India-Mumbai & Goa

Climbing onto the train, loaded up with backpacks, we wandered along trying to find our seats. It was clear this wasn’t the trains first stop, as people were already comfortable on their three tiered bunk beds; some seemed annoyed that we had disturbed them by getting onto their carriage. Abandoning our big backpacks under the bottom bunk, we slumped out on the bottom bunks to make room for other passengers trying to locate their beds for the night. I was in the middle bunk, which doesn’t seem too bad initially, but I realise soon that it was just below eye level for most people, which is worrying considering we were told you could wake up with someone starting at you! Thankfully my sleep what mostly interrupted, save for a few snores from the man in the bunks opposite. Before I knew it, it was morning and we had arrived in Mumbai. 

Taxi’s that seem to be disguised at Tuk Tuk’s were waiting for us as we left the station, worryingly they took our bags and put them in the luggage racks on top of the cars, without tying them down. Regardless, we pulled up to the Hotel Fortune with bags unscathed. Being 7:30am, our rooms weren’t ready, but they stored them for us and we headed out to Dharavi, one of the biggest slums in the world. Prats booked us these tours through a company called reality tours. The tour guides are all from the slums, and the money they make goes into education in their communities. Splitting into groups of six, we jumped onto the local metro train with our leaders. The doors on the trains are always open, but the trains only stop at station for around 15 seconds. When the train or station isn’t busy, this isn’t a problem, but when were were getting off there were people everywhere. Regardless, Balaji, our guide, made sure we all got off. What struck me first about Dharavi is that it didn’t look poor, and that’s because it’s not. It’s a hub of businesses and opportunity, and as Bala says; it’s a 5 star slum. They have food, they have water, they have schools, they have a cinema (cheapest in the world at 10 Rupees), they have cars and garages, hairdressers and tailors. It is a city in itself. The only difference being the close quarters in which people live, He took us through the mazes which are the tiny gaps between the buildings, where we could see into doorways of houses, step over women washing clothes, and children playing hide and seek. The outside areas of the slums aren’t the cleanest, but inside their small spaces, everything is spotless. 

Dharavi used to be a rubbish dump, and this is how the industry has boomed here. People took what they had and made something of it; literally. Recycling is the 2nd biggest business in Dharavi, and not only do they sort the rubbish and make it back into raw materials, but these are then made back into final products in the slums itself, to sell to the world. There are lots of suitcases that come out of this community, with over 80% of each one coming from recycled materials. The best thing I saw here though was the communities. People were happy, and helped each other, whether that be the women that helped each other clean clothes, or the volunteers that run the homework club where children can go if their parents don’t have the education needed to assist them. People don’t live in the slums out of necessity, they choose to live their, be it for opportunity, location to the city, or the community life it breeds. 

That evening, we saw the other side to Mumbai, the night life. We went out for dinner in a restaurant that has been attacked during the terrorist attacks in 2008. Bullets holes were still in the wall, but the atmosphere was upbeat, and the food was great, I had fusilli Neapolitan and garlic bread; yum! After that we headed to a bar called social, and I had the LARGEST long island iced tea I’ve ever seen in my life. That is until the Canadians ordered the large one, which was double the size!

Early that morning, me with a stonking headache, we headed over to the airport for our flight out to Goa. Craving junk food, or a sausage sandwich, I had to get some food in my system. I saw the pizza hut sign and was decided. Pizza for breakfast! The plane ride was short, but the taxi ride from there to the hotel was longer, and bumpier. It was also raining, a lot. That’s pretty much been the theme of our time in Goa, with a few burst of sunshine here and there. We’ve had to book an extra couple of days here though, as our flight, which we thought was on Tuesday, is apparently on Thursday! Oh well, a couple days relaxing in the hotel, or as much as we can as we seem to have hijacked a school trip here! Never thought I’d be telling children to be quiet at 6am whilst I was in India!