some questions about mumbai

wanderlustful

hi!

i'll be traveling to mumbai for work next week for a week. i'll only have time to explore the city after 6pm, and was wondering if there's any recommendations for that matter! i'm not big on the shopping malls stuff, so would appreciate it if someone could point me to where i could go for some market shopping or anywhere where i can simmer myself in mumbai culture, perhaps the living/suburb areas or something (that's not too far away i hope), away from the shiny city!

also, i would also appreciate it if anyone could recommend me some bars where its safe for a single female traveller to hang out for a drink!

another thing - where can i get valium in town? how much would they cost on average, and would it require a prescription?

thanks in advance!

capt_mahajan

Which part of Mumbai is 'work'? (to help people answer)

Valium is available at any halfway decent chemist anywhere. Dunno cost, but will be cheaper than Singapore. Although not essential, carry a prescription.

__________________
.
Outside the machine

wanderlustful

"Which part of Mumbai is 'work'?"

hmmmm could you kindly rephrase that?

are there any living areas that is located not too far away from the heart of the city where i could head to in a taxi? okay, to put in a bluntly (and in a sadly touristy way), having come from a cosmopolitan country, i would like to see and experience for myself the slums. i hope this won't offend anyone here!

halfway-decent chemist.. hmmmm.

drinks anyone when i'm in mumbai?? regale me with stories of your city!

capt_mahajan

There are many commercial 'hearts' to Bombay city.

At six pm (in your OP), it can take you two or three hours to reach the further suburbs from the Southern 'heart' around Nariman Point.

Another centre is at Bandra/Kurla.

Slums are everywhere, almost.

and Mumbai is as cosmopolitan as Singapore, btw, unless you define cosmopolitan to mean just more Western expats divided by local population and expressed as a percentage.

wanderlustful

when i say singapore is cosmo.. it's.. cosmo, everywhere. it's different in the sense where everything is so cosmo-uniform here in singapore and it'd be nice to experience smth different outside the city though i was in bangalore/goa earlier on this year before.

i'll be located mostly at the bombay exhibition centre.

aadil

The Bombay Exhibition Center is at Goregaon (East) just off the Western Express Highway so you are not in a good area for most of the touristy stuff in Mumbai. If you wish to go somewhere nice in the suburbs then you can head to Bandra (West) for some nice eating and watering holes!!! It may take some time to get there but then you will have lots of options too. Another place you could go to in the Andheri (West) area is at Lokhandwala complex which is much closer than Bandra. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Aadil.

__________________
Climb high; climb far;
Your goal, the sky,
Your aim, the stars!!!

thejag

i think The goregaon/Malad station markets would be a good starting point for the OPs Quest. If she can survive the chaos there then she can head to Dharavi. If i am not mistaken there are guided tours for Tourists that take them through dharavi???

wanderlustful

hi all! thanks for the replies!

oh dear.. just far am i away from the city center? how long would it take to reach the goregaon/Malad station markets by taxi (and how much?) and how about bandra/andheri?

and yes i've also managed to stumble upon some guided tours of the slums.. but no, but i'm not big on that as i prefer to stroll/shoot at my own pace. i have one whole day to myself after i'm done with work, so perhaps i could cab it to dharavi then?

thanks in advance!!

Hal

The tours of Dharavi don't allow photographs. You might have a hard time there on your own. Remember that the sun sets at 6:30pm.

wanderlustful

yeah i realised, thats why i'm planning to head there on my free day =) also, how far away is fashion street away from the exhibition center?

nycank

I would presume in a cosmo city like SIN, a good map store would have decent map of BOM; Or try google maps. It will give you a good idea of distances.

To stroll and shoot on one's own could get you into a pickle if you do not understand or speak that language.

Hope this helps.

__________________
bade bhaisaheb is outsourced

wanderlustful

i've tried google maps but i reckon i have to take into consideration the traffic in order to have a more precise gauge of the time it takes from point a to b ! that's why i'll need alot of help from all ye kind hearted souls here =)

aadil

If you need to go to Fashion Street get on the train on a Sunday if possible from Goregaon to Churchgate and get off on the left hand side and walk down towards Flora Fountain and then turn left from the Bhika Behram Well to start on Fashion Street all the way to Metro Cinema. There are similar shops at Bandra Linking Road too which will be much closer to where you are. Dharavi on your own could get you lost in a big maze if you get inside once!!! Take photographs discretely or from a distance with a zoom lens. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Aadil.

wanderlustful

wow! thanks alot for the info! how long wld it take from Goregaon to Churchgate by train? Would it be better to travel by cab instead? How much would a cab ride cost then approximately?

and.. how do i get to Bandra Linking Road from the expo? THANKS ALOT!

sahitya

[quote=wanderlustful;826280]wow! thanks alot for the info! how long wld it take from Goregaon to Churchgate by train? Would it be better to travel by cab instead? How much would a cab ride cost then approximately?

goregaon to churchgate in a fast train is around 45 minutes, in a slow train around 55 minutes.
in a cab it will take u approximately 1 hour. u can take the new bandra worli sea link to speed up ur journey. but will have to pay 50 rs extra for the sea link. from goregaon to churcgate in a cab will cost you around 350rs.

__________________
one of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.