48 Hours in Mumbai

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Nomad

48

HourS IN

MUMBAI Squeezing Mumbai’s sights and scenes into just two days is a tall order. Upon first glance the city seems stubborn to slow you down – cabs crawl through traffic-clogged streets, straphangers lean out the doors of brimming local trains, and sidewalks, when present, are hectic to say the least. But with careful planning, it’s possible to get a full feel for the striking disparities that make Mumbai the ‘city of dreams’ for so many hopeful migrants from every corner of India. From garish to gritty, historic to heart-wrenching, here’s what to do during 48 hours in Mumbai. Words by Elspeth Velten.

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Day One

7:30am Best visited early in the

morning, the Dadar Flower Market is one

1:00pm Head down into town and

of a staircase on an overpass, where row

splurge on a Mangalorean seafood lunch

upon row of laundry flying in the wind

at Mahesh Lunch Home in Fort. The small

make for a colourful photo-op. If you

restaurant’s menu is full of the familiar and

decide to venture down into the laundry

the less familiar – choose from tandoori and

labyrinth, beware of scammers requesting

various curry preparations of prawns, crab,

payment and remain sensitive and smart

lobster, squid and fish including surmai,

when taking photos. This is not only the

pomfret and bangda. Adventurous? Try the

Dhobi workplace, it’s also their home.

infamous fried ‘Bombay Duck’. It’s not duck at all but lizardfish, native to local waters.

7:00pm After a day of drooling

smelling – places. The colourful streets

2:30pm Switch into shopping

over tempting street food that seems like

mode and take a walk through the Chor

Karai Estate for a meal of street-style

around Dadar station brim with roses,

Bazaar at Mutton Street. Known as the

snacks in a trusted environment. This

marigolds, jasmine and more all day long,

‘thieves bazaar’, lore has it that stolen

buzzing eatery is popular with local

but the action peaks between 5am and 9am.

items from all over Mumbai end up on sale

families and it’s a great place to try street

10:00am Head north from

here. In reality, the bustling streets are

foods that, elsewhere, are usually unsafe

more reminiscent of London’s Portobello

for foreign stomachs. Try pani puri, a

Dadar to Dharavi. One of the largest

Road Market – everything from (fake)

crispy, hollow dough ball served with

slums in Asia, the area is home to over a

antiquities to Bollywood posters and

fillings and chutneys; or panki chatni,

million people in the space of just over

random remote controls are available,

paper-thin rice pancakes steamed in

two square-kilometres. Slum tours can

but don’t dare make a purchase without

banana leaves. Order several small

seem a polarising proposition, but a guided

haggling unapologetically first.

dishes at your own pace and wash it all

walk around Dharavi’s industrial and

4:30pm Grab a ride over to

down with a sweet sugarcane juice.

Walks led by young men from Reality Tours

people called ‘dhobis’ work full-time

drink (or two) at the InterContinental Hotel’s

of Mumbai’s most photogenic – and best

residential areas gives a true insight into how the majority of Mumbaikars live.

Dhobi Ghat at Mahalaxmi Station. Here,

forbidden fruit, head to Swati Snacks at

8:30pm See the day out with a

(realitytoursandtravel.com) meet at nearby

in a giant open-air laundromat to wash

Dome rooftop bar. The bar boasts panoramic

Mahim Station before heading into the slum

the clothes and linens from homes and

views over the Arabian Sea and the

and the company invests 80 per cent of

businesses all over Mumbai. A bird’s-eye

arching Marine Drive, a popular waterfront

profits back into the Dharavi community.

view of the area can be had from the top

hangout for Mumbaikars come nightfall.

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