After work Erin and I decided to go to the market. We had not yet been to this market yet and some of the other travels said it was a great place to go. Well as we all know getting a taxi is quite difficult they want you to pay over or they don’t want to take you or they simple don’t really feel like driving…… or they have no idea what you are saying and take you to a random place….. and that’s what happened to us… we wanted to go to Chor Bazar …. And ended up at Bindi Bazar which we still have no idea if they are close together or not but it was still a good market.
As Erin and I were trying on shoes at one of the booths they started pushing everything in and told us to stand back….. and by back they mean right up against the side…. We look over and there were two cows…. Both had horns pulling a flat-bead with huge speakers on it playing music with people dancing and singing and running around. They were on their way to the Muslim temple. There were people following it for so long….. a little parade something to see that’s for sure.
After leaving the random market we ended up in the same predicament now we were trying to get a taxi to take us to Andheri….. but it was 9:30 at night and the traffic was crazy. No one would take us, then we final got a taxi to take us to the train station and what was the closest station Mumbai central…. So picture Grand Central station in New York take all the seats out of it and there you have it, the same amount of people but all sitting on the ground waiting or running so they didn’t miss their train.
The local ticket booth was located upstairs, down a little hallway and around the corner through a single door. It was rather hard to find. But we made it and got on the right train and everything… this train was newer then the first one we went on and was not all that bad.
The purpose of going to Andheri was to see a movie at the fame adlabas multi-complex. This was rather exciting. To sit in a lazy-boy with a pillow and a blanket awe heaven! And AC but really really good AC. Friday was an eventful evening to say the least.
Saturday we went on a tour of the slums. There is the entire population of Calgary living in the slums here, its something like 480 Acores of land. It was really interesting to learn that there are industries located in the slums, recycling for sorting to melting plastic, to making clay pots. People from outside the city can come and work here and make money then send it home, and while they stay they can live in the business area, well most business men allow this so they said. The major was saying (on Thursday night we went to the majors house and meet her) that they are trying to build affordable housing for theses people living in the slums. If they do this 70% of the people in the area that they want to build must agree, and they will build apartments with running water and proper sewage facilities, but these apartments will only be 225 square feet…. Slightly smaller than my bedroom at home but for an entire family.
The way these people living is not how I pictured ‘slums’, there is little kids playing and having fun, there is no one doing drugs or drinking that we saw at lest. The big problem is the disease and having open sewers in the little ally ways between the houses. I could never imagine living in a little room with no running water with no space and no toilet. And living in the slums still costs 1000 rupees, and the guys that work at McDonalds make 3000 rupees a month…. That’s $75.00 a month. Though food and water is inexpensive transportation to work is expensive and living, real-estate here is crazy, rent a 500 square foot apartment that is not what I would want to call home for $650 or 26,000 rupees. You can really see the gap between the right and the poor even though they claim the class system is nonexistent you can still see it.
3 or the worlds top ten richest men live here in Mumbai, and there are people most likely right around the corner from their homes dying from malnutrition or disease.
It’s a complex world.
Sunday was great got out of the hustle and bustle of the city with still being in the city. Spent the day at the Sand and Sun hotel in the outdoor pool and enjoyed the sun and relaxation without people hassling us to buy something or take our picture. And from the pool there was a great ocean view. It looked very nice from the pool but once you get close to the beach and see the garbage again you remember that yes you are still in India. But it was a great day of relaxing in the pool. PS. Lots of French people.
Sarah
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