Bombay

… is also known as Mumbai and reminds me a bit of New York City. Most of the time it feels like I’m no longer in India. I have nothing against the rest of the country but Bombay seems to me to be a tad more civilized. Here’re some reasons to back up my statement:
1. Queuing at the bus stop

2. Turning on the meter in a cab (the meter is actually outside the vehicle, can you spot it?)

Visiting Bombay with "A" was like traveling on steroids. Even though I never made it to Daravi Slum for a slum-tour (which is one of my must-do while in India), I think I saw more of Bombay in three days than any Bombayite would’ve seen in three months.


Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Victoria Terminus)

Gateway of India


Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue

Prince of Wales Museum

Elephanta Caves – an hour boat ride and you’ll be in a completely different environment. There’s a 5 minutes horizontal and 10 minutes vertical hike to the caves.

The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower - It is as extravagant as they make it out to be.

Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat - Apparently 136 yr old, Bombay's oldest and biggest human power washer machine.

Hotels:

We spent a night at Taj President (the sister of and not to be mistaken with Taj Mahal Hotel) just for the fun of it.
Price: Rs11500/night


Gordon Hotel; highly recommended not because it’s allegedly the first boutique hotel in Bombay but you will find the most adorable objects in your rooms. If you are planning to party in Bombay and stay out past 2:30am, you should consider the rooms above the nightclub, which are way more affordable than the quiet rooms.
Price: Rs8000/night incl. breakfast (for rooms above the nightclub, because we stayed out past 2:30am every night)

I don’t recall partying in NYC being as hectic as partying in Bombay. On Saturday, we started off from South Bombay at Indigo Restaurant (highly recommended), then drove up to Malabar Hills and hung out at the Hanging Gardens (which is next to the Parsi Tower of Silence - a Parsi cemetary where bodies are not cremated but corpses are laid out within towers and pecked by vultures or let decompose naturally and where we were told by the tourist police to scram), then to the Dome (a rooftop bar), then Blue Frog (a must-go super cool lounge), then China Club (where I saw maybe a few hundred Bollywood superstar look-alikes) and finally to Bling (where Bollywood music was played). I think I missed a venue. We got to bed at 4:30am, drunk and happy.