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| | | | Maddening, magical Mumbai
First impressions stay with you. My first impression of Indian city Mumbai is of chaos. And then you realise it's organised chaos.
The streets are packed with tuk-tuks, lorries, pedestrians, motorcylists, cyclists - all seemingly stuck in endless traffic jams and going nowhere. But you eventually get to where you are going - and no-one seems to get killed in the process either.
We flew into Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport on a direct Jet Airways from Heathrow. This Indian domestic airline has successfully transformed itself into an international player. Flying business class was an unexpected thrill, leaving one feeling relaxed and fresh after the nine-hour flight.
Our hotel was barely 5kms away from the airport but it seemed to take forever to get there. Indeed our minibus sat completely still for so long it really seemed it would be faster if we got out and walked. Eventually the bottleneck of traffic cleared and we made it to The Leela Hotel, an oasis of peace and calm. As seemed to be prevalent in much of the city, there were shacks and slum-dwellers on adjoining land right up to the hotel's fences.
One of our guides said there were ongoing efforts to clear the city - but having seen the huge numbers of informal dwellings from the plane as it circled the airport I can't help but doubt it's possible.
On our whirlwind day trip of the city, we were taken to see the famous and historic open-air laundromat, the Dhobi Ghat on Dr E Moses Road.
We stood on the bridge at the Mahalakshmi Station and watched as the hundreds of laundrymen worked flat out to deliver Mumbai's laundry. The washing is soaked, scrubbed, passed through hand-operated wringers and then hung out to dry on numerous lines. It's traditionally been a men's-only trade - partially because of the tough physical side - and many men work there all their lives, with the older ones moving from the hard labour to delivering the clothes back to their various client's houses.
Somehow they are able to separate the clothes parcels out, wash, dry and iron them and deliver them back to the right addresses. It's an amazing sight, with all the whites flying separately in the wind, and all the hundreds of colourful garments flapping away in a rippling rainbow of colours.
As with many traditional trades, it's under threat as Mumbai's middle-classes get richer and start buying more automatic washing machines.
Mumbai, which started life as a fishing village, is now one of India's most cosmopolitan cities, a melting pot of cultures and languages.
The Mumbai, Bombay mix-up, came about when the British were in charge and officials apparently misheard the name. It's recently been officially renamed Mumbai but it's remains puzzling as many institutions and businesses still refer to it as Bombay.
As the country's financial capital it is so prosperous that it pays about 30% of the country's income tax. The wealth shows in the prevalence of top-label designer shops, the bling apparent in the glossy social pages in the papers and the top sports cars ironically stuck in the same tedious traffic jams. It is after all home to Bollywood, India's increasingly powerful film industry and its many stars.
We drove up to the Hanging Gardens (the Pherozeshah Mehta Gardens), overlooking Chowpatty Beach, which give one superb views over the city and of Marine Drive as it heads towards Colaba and the Gateway of India.
This, probably the most famous of Mumbai landmarks, is situated near Mumbai Harbour. Dozens of brightly coloured boats and yachts are moored in the waters in front of the huge edifice. Tourists and locals flock to the area and it's the place you leave from for a trip to nearby Elephanta Island.
The peaceful Unesco World Heritage Site is about an hour away. It's offers a quiet retreat and has a series of hill-top caves which house a number of 8th century carvings depicting the legends of Shiva.
Another huge draw - if you have the money - is the historic Taj Mahal Hotel, situated just behind the Gateway to India. It's truly magnificent, and an oasis from the heat and crowds outside. It's expensive - but well worth popping in for tea and cakes - the decor is superb and it's air-conditioned too. Our somewhat bedraggled group popped in for a loo stop - and everyone wanted to stay and stay and stay.
Considering our extreme schedule we only had time for a drive along Marine Drive - a windswept promenade flanked by the sea and one of Mumbai's biggest roads. Our guide said it was not usual to see people swimming in the sea but locals would often have picnics and paddle in the waves. At night, lights situated all along the road, give it an magical air. It's a pretty beach and gives a sense of space to the somewhat hectic city built all around it.
From the road you can see the high-rise buildings of Nariman Point, known as Mumbai's Manhattan.
On the way back to our hotel we passed the Victoria Terminus Station, which doesn't remind one so much of its London namesake as King's Cross St Pancras station. It's an impressive, Gothic reminder of the British Raj . It was christened to commemorate Victoria Jubilee Day in 1887 and has since being renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. Our guide tells us the new name hasn't stuck with the + 2 million commuters that use it. To them it's still VT.
She tells us that from this small start India has ended up with the 4th largest rail network in the world. From her description trying to catch the rush hours trains in Mumbai makes London Transport look underused and you're very lucky if you're able to get on.
Much to the group's dismay, we didn't have time to stop along the Colaba Causeway to go shopping. This is a major part of the Mumbai experience and visitors generally leave laden with carpets, silks, clothes and jewellery.
We whizzed past the Oval Maidan, one of Mumbai's best-known large public spaces, and the Mahalakshmi Race Course, another relic of bygone colonialism and one of the most popular venues in the this horse-racing mad city.
All in all, we missed a lot of the Mumbai experience, the shopping, the Bollywood studio tour - where I was hoping to spot some of India's top movie stars - but still managed to get a glimpse of a thriving, heaving 24-hour city where space is at a premium but there's order in the seeming chaos.
India specialist Cox & Kings (020 7873 5000; www.coxandkings.co.uk) offers a 5-day Bombay Long Weekend which costs from £695pp including flights with Jet Airways, accommodation with breakfast and transfers.
Travel Guide: Mumbai
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