On Friday morning we finally decided to go to visit the center of Mumbai. We prepared ourselves for this experience by visiting again the cheap "pure veg" restaurant with 7 different pots of veggie treats (for 60 cents). After filling our bellies we went to the railwaystation.
In the Chembur station we were welcomed by begging children. They were especially irritating when we were queing up for the ticket counter and paying for the tickets. Good news was that retour tickets to centraal station costed 20 cents.
When we got to the train we realized that it was not a straight connection to the Central Station. Also jumping in and out of the trains appeared to be a challenge, the train barely stops at the station and hundreds of people try to rush in and out of the train.
After succesfully arriving to the central station with two train changes we started to look for Bus companies. We finally managed to find them on a sidestreet near the station and booked tickets for a nightbus to Goa. Paying the tickets appeared to be the difficulty this time around. We only had 1300 rupees with us and the luxury sleeper tickets costed 1700, so we needed to visit an ATM. Luckily there was bank around the corner and also one other ATM. So first we tried the "other" ATM, but it did not accept our Dutch Visa electron. No problem, to the bank.
In the bank a guard with mustache and machine gun greeted us. Both of their ATM´s were "out of order" for the day. Fine, we walked back to the bus-stand and explained the situation. They gave us tickets with a footnote that we need to pay up the rest on Monday.
So we were ready to go back to our local suburb Chembur. This proved out to be a nice adventure. We asked directions from a security guy in the Central station. He gave us probably really good and exact instructions in thick hindi english. So we got the right train and left. On our first train exchange station we were already a little unsure to which tracks we should walk, so we went to ask directions from another security guardess. She told us to go to track five, no problem. We went there but after three stops the train had arrived to it´s final destination, a nice slum suburb. At this point we realised that there is an Indian way of naming tracks, tracks to go west and to east have the same numbers, you just need to know which direction to go.
Well we did not give up this easily, instead we took a train back to station where we went wrong in a luggage cart filled with people (Yes, the whole train was completely full, the whole trip I was more hanging from the overhead handles then actually standing, as floor was filled with various luggage.)
For the last train change we sneaked into a more comfy first class and enjoyed stable foothold while arriving to Chembur.
In the evening we went to another veggie restaurant "Sadguru", where we had some nice veggie food. I really loved it but unfortunately Mariska did not know that when she ordered ´masala´ it means in Indian spicy.
Thali
In the Chembur station we were welcomed by begging children. They were especially irritating when we were queing up for the ticket counter and paying for the tickets. Good news was that retour tickets to centraal station costed 20 cents.
When we got to the train we realized that it was not a straight connection to the Central Station. Also jumping in and out of the trains appeared to be a challenge, the train barely stops at the station and hundreds of people try to rush in and out of the train.
Mumbai Central Station
After succesfully arriving to the central station with two train changes we started to look for Bus companies. We finally managed to find them on a sidestreet near the station and booked tickets for a nightbus to Goa. Paying the tickets appeared to be the difficulty this time around. We only had 1300 rupees with us and the luxury sleeper tickets costed 1700, so we needed to visit an ATM. Luckily there was bank around the corner and also one other ATM. So first we tried the "other" ATM, but it did not accept our Dutch Visa electron. No problem, to the bank.
In the bank a guard with mustache and machine gun greeted us. Both of their ATM´s were "out of order" for the day. Fine, we walked back to the bus-stand and explained the situation. They gave us tickets with a footnote that we need to pay up the rest on Monday.
So we were ready to go back to our local suburb Chembur. This proved out to be a nice adventure. We asked directions from a security guy in the Central station. He gave us probably really good and exact instructions in thick hindi english. So we got the right train and left. On our first train exchange station we were already a little unsure to which tracks we should walk, so we went to ask directions from another security guardess. She told us to go to track five, no problem. We went there but after three stops the train had arrived to it´s final destination, a nice slum suburb. At this point we realised that there is an Indian way of naming tracks, tracks to go west and to east have the same numbers, you just need to know which direction to go.
Well we did not give up this easily, instead we took a train back to station where we went wrong in a luggage cart filled with people (Yes, the whole train was completely full, the whole trip I was more hanging from the overhead handles then actually standing, as floor was filled with various luggage.)
For the last train change we sneaked into a more comfy first class and enjoyed stable foothold while arriving to Chembur.
In the evening we went to another veggie restaurant "Sadguru", where we had some nice veggie food. I really loved it but unfortunately Mariska did not know that when she ordered ´masala´ it means in Indian spicy.
poor Mariska >:p
ReplyDeleteanyway, sounds like really cool adventures out there
and cheap as well :)
nai-ce.
I'll keep reading up on you guys,
see you not soon ;)