In Mumbai we stayed at a place called India Guest House, which was 750 rupees for a room, but a hell of a lot cheaper than the majority of places to stay in Mumbai. The rooms were a bit weird at this place, the corridor ran down the midde with rooms either side, but none of the walls of the rooms touched the ceilings (kind of like public toilets). Obviously this wasnt ideal because you could hear everything from everyone, and also have a bit of light coming over into your room. The bathrooms were also shared, something to always be a bit wary of as they can be quite disgusting, but these were immaculate. They were cleaned at least twice a day and had good, powerful showers... something of a luxury really! There was the salvation army around the corner which was cheaper, but it only has shared dorms.
View over the water from Indian Guest House
We were really well placed in Colaba, just around the corner from Colaba Causeway. It had pretty much everything we needed; shops, stalls, restaurants, bars and a cinema. The famous Leopold Bar is also on that road, and still has bullet holes in the walls from when gunman attacked the bar and the Taj Hotel in 2008. For me it was exciting to go and have a drink there because I had just finished reading Shantaram, and the main character is always in there! We also had a guy who did the best mango & musambi (like oranges) smoothies for 70 rupees - like seeeeeriously delicious!
Our windscreen got some TLC at the petrol station
The famous Leopold Cafe & Bar on Colaba Causeway
We had a good mooch about our area, and went to see The Avengers film at the Regal Cinema. It was a cute little place! We tried to go and watch a Bollywood film at this cinema called Eros around the corner on our last day in Mumbai, but it seemed that Sunday was film day as the ticket office was so rammed, and most films were sold out! I was quite gutted because I really wanted to watch a Bollywood film in the home of Bollywood, and also because the cinema looked so cool with its Art Deco design. We also went to a couple of bars (beer was 180 rather than Kerela's price of 80 - eek!), and it was nice to see women in there! In most other cities, the "bars" we've seen are just wine shops with a room at the side, whereas here they are proper bars with a counter, tables and music. It was so good to see that the mentality towards women is different in this city, and they have a much more modern and Western outlook on their place in society. We got talking to a guy and he was saying that when he married his wife (love marriage, not arranged), she was insistent that she was to carry on working at her Insurance company and not become a housewife - you go girl!
Outside of Colaba we visited the Palladium mall, Bandra & Juhu. The mall was craaaazy huge, and was quite a strange experience. There was a homeless guy sat in the road outside, and then you step through these shiny doors and you have designer brands and marble in your face.
Inside Palladium mall
We didn't do much shopping, just had some lunch at Noodle Bar. We tried to leave the mall and got super lost, and somehow ended up in a massive outdoor food court by a cinema and another mall, this one called High Street Phoenix. I have no idea when one ended and the other started, but it covered a bloody huge area. We eventually worked our way back and found ourselves at the rickshaw. We had parked it outside this delicious looking French boulangerie/patisserie called The Rolling Pin, so it only seemed polite that we pop in for dessert...
What a divine shop
I mean, seriously
This place was amazing. I know I say this about most cute shops that are selling edible items, but even Mr Savioury himself was excited about this place. It smelt soooo good and you could see the bakers preparing fresh treats behind the glass! It took us a lonnnnnng time to get over to the counter, and for me to calm down and stop calling Ash over to look at another beautifully decorated cake. We finally made the most difficult decision of the day and placed our order, whilst still looking through the menu and thinking "Hmmm, is that definitely what I want?!"
After what seemed like hours, Ash decided on a chocolate donut (best we've both ever had), and I went for the kit kat brownie!
I probably don't even need to say it but the food was delicious. They offer savoury dishes too like pizzas and quiches, and I can't imagine anything they sold there to not be tasty! The prices weren't bad either... more than your average Indian bakery but, well, it's not your average Indian bakery darling! Ash's donut was 50 rupees and my brownie was 125 (and super filling!), and most definitely worth it. 1000000% I would be straight back there if I return to Mumbai!
Later, we went to Juhu to visit the beach after my friend Nisha had recommended it to us. We'd spent most of our time in Colaba and so decided to get the rickshaw and have a day out further afield. We only spent about 30 minutes at the beach, just having a wander up and down, before we left. It wasn't that nice there, I normally like to take my shoes off and have my feet in the shallow water but I couldn't do that for long here before I had all this weird froth and rubbish around my ankles. It was also reeeeaallly hot, and walking in the full sun was just too much of an effort for us!
A homeless man sleeping by Juhu beach
Juhu was a definite reminder that we were still in the city of Mumbai... packed!
Furher down Juhu away from the people was pretty dirty