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Mumabi Part 3

So i will try to keep this short but i have to many impressions in my head and i want to write them all down!
When i first arrived in Mumbai i was pretty overwhelmed by uhm... well everything! 
(See "Mumbai Part 1")  

When you fly in by Plane you fly right above one of the biggest slums in Mumbai. My first thought was "awesome! thats where i wanna go!"

I want to confront my to wealthy-know-it-all-oh-im-so-liberal ass with "the real world".
Because as a matter of fact, most of you people reading my blog are from western countries where water runs clean and everywhere and the pleasure of wifi is a public one.


Well guess what. 
Pretty fast i found myself being the stupid one standing like a donkey in the middle of the road with (literally) thousands of people crossing my way staring at me.

Why? because i am the alien in this country.


view from the window of my hotel, kids on the roof flying their kites


one of the market roads near my hotel


I remember the cab driver stoping and there was NO "Hotel Al Madina" (later more on the hotel) anywhere in sight. 


Typical "Baigent" move (sorry no offense) i freaked out and told the driver to bring me to the front door of the hotel.
Oh well marky mark - to bad he didn't speak a word of english.



So i walked in the direction he told me to.
Rats, Dust, Dogs, Cats, Donkeys, Chai Wallas(delivery men who bring food to your work from home),  naked kids, food, men, women, cars, more donkeys and an overflow of people on scooters where all rushing past the weird guy with the mohawk and his huge backpack.

I pretty much got lost in 2 minutes.
(for those of you who know me i have an EXCELLENT sense of direction)

I stood in the middle of a walkway and took a deep breath and said to myself to relax and just ask someone. 
At a barber shop in front of me i popped my head in to say "excuse me sir" and 10 men came outside to help me.



Not only did 3 of them walk me to the hotel, no the owner invited me to come to his shop for a free shave (which i never did oopsie).

From this point on i saw Mumbai differently.
It had been so long since i left Europe that i almost completely had lost my sense for adventure and the lightness of being and living in the moment.

Each day i grew to like this city more and more. I thought of several friends and people who i know would completely freak out here and would NEVER get this place because its nothing like Berlin, Paris, Milan, London or Vienna.
But thats okay because its good that its not.
Europe is not the center of Humanity and i am seeing this more and more.

So here you can check my 10 Points of 

"Should i visit Mumbai":
(If more then three Answers would be "YES" - then just don't.)

- Do you need space (excluding your hotelroom)
- Do you dislike being touched
- Are you afraid of beggars
- Are you afraid of stray animals
- Are you able to say NO
- Are you streetsmart
- Do you mind taking selfies with complete strangers
- Do you think Berlin is dirty?
- Do you need european food?
- Do you prefer luxury hotels and a quiet surrounding?

In only 10 days i went from the Dharavi slums to the rooftop of the four seasons hotel.

I was introduced to the "best" way of living and the "worst" way of living.


Seldom was the gap between both societies bigger then here in Mumbai.

beginning of this week i had the pleasure of working with Rusty who i met on Grindr and he has been showing me around Mumbais (gay)nightlife a bit.
Rusty works as fashion photographer in London and Mumbai.
So together with his team and beautiful model Shruti we set up a, what turned out to be a one day, photoshoot! I can't wait to see the pictures !!



i found a streetcat named Chimney LOVE


On my last day(Wednesday the 9th of December) i went to visit "Gharapuri" or "Elephanta" Island.
An Island which was first discovered by the Portugal invadors in the 16th century and renamed "Elephanta Island" because a huge stone Elephant they found in the bay of the island.
Seriously - which name is cooler "Gharapuri" or "Elephanta" ???

The Island served for the Ghara priests who honored the Goddess Shiva,
In my opinion this island is totally overrated. the caves are nice but not in good shape, which is sad because im sure this place could be awesome.
I liked the one hour boat ride there and also when i got there i was reminded how silence sounded like #love.







cute cow and even cuter doggy :) i miss mine!!!

 

Yes i am one of these tourists who take pictures of the monkeys AND THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT! 



Ah yes! and here are the caves ;) (yes animals are more important!)



 



Hotel Al Madina.
This hotel is located in Bhuleshwar near to Pythonie.
This is one of the Muslim districts of Mumbai.
The near by market are AWESOME specially at night time! nothing really is open before 11 am - GREAT for sleep-in-markys.
if you want to get up early then you will be woken by the morning prayer which you will hear at 6 a.m. from one of the near by mosques.
Food is available EVRYWHERE.

You can get a full meal (veg or non veg) starting at 40 Rupees (incl. drink about 0,50€)
you will not see any other white people here except maybe in your hotel.
If you take a cab home from anywhere it can be a challenge after 4 p.m. SUPER CRAZY BUSY time in that area.

The rooms are nice, no AC but a fan (was good enough for me)
No warm water but uhm yeah... don't need.
I had some roommates, roaches, geckos and a little anthill popped up during my stay in the shower which is also the sink and toilet.
I am a simple queen and don't need a lot to feel good. so this hotel was okay for me.
Next time maybe a different one, but i loved the area.  


MB



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