Our day started quietly with a quick train trip to the Mahalaxma Dhobi ghat which is a massive outdoor laundry. Sadly we didnt see much action and had to look from above but still it was interesting.
Another train takes us to wait and watch the dabawalla - lunch box delivery people. Waiting and waiting. Baggy gives us an ongoing commentary about everything and anything.
We waited outside a beautiful gothic building - the Western Railways Headquarters Building.
Next to us a group of people with shovels and picks wait for someone to employ them for manual labour for the day.
The food in the lunch boxes has been prepared by various people who simply cook additional food each day then pack it up each day to fulfill the orders. They get paid for each lunch box they prepare. The dabawallas collect them and take them to a central point, where we were waiting.
Eventually the dabawallas start arriving with the lunchboxes, all shapes and sizes and all with a label/code showing where they came from, where they need to be delivered to, the type of meal and some other stuff. They are sorted into piles depending on where they have to end up and someone comes and delivers them. After lunch the containers are collected and returned to the owners who prepare more meals the next day.
I expected them all to be tiffin boxes like we have at home but these were all shapes and sizes. Anyone seen the gorgeous movie called “Lunchbox”. Worth watching. A great way for cooks to make a few $ and diners to get a decent lunch each day.
Moving on we go to Victoria Railway Station. Another gorgeous gothic building, home to one of India’s busiest railway stations.
We then bussed (or maybe trained) to The Gateway of India an arch monument built during the 20th century. It was erected to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary at Apollo Bunder on their visit to India in 1911.
Over the road was the Taj Mahal hotel, a hangout for the rich and famous housed in a beautiful building. I didn’t look see as I had spied chocolate cake and my mind was more interested in that than anything else.
We split up as a group and I went and got my cake, an opera cake, moist layers with a decadent chocolate glaze and pretty stuff to set it off. Yes, it was worth every mouthful.
Here was my chance to go wandering. Probably the first time all trip that I was able to do my thing with no time restriction. First place on the plan was the modern art museum. Well so much for that plan as it was closed so I just kept walking.
A gorgeous wee clothes shop caught my eye and I tossed up about buying a couple of gorgeous pieces then decided the workmanship was so poor it wasn’t worth it.
Today was pretty warm and quite humid so a cold drink was in order. Except the place I went to go have one told me they charge too much so I should buy my coke from the kiosk. Fair enough! The cafe next door made the sale and I had an ice cold coke in an air conditioned cafe and it cost me double what it would have done at the kiosk - like $2.00 instead of $1.00.
And then I stumbled across a very touristy store that also catered to the locals with ready made clothing, Homewares and saris. Touristy it may have been but they had a great collection of well sewn ready made traditional type clothing at good prices.
Luckily many of the things were not in my size as I could have left the store with far more than I did.
Although it was a warm night it didn’t feel overwhelmingly hot so purchases in hand and with the help of Mr GoogleMaps I made my way home, about 6kms from where I had started.
It was a warmish walk but wandering the streets at night is one of my fave things to do so with a regular wipe of the sweat I kept going. I was getting used to weaving through the traffic and watching out for the holes in the pavement so felt really comfortable but thirsty.
And then oasis appeared before my eyes in the form of a turkish pastry shop with a huge range of tiny baklavas and a smaller range of one of my middle Eastern favorites, kunafe. It was difficult deciding what to have but settled on four small pieces of baklava each with a different flavour including one of chocolate. I don’t know which was the best because they were all damn delicious and a pleasant change from curry. Then I did a silly thing and ordered a turkish coffee which again was jolly good but it is now past midnight, with an early start tomorrow and I am wide awake. Oh dear.
The rest of my walk was uneventful but I was exhausted by the time I got home. Thank heavens for hot showers and room service fries.
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