WanderLost Radical
Well-known member
If you guys wanna follow me, here's my travel blog!
Chasingthehorizonblog.wordpress.com
Here's my second article about my 2 days spent in Mumbaï. Be warned, my articles tend to be pretty extensive!
So the flight went great, but that's pretty much the only part. So far, I can tell Mumbaï is a complete Hellhole, and I can only hope the rest of the country isn't that bad.
So I try to leave the airport by foot, but some security guy tells me apparently I can't. Gotta geta cab, so I get a prepaid cab, I get completely ripped off, but I don't really care since it's 3 in the morning, and I'm assuming it's just the airport's price, I just wanted to get to my hotel. Which took like 30 mins (the time it would've taken me on foot) because the driver apparently never heard of my hotel. Anyway, I get in, The guy tells me he never had my reservation, but there's still a room left, so I get in, and we'd get an arrangement in the morning. Worst room I ever had! There's roaches, the shower is the entire bathroom with a drain. Like, I could literally take a shower and a shit at the same time *Not happening, nope!! xD Which I will later learn is the norm in India, but with much larger rooms. So I unroll my sleeping mat, take out my own pillow and call it at night! *Next day*After looking at my credit card report, the reservation payment never got through, so I pay for the room then head to the city train station (kind of a subway but over the city) to the south of the city, because I wanna take the ferry to Elephanta Island, a place where there's caves and rock sculpture and stuff.
My first subway ride went great, but the second... Oh shit. OH SHIT!! Lemme try and explain it to you. At every stop, there people running and pushing and screaming to get out, and the people who wanna get in. It often gets violent! And my stop was the last... Nice! I manage to get out, walk about one hour full-load (50 pounds backpack) and It's always 100ishF and 35ishC in India. So I never drank that much water in my entire life! I arrive at the gate of India, a monument which is also where you take the ferry for Elephanta caves. Unfortunately, it's closed today because of the tides or something. Instead, I manage to deal myself a car visit of the touristic attractions of Mumbai (Gardens, temples, the house of Ghandi, etc.) I dealt it, but in my opinion, it was still a ripoff but well... the driver drives me off at the salvation Army to get a place to sleep in a dorm for 200Rs. I tell him I'd rather walk around first. I wander the city and meet a british guy who claims to have been mugged. I try to help him out, he gives me a couple great advices (Always ask for taxis to use the meter, otherwise if you prepay, they'll charge you double! If they refuse, tell them it's illegal and you can call the police, they usually change their mind eheh) but he also ended up stealing me 3000Rs. Lesson learnt. Be an asshole.
Fuck that guy! I get back to the salvation army at like 8PM, but it's full. Shit. I walk around, stressed about where the hell I'm gonna sleep, then a kid tells me his father has an hotel for 600Rs. Fair enough, I follow him, but at check-in, his father tells me it's 700Rs. Sweet, another guy trying to rip me off!! I would've packed my shit and left, but then I'd have nowhere to go, so I try to get it back at 600 but end up paying 700.
Not so fun fact in India: anyone talking to you wants to sell you something or take you to an expensive place where he'll get a commission. Very insistently. Oh, and you can't walk 20ft without having someone talking to you.
First thing I do next morning is to book a ticket to Udaipur. Gotta get the fuck outta here. The guy tells me there's none until 11:45 PM. Shit, another day stuck in this goddamn city!! Fair enough, I guess! This guy obviously ripped me off again, but it gave me an idea of the prices because the bought price was written on the ticket.
So I try my chance again to go to Elephanta Island, but it's closed again!! Not the season, I guess!! So I keep wandering the city, and I don't know what's the Indian's deal with pictures, but I got asked at least 20 times a day for pictures. Alright then! You want a picture? 2 rupees!! That usually do the trick and they go away ehehe.
Also by now, I realised Mumbai was really filthy. There's trash everywhere, despite all the signs saying ''Keep Mumbai clean'' or the trash cans saying ''Use me'' and all that. That one moment shocked me very much, I actually got pissed again (It's becoming the norm now). I was next to the sea, watching a fish bank in the water, and an Indian guy walks up to my side, unknots his plastic bag, and empties his trash in the sea!! I almost shouted at him WTF!! There's a trash can 10 feet away!! I must've been speechless from awe...
Anyway, I kept chilling, walking and enduring the constant annoyment until I leave for the railyard. Where I saw some pretty weird carcasses hanging from a food stand. Totally looked like cats xD.
