Mumbai Travel Guide

Mumbai Travel Guide Home to Bollywood, India's fashion capital and a centre for the gem trade, Mumbai can be overwhelming, but this city of contrasts is also endlessly fascinating. Squeezed onto a small island connected by bridges to the mainland, Mumbai is India's largest city and financial epicentre, home to great wealth, extortionate real estate, glistening skyscrapers and fashion-savvy locals. But Mumbai is also a city of extreme inequality where affluence and abject poverty sit side by side. The busy streets are packed with grand colonial architecture, a myriad of temples and mosques, and many ancient bazaars. Visitors can immerse themselves in colonial history at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus or dive into modern-day life at the Dhobi Ghat; dance 'till dawn in swanky bars or hang out with a cold beer in legendary backpacker haunts; eat at some of India's best restaurants or find a sandy seaside spot to sample Mumbai's most popular snack, bhelpuri. But however you choose to experience Mumbai, one thing is for certain: amid the colour and chaos, the city is certain to leave an impression.

,Im like any other mumbaiite who loves the city but will work his ass off to get out of the country at first opportunity possible, and then post '' I miss Mumbai'' on Facebook. I did the same, worked my ass off , fled the country at warpspeed, and here I am blogging about Mumbai ( and missing it ).

Whats it about Mumbai? Apart from the dirtiest pavements ( if there are any), water logging during rains, constantly being on tip toes to avoiding stepping on turd (animal/human), power cuts, water cuts, potholes, cramped stuffed local trains, corrupt havaldars on every corner, equally corrupt law breakers (us), political processions creating havoc of an already poor traffic system, religious processions doing no good either, illegal structures, crazy rickshaws, over flowing garbage, bomb scares ( and bombs), virus scares, pirated cds , illegal hawkers, and all things to put mumbai on the wrong side of the news.

But there is something, a certain magic associated with mumbai. A strange feeling...an indescribable ardor, a mystifying caress of the wind which entangles you in a perpetual state of attachment with this city, an umbilical link that can never be severed. An essence that is so deeply embedded in your psyche, that mere distance is just not enough to shake it off. ,,,