What can I say, Mumbai (or as it was called for a long period Bombay) is an amazing, extra ordinary place that is not entirely pleasant or uplifting. During our short visit no sight did a better job of capturing the contradictions of this city than the open air laundry called Dhobi Ghat. This 125 year old establishment is reputed to be the largest open air laundry in the world. For 18 to 20 hours each day, over 7,000 people flog, scrub, dye and bleach clothes on concrete wash pens, dry them on ropes, neatly press them and transport the garments to different parts of the city. Over 100,000 pieces of clothing are washed each day. And as you can see from some of the photos below all of this takes place within a short distance of modern up market high rise apartment buildings. click here for wikipedia link.

One of the first sights we saw on our tour today was the Victoria Railway Terminus. The terminus was built by the British during colonial times, it is now a UNSCO World Heritage sight and according to our guide nearly 4,000,000 passengers pass through this terminus every day.

The first European colonial power to establish themselves in Bombay were the Portuguese after Vasco Da Gama first landed in Bombay in 1498. more details can be found here

Britain acquired Bombay (Mumbai) from Portugal in 1661 as part of the dowry for Catherine of Braganza’s marriage to King Charles II

The name Bombay is reported to be a corruption of the Portugues phrase bom bahia meaning "good bay".

The city of Bombay was officially renamed Mumbai on March 6, 1995, by the Maharashtra state government, led by the Shiv Sena party. The change aimed to remove remnants of British colonial rule and reflect the city's indigenous Marathi heritage, honoring the goddess Mumbadevi.

I apologize for not writing about the other amazing things we saw during our outing today, Tajmahal Palace Hotel, Gate of India, Mahatma Gandhi's residence with its wonderful displays of Gandhi's life.