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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