Chasingthehorizonblog.wordpress.com
Here's my second article about my 2 days spent in Mumbaï. Be warned, my articles tend to be pretty extensive!
So the flight went great, but that's pretty much the only part. So far, I can tell Mumbaï is a complete Hellhole, and I can only hope the rest of the country isn't that bad.
So I try to leave the airport by foot, but some security guy tells me apparently I can't. Gotta geta cab, so I get a prepaid cab, I get completely ripped off, but I don't really care since it's 3 in the morning, and I'm assuming it's just the airport's price, I just wanted to get to my hotel. Which took like 30 mins (the time it would've taken me on foot) because the driver apparently never heard of my hotel. Anyway, I get in, The guy tells me he never had my reservation, but there's still a room left, so I get in, and we'd get an arrangement in the morning. Worst room I ever had! There's roaches, the shower is the entire bathroom with a drain. Like, I could literally take a shower and a shit at the same time *Not happening, nope!! xD Which I will later learn is the norm in India, but with much larger rooms. So I unroll my sleeping mat, take out my own pillow and call it at night! *Next day*After looking at my credit card report, the reservation payment never got through, so I pay for the room then head to the city train station (kind of a subway but over the city) to the south of the city, because I wanna take the ferry to Elephanta Island, a place where there's caves and rock sculpture and stuff.
My first subway ride went great, but the second... Oh shit. OH SHIT!! Lemme try and explain it to you. At every stop, there people running and pushing and screaming to get out, and the people who wanna get in. It often gets violent! And my stop was the last... Nice! I manage to get out, walk about one hour full-load (50 pounds backpack) and It's always 100ishF and 35ishC in India. So I never drank that much water in my entire life! I arrive at the gate of India, a monument which is also where you take the ferry for Elephanta caves. Unfortunately, it's closed today because of the tides or something. Instead, I manage to deal myself a car visit of the touristic attractions of Mumbai (Gardens, temples, the house of Ghandi, etc.) I dealt it, but in my opinion, it was still a ripoff but well... the driver drives me off at the salvation Army to get a place to sleep in a dorm for 200Rs. I tell him I'd rather walk around first. I wander the city and meet a british guy who claims to have been mugged. I try to help him out, he gives me a couple great advices (Always ask for taxis to use the meter, otherwise if you prepay, they'll charge you double! If they refuse, tell them it's illegal and you can call the police, they usually change their mind eheh) but he also ended up stealing me 3000Rs. Lesson learnt. Be an asshole.
Fuck that guy! I get back to the salvation army at like 8PM, but it's full. Shit. I walk around, stressed about where the hell I'm gonna sleep, then a kid tells me his father has an hotel for 600Rs. Fair enough, I follow him, but at check-in, his father tells me it's 700Rs. Sweet, another guy trying to rip me off!! I would've packed my shit and left, but then I'd have nowhere to go, so I try to get it back at 600 but end up paying 700.
Not so fun fact in India: anyone talking to you wants to sell you something or take you to an expensive place where he'll get a commission. Very insistently. Oh, and you can't walk 20ft without having someone talking to you.
First thing I do next morning is to book a ticket to Udaipur. Gotta get the fuck outta here. The guy tells me there's none until 11:45 PM. Shit, another day stuck in this goddamn city!! Fair enough, I guess! This guy obviously ripped me off again, but it gave me an idea of the prices because the bought price was written on the ticket.
So I try my chance again to go to Elephanta Island, but it's closed again!! Not the season, I guess!! So I keep wandering the city, and I don't know what's the Indian's deal with pictures, but I got asked at least 20 times a day for pictures. Alright then! You want a picture? 2 rupees!! That usually do the trick and they go away ehehe.
Also by now, I realised Mumbai was really filthy. There's trash everywhere, despite all the signs saying ''Keep Mumbai clean'' or the trash cans saying ''Use me'' and all that. That one moment shocked me very much, I actually got pissed again (It's becoming the norm now). I was next to the sea, watching a fish bank in the water, and an Indian guy walks up to my side, unknots his plastic bag, and empties his trash in the sea!! I almost shouted at him WTF!! There's a trash can 10 feet away!! I must've been speechless from awe...
Anyway, I kept chilling, walking and enduring the constant annoyment until I leave for the railyard. Where I saw some pretty weird carcasses hanging from a food stand. Totally looked like cats xD.
