Arrival in Mumbai, India

The Taj Hotel and Gateway to India

Here we are at our final destination. This has been a great cruise with very interesting ports, fun travel companions, good food and service.

So far India has been a pleasant surprise. We were expecting an "assault on the senses", beggars and cows in the roads, filth, open sewage, a crush of poverty, culture shock. That has not been our experience at all, and from what I have read there is a big difference between southern and northern India in economics and education, which naturally makes a difference in the culture, cleanliness and aggressiveness of vendors. And of course we are tourists staying on a ship and venturing out on planned excursions. So now we assume that we will encounter the "real India" here in Mumbai, city of 20 million people, most populous city in India and 4th most populous city in the world.

At this point we are quite tired of Regent's group shore excursions after 17 days. Too much bus time and too many "panda stops", a euphemism for a shopping stop. Regent allows you to book your shore excursions online at least 6 months ahead of time. The descriptions at that point all sound wonderful and only list the duration of the excursion, not the logistics, such as bus time. Once you are onboard you receive a detailed overview of each tour, such as this one for Mumbai's Elephanta Caves:

Duration: 4 1/2 hours
Depart pier, drive to Gateway of India (15 min)
Board motor launch for Elephanta Island (1 hour)
Arrive at Island - walk to base of Elephanta Hill  (20 min)
Climb up 120 steps to reach the caves, visit cave ( 1 hr 15 min)
Proceed downhill - walk to jetty (20 min)
Board motor launch for ride to Gateway to India (1 hr)
Arrive at Gateway, disembark, board bus, drive back to pier (15 min.)

So, out of a 4 1/2 hour excursion, you will visit the caves for less than an hour. But it is hot and there is a lot of walking and a lot of steps, so inevitably there will be people who didn't read the description thoroughly (or at all...)  and will not be happy about that.  There will be the shoppers who will give in to the assault of the aggressive vendors and souvenir booths. It will take awhile to get everyone up the hill so the guided tour can begin... and it will take awhile for the stragglers to get back to the launch for the return to Mumbai. You won't be back to the ship in time to take another excursion, so this is all you will see of Mumbai.

So, we decided to join friends on a private tour that they had booked ahead of time so we could see the caves, have a real Indian meal and also get an overview tour of the city. More in the next post.