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A Local’s Guide to Mumbai (Bombay)

“What strange phenomena we find in a great city, all we need do is stroll about with our eyes open. Life swarms with innocent monsters.”
– Charles Baudelaire

Honestly, when Mr. Baudelaire pronounced these famous words, he probably attached a lot of aesthetic meaning to it, however, when you think of Mumbai in this context, you can take that quote in an atrociously literal sense. Known as India’s financial capital, Mumbai is home to more than 20million people in an area of 603 sq kms – placing in excess of a staggering 20k people living per sq km of it’s land. Phew! Hot & crowded, yeah? Well, that’s exactly what Mumbai is, though admittedly there’s far more to this great city than its swarm of populous masses. Located on the western coast of India, Mumbai is the epicenter of the nation’s economic activities – which probably explains its massive population. As a tourist destination, Mumbai has continued to attract and fascinate western tourists. The searing heat (or the ceaseless rains if you visit in the wet season) can truly push your limits as a seasoned traveler. The cosmopolitan nature of its population presents the perfect opportunity to observe a truly vibrant urban culture, mingled with a belief system that can qualify as borderline bizarre by a lot of western standards. Locals fondly call it ‘the city that never sleeps’ or ‘Aamchi Mumbai’ (meaning simply ‘My Mumbai’ in the local dialect, Marathi) and for someone who loves to travel and see a lot of places, I’ve always been glad to come back to a city of such complex characteristics and overwhelming warmth (both natural & humane).

mumbai

A Local’s Guide to The City of Dreams!

A Peek into The Magical City of Dreams 

18 comments

  1. We have not been to India or Mumbai yet. Would love to visit this city, it looks amazing and is so big and crowded! 20 million people on 603 sqkm!! That is crazy! Back home in Norway we are a total of 5 million people on about 385000 sqkm! 🙂 We are currently in Indonesia, thinking about where to go next. India just climbed high up on our next-to-visit-list :). How many days would you recommend us staying in Mumbai?

  2. The last time I was in Bombay was about a year ago. I want to go back… love the city for its energy!

  3. This is still on my list of places to visit – hoping to get to India in the next couple of years – so I will remember that it is an expensive place to stay. Perhaps for a night or two I could stretch the budget!

  4. I remember the crazy traffic and being nervous to cross the street that we ultimately decided just to keep to our side of the street!

  5. The subcontinent and its volume of people is always staggering!

    I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting India (however it is one of Sarah’s favourite countries), however I think I can imagine the sheer volume having visited Bangladesh a few years ago!

  6. I’m actually not fan of Big cities. Yet mumbai
    Seems to be interesting. And wow that train. I thought we have the worst here in the Philippines. But wow, that looks more tough. Hehehe

  7. 20 million people? There are only 5 million in Scotland – cannot comprehend this!!

  8. I actually really enjoyed this little read…..very well written. I would love to visit Mumbai, probably will one day. I like both the beautiful outdoors as well as the hustle and bustle of a big city… In fact I think you can find quite a bit of culture in these cities….The modern world with old world beliefes meshed into one..sounds cool.

  9. Here is my additions to your locals guide to Mumbai from an actual Mumbai local
    Mumbai is about great food , vada pav and panni puri in Khao Galis. taporis, elephanta caves, kaali peeli taxis, a zillion people in dadar station, madness in mumbai locals. beautiful victoria terminus and India gate , Juhu beach,
    Beautiful Navy nagar in Colaba, the marine drive, home of Bollywood, and the God of cricket

  10. Seems to be interesting…I really enjoyed this little read!!! very well written.

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