Three days in Mumbai-Elephanta Caves, Mathern, and what else??

dan37_123

Hi,
We have three days in Mumbai, what are the important things to see around.

I thought of visiting:
1. Elephanta caves- is it really worth it??, since our next stop is at ellora and ajata after mumbai??

2.Mathern-thinking to take a train to Nerla, and then catch the toy (??) train to matheran. I thought this would be fun since we have two kids. So please give us your advice.

3. Any nice seculed Beaches around mumbai?. Well we were there at JUHU several years go, it was fun, but am willing to explore the lesser known beaches.

Waiting for your replies and help.

thanks
dan

SHIMLA

Look here for a few ideas !

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iyou

If you're going to Ajanta and Elora you can definitely skip Elephanta. No question about it. I haven't been to Matheran, although it's on my list of places to visit one day. You haven't said when you're going, but depending on the time of year it can be VERY wet (monsoon--june/july), VERY crowded (summer--april/may) or just pleasant and cool (other times of the year). I'm sure it would be a nice, if rather long, trip. For beaches around the city you have to go a bit further than Juhu if you want water that's not loaded with toxic pollution. Madh Island to the north, or Alibag on the mainland to the south (via ferry from Gateway) are two places. It's a bit of a stretch to go just for the day. You'll spend as much time commuting as you'll spend at your destination. Probably best to spend the night (lots of hotels and guest houses).

Given that you only have three days I'd recommend less ambitious local excursions. Your kids will enjoy a trip to Water Kingdom, which is an easy day trip to the northern suburbs (go by train!). You could also explore the city--there's so much to do you could visit new places every day for a year and not hit all of them. Bombay is a fascinating place. Read "Maximum City" for one person's impressions.

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dan37_123

Hi,
thanks for the reply, we will be there during the third week of this month, that is from 18th till 20th june.

thanks
dan

04274108

Although I didn't really enjoy Elephanta, I really enjoyed the boat ride. It was relaxing to putter through the harbor, look at all the boats, chat with other tourists. Once you get to Elephanta, you take a little train to some steps. You then walk up the steps which is crowded with stalls. The stall keepers virtually ingnore you on the way up but when you come down, prepare to be bombarded with "Hey Friends", "Deal for you", etc. The island is crawling with monkeys and they attack. They'll charge at anyone carry food. It's hilarious to watch huge men toss bags of crisps or peanuts into the air and take off running screaming like a little girl while the monkeys chase them away.

Things I really enjoyed in Mumbai:

1. Walk down Marine Drive at sunset. Beautiful sky, smell of the sea. Take a seat on the wall that runs the length and watch the locals stroll along.

2. Go to the laundry (Dhobi) at Mahalaxmi Station. Hundreds of stalls filled with soapy water and the workers beating the dirty clothes against the rock in their stall. You'll see every color imaginable. You can walk through it but you can't take pictures.

3. Indian cinema. Hey, you're in Bollywood. Go to one of the large theatres for some ear-splitting sound (I've been to quieter Metallica concerts). The best part of the show is in the audience.

Good luck

mite

dharavi would be a good place , to see how ppl live in matchboz houses and still manage to smile, actually almost 1/2 of the population have less than 2 rooms to live in mumbai.

you will see a lot of roadside vendors, hawkers etc cooking in the night after winding up their business (around 9/10 ish) and then its nice to see them sleeping as kings.

after 5 pm u can visit churchgate / CST stations and see how people get into the trains as it arrives on the platform wanting a seat after a hard days work. (not for ppl suffering from crowd phobia)

afternoon time in town its business time for the food stalls and its quite enjoyable to see pav bhaji, dosas,biryani, chinese etc being made and people eating merrily

a visit to any of the municipal/ govt hospitals would be quite shocking, disturbing, avoid if u r with children,

visit to the red light / eunuch area in Grant road is also somehting that a outsider with find interesting,

also a visit to the chor bazar (thieves market) is a must but the real market where stolen things are sold takes place on firday realy morning at 4 am.

the wholesales markets at masjid bunder, kalbadevi, abdul rahman street, mohammed ali road are also quite amusing.

there are so many thing s to be just watched in mumbai and everyday somehting new is happening.

but ofousre with kids id better say avoid all of above.

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dan37_123

Hi,
Alibag sounds to be a good destination with kids.

I found these two hotels:
1.BIGSPLASH--> http://www.nivalink.com/bigsplash/
2.SUNGLOW -->http://www.nivalink.com/sunglow/

I would appreciate if anyone of you have stayed or heard about them. These are with in my budget. I saw that there are other three and four start resorts, they are too expensive for me.

thanks
daniel

edwardseco

Lonavala, if somewhat overpriced..

dan37_123

we are interested in going to the beach for the kids

thanks
dan

ihrishi

You can go to Kashid beach, which is half and hours drive from Alibaug. The road hugs the coast and its an excellent drive to Kashid. Also make it a point to go to the Murud-Janjira Fort, which is just half a km off the Murud beach.

The best part about kashid is that the beach is relatively secluded and very clean.

dan37_123

Hello

Thanks to all of you for the great info.

Four more days to go, we will be arriving in Mumbai this Sat Early AM.

thanks
dan

Dr Funkenstein

I disagree about Elephanta - I think it's definitely worth it. If you're going to Ajanta and Ellora later it serves as a nice introduction to cave-temples; a sort of starter before the main course.

My trip to Elephanta actually convinced me to go to Ajanta/Ellora. They weren't really on my itinerary but the trip to Elephanta made me want to see more. There's a small but good little museum with some photos and info about other Deccan cave temples that really piqued my interest.

And I expect the kids will like all the monkeys.

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beach

Yep Elephanta is a trailer for AJ & ELL. The boat ride would take about 1hour one way. Spend about 2 hours in the island. If you are interested you can do a small treak to the top of the hill to see that cannon, nice views of the port etc.
Too many shops....

Elephanta Caves are closed on monday for visitors Tickets can be bought at the jetty itself (at Gate Way of India memorial).