Bombay!

My last two days in Mumbai (or locally still referred to as Bombay) was a whirlwind tour. On the way to the airport I realised I had been so overwhelmed by the megacity I had barely taken any photos, so many of these are snap shots through a speeding taxi window.

The city of Mumbai is difficult to describe - one of those places that is an assualt on the senses, as intoxicating as only India can be. Majestic cows graze on piles of rubbish, children scream with laughter from the second story of their slum homes packed tightly on a manicly busy streets and Victorian era buildings somehow seem to peacefully watch down over tree lined streets as vendors hussle everything from fresh samoosas to the latest electronics. And everyone is honking, all the time.

Paint a city by numbers....

Number of black taxis: 40,000

Population density: 29,000 people per square kilometre

Average annual income: Rs48,900 (US$1,000 - three times national average)

Number of public toilets for every 1 million people: 17

Number of people passing through Victoria Terminus station daily: 2,5million

Number of people in 1,800 person capacity train at rush hour: 7,000

Proportion of Mumbai built on reclaimed land: 60%

Number of Bollywood movies made since 1931: 68,500

Source: Lonely Planet India, 2009

 

 

Street children drinking water on a hot summer's day.

A grand Bombay hotel across from the Gateway to India monument - still in the early morning though before the usual crowds descended upon the city. The monsoons had arrived and I breathed a sigh of relief with the rest of the country. The puddles soon burned off in the sun everytime that the skies cleared.

Thank you India for being incredible. See you again, soon.