Ouch! Our luggage is to be out by 3:45 am, as we are flying to Mumbai this morning. We sadly leave our fearless bus driver, assistant and tour guide (Cyril), and pick up new ones in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Mumbai (Bombay) a city that is technically an island or a combination of 7 islands connected to the mainland by bridges and causeways and sits on the west coast of India on the Arabian Sea. The 7 islands originally inhabited by Koi fishing communities, were reclaimed over time. In 1534, Sultan Badadur of Ahmedabad ceded the land to the Portuguese who in turn handed it over to the British in 1661. Mumbai is now the 4th most populated city in the world, a population that has increased 10 fold since independence. It has flourished as India's commercial capital and houses some 16 million people. On our way from the airport we are able to see some of the coastal areas, bridges, urban elite and slums. We are lucky we have arrived on a Sunday as the pollution is down and one can see across the bay, on Monday this was impossible.

Our first stop is the massive central laundry - Mahalakshmi dhobi (laundrymen) Ghat (open air laundromat). As the people also live in amongst the laundry it is a slum of sorts, employing many people from northern states. The laundry is picked up, washed, dried and iron for essentially pennies with next to no losses of clothing. The washing, picked up early each day, is first soaked in large concrete vats, and then beaten on built in flogging stones until clean, hung to dry and then ironed with manual irons filled with hot coals. Ironically, on March 8, 2011, this particular laundry was awarded the Guinness World Record for in one location having the most people (496 workers) all hand-washing clothes at the same time. It is notably very close to the Mahalakshmi train station.

After a much needed coffee, we are off to "Mani Bhawan" Mahatma Gandhi's residence in Mumbai during the Freedom Struggle from 1917 to 1934. A main feature of Gandhi's struggle was to overthrow the British hold on the Indian fabric and clothing industry. Since early in the British colonization of India, the raw fibers were shipped to Britain, returned fabricated and sold back to the people of India. In the house one will see a picture depicting the burning of English clothing including an actual English sign saying: "Boycott British Goods". The house, now a museum, is a simple 2 storied house on Laburnum road an upper middle class road. It lovingly houses historic photos, artifacts, books and letters. One noteworthy letter is to Hitler suggesting world peace.

After lunch we have a scheduled tour to Elephanta Island featuring magnificent caves. Many of us opt out and took a walk through the local neighborhood. We visited the Gateway of India; built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911 - India's own Arc de Triomphe. We walked through local neighborhoods and happened upon a huge sports field where young and old alike were all enjoying their Sunday afternoon playing cricket.

This time we stay at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Hotel, now renovated after the terrorist attacksin 2008 that killed 31 employees and tourists. Inside is an amazing monument to all those who lost their lives.