My trip to Mumbai, India
23rd August 2008
We had a week long holiday in Japan because of Obon festival. Most businesses including Japanese used car auctions are on holiday this week. So I planned to visit Thailand and India with my friend Mr. Shiotsu.
It is summer here now in Japan and it is very hot and humid especially here in Tokyo. I was surprised to see that India was much cooler than Japan at this time. Our Indian friend Raj was kind enough to show us around in Mumbai as well as in the satellite city of New Mumbai.
Crowded local train in Mumbai
We tried some adventures in Mumbai, and one of them was commuting by the local train in ordinary class. The train was very crowded even on Sunday, and it was quite unusual for us to see people hanging out from the trains. In Japan, the train doors get locked before the train starts, so we can not see such scenes in Japan. But we challenged and we did it ! We travelled for about 40 minutes from Mumbai to New Mumbai in such crowded train. It was quite an experience.
Mumbai is a vibrant and busy city. It is changing quite fast and one can easily see the contrasts in lifestyles everywhere. On one hand, you can see tall modern skyscrapers where the price of an apartment or office is as high as in Tokyo or London; on the other hand, you can see old style markets and small businesses being run in old dilapidated buildings.
Overall, we had a nice trip. It was a good break from the busy life in Japan.
In New Mumbai with my friend Raj
In old Mumbai with my friend Shiotsu
Technorati Tags: Japan, Japanese, used car, auction, India, Mumbai, train
