Mumbai - Kicking Ass and Taking Names

It was a full first day in Mumbai.  I'm staying at the Taj Vivanti President in South Mumbai.  I'd heard that Marine Drive was one of the places to visit here in South Mumbai, so after lunch, I decided to head out on a hike in that direction and see what I learned along the way.

What a day!  It's a 40 or so minute hike out to Marine Drive.

It's getting to be summer time here in India, so it's a little hot and sticky, at least for me.  Regardless, it's amazing here.  Just like Hyderabad, people and cars are going everywhere.

First stop of the day was a boat yard on Back Bay:

Lots of great street food along the way.  Not too sure how safe it is to eat this stuff.  There was some great looking Pav Bhaji that I chose to pass up, even though it looked amazing.

Regardless, I finally found my way to Marine Drive and the view of the bay.  Too bad the air is so dirty.  These would be amazing shots if you could see the buildings on the other side of the Bay:

On my way out to the Bay I passed an ice cream shop.  My instant gratification genes aren't as developed as my dad's, but they're definitely still there, so on the way past the second time, I stopped in for a kiwi ice cream.  I may do this hike again tomorrow, just for the ice cream:

And then I figured I may as well get a haircut before the Boss arrives in town.  170 rupees for a cut ($2.50) can't beat that.  My barber is the guy standing with the group.  It was fun to talk with these guys a little after my cut.  They were super friendly and very surprised that my wife is from Maharashtra.  Cool place and great company:

I asked the guy with his feet in the bucket if he was okay with me taking his photo.  His response was that he just wanted to make sure that his hair looked good.  Funny guy!

From there, I stopped by Oval Maiden park to check out a bit of the cricket.  I guess this is the park to be in if you want to play in south Mumbai.  Games were happening everywhere.  This was also the first place where someone asked me to be in a selfie with them.  I had to have posed in more than 20 selfies today.  Bottom line is that there were lots of chances to speak with the locals, hear from them about their city and tell a bit of my story.

From there I walked over to the Gateway to India, which is a stone structure erected to commemorate the 1911 visit of George V and Queen Mary to India.  Interestingly and more importantly, the last British army unit to leave India in 1948 passed through this gateway, boarded a boat, and India was finally free.

After a long day of walking and mixing with the locals, E gets thirsty.  So I popped in to a small pub for some fish and chips and a frosty one (and btw, I highly recommend the chili vinegar that you see here.  Something that I'm going to try when I get home.  Amazing: