a city that is notoriously crowded and at the same time were willing to do the whole trip overland. So if we were to do the connection, we thought we might as well check the city for a few days. We ended up liking the city a lot. It is very urban, vibrant, has varied neighborhoods, and gorgeous architecture! It is the mythical city of Bollywood and feels pretty cosmopolitan.
Mumbai is unlike any other city in India in the sense that is mixes traditional neighborhoods and very tall skyscrapers. It is indeed the only Indian skyscraper city.
The photos were taken between Colaba, Fort, Kalbadevi, Chowpatty beach and Lower Parel.
Passing through a suburban train station on our way into the city
The Mumbai CST Terminus railway station, one of the most impressive colonial building in India
Just opposite is the Mumbai municipal corporation building
The area around the station is the Fort area, which is very leafy and pleasant
Stock exchange tower
Gateway to India, a very popular tourist attraction
The under-construction Metro line 3 has construction sites across the entire city
Chowpatty beach
Arriving in Lower Parel, a very modern area with the tallest buildings in the country. Some parts felt like Miami, even though I’ve never been there!
The contrasts between two adjacent neighborhoods in this city are impressive!
One more of the CST
And I close this thread with a shot from the suburban train we took to a suburban junction town to catch our next train to Goa!
Thanks for watching!