Day 6 (Mumbai)

In the morning we flew from scorching Rajasthan to rainy Mumbai. Though we were all relieved to escape the heat, we soon discovered that the monsoon season had its own drawbacks, most importantly the ever-present mildew and sense of dampness.

Our first impression of Mumbai was the swathe of slum that stretched across the city, with structures even between runways at the airport! We were amazed to learn that the entire mass is the largest slum in Asia, and has a GDP in the millions!

It was quite an ordeal getting our bus through the narrow alleys to our hostel, but finally we arrived at the Anjuli Inn. In contrast to our earlier residences, the A.I. is a large apartment, with bunkbed-filled rooms for both the boys and girls.

We headed out to see the sites of Mumbai, stopping first at the famous Taj Hotel, the site of the 2008 bombings. Though the building was immaculate, showing no trace of damage or repairs, the intensive security by the entrance confirmed we had the right place. The hotel was just as beautiful as its New Delhi counterpart, but as there is little to occupy oneself in an expensive hotel when one doesn't want to pay for anything, we soon headed out to the India Gate, 50 yards away. This large structure, which bears a certain resemblance to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, looks out at the main harbor of Mumbai, and was historically the ceremonial entrance for members of the British Raj.

Our final sight-seeing stop of the day was essentially a massive laundry lot: rows of massive cement tubs where all the laundrymen came to wash their clothes (though in this weather, simply hanging the clothes outside would have been sufficient to wash them!) The most exciting part of this visit was the man below (we were standing on a bridge above the lot), clad only in his underwear, who caught sight of us and started showing off, posing and smacking a shirt into the water. When he looked like he was trying to come over and say hi, we beat a hasty retreat.

After finishing the movie Rock On, starring Luke Kenney, whom we were scheduled to see tomorrow, the girls found their sleeping arrangements had not gone quite according to plan. First, we discovered that a strange man had already taken one of the bunks in our room. After he was relocated, we then realized that the kitchen staff's nighttime hangout, where they chatted and listened to the radio, was only accessible through our room. It was not a good night for light sleepers!