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Home > Travel > India > Mumbai We only had an afternoon to do sightseeing around Mumbai but we were able to fit quite a lot in. As usual in India, it was best to just hire a drive for that whole chunk of time and have him take us around. First we went to Victoria Terminus, one of Mumbai’s many railway stations, but standing out by the beauty of its architecture. It was a truly magnificent building, sort of in the same style as the Bombay University, court and other important buildings in the city. The sea of taxis and double-deckers did not allow us to back up enough to take it all in, so we took an underpass to the opposite side of the intersection to actually get a full photo of it.Next we went to see the famed Dhobi Ghat, or laundry place. There are only three of these big ones in the city. As you approach, you can see bicycles carrying large bundles of laundry into the place, from individual families as well as hotels. Viewed from a road bridge above it, this complex is composed of small shacks, hanging lines and lots and lots of barrels full of soaking clothes. An small army of men each stand at a barrel and beat (this may not be a strong enough word) the laundry against it. A huge backward swing – an overhead – and bam! I always thought hand-washing is for delicates only, but apparently even the toughest of western clothes have their life beaten out of them if you send them into the dhobi ghat 2-3 times. David had his pants laundered at the hotel, and we think this is where they sent them. They were fine though. Then we paid a visit to Mani Bhavan, the house there Mohandas Ghandi stayed during his time in Mumbai (then Bombay). It’s a modest place with lots of full bookshelves along the walls. They had turned it into a museum to Ghandi, and it was very well done. We learned a lot about his life and the independence movement of India. Last we stopped to see the Jain Temple, which was especially interesting since Sonam is Jain. It has really beautiful architecture on the outside and a nicely decorated interior. In the evening we came by Dhruv’s family’s house to
say goodbye, and then had a very nice dinner at Vikram’s parents’
house. -- Iva 
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