It’s goodbye Mumbai
Tuesday 2 May – we arrived back at the majestic Taj Mahal Palace and had another lovely room, this time with no, bath but a shower with a huge window and the most magnificent view of the harbour and the Gateway!
Still being mindful of my dodgy stomach, we had a quiet afternoon relaxing in the room listening to the soothing sounds of a sitarist who was in the atrium below playing Hindustani music. A delightful and interesting dinner with a business colleague of Geoff’s completed our day.
Wednesday 3 May – an exciting day for us as this is the day we get to board Viking Mars for our Passage to India cruise. The hotel has suddenly become very busy with a lot of our fellow passengers in last night so when we went for breakfast there was a queue. The Maitre’d suggested we try the rooftop restaurant in the Taj Mahal Towers which they open for breakfast when the hotel is very busy. He even escorted us up there. We were well rewarded with the most fabulous view of the harbour from the 19th floor – and there is all her glory, we could see the Viking Mars docked in the International Cruise Terminal! You can just see her bow peeking out in the photo below.
Back to the room as we weren’t checking out until 1.30pm, Geoff had some paperwork to deal with and I wanted to get a few little supplies from the chemist and also see if I could find somewhere to buy Geoff a Panama hat for the cruise. Off I went, success in the chemist but not so much luck finding a hat. I was advised to go to the Fashion area – a line of stalls on Mahatma Gandhi road selling menswear. Off I went into the 33 degree heat, using my newly taught skills of walking into the road and putting up my hand to stop traffic which miraculously worked.
Over one crossing an Indian gentleman caught up with me and asked me where I was from, when I replied New Zealand he said he was currently living in Wellington and was back in Mumbai for two weeks as his father has been sick. He asked if I needed any help and when I told him I was looking for a Panama hat and showed him a photo of one, he said that it would be quite difficult to find in Mumbai but suggested I buy a cricket hat – after all, we are in the land of cricket fanatics and that would be a much easier purchase to make. He said it was a fair walk, but that he would accompany me and help me find the shop. So off we went – at pace for about thirty minutes until we got to the sports shop where I bought Geoff a white hat which will do the job perfectly.
By this time it was 12.30pm so I decided to take Kam Lass up on his suggestion of sharing a taxi back, he seemed such a genuine guy and like everyone we have met here, kind and helpful. He flagged down one of the yellow and black, skinny little cars and off we went. I sat in the back and admired the crocodile-effect floral coverings on the inside roof and doors, and tried not to look too hard at the traffic zooming in, and weaving around us, especially as I didn’t have a seatbelt! Another mini adventure to add to my ever growing repertoire. Geoff was thrilled with the hat, the perfect size, and now Billy Bowden has joined us on the cruise!
One thing I have forgotten to mention in previous blogs, is that over the last days on our tours, we felt a little bit like celebrities. We have seen hardly any tourists except those from other parts of India. Due to our pale skin and blonde (well sort of!) and grey hair, we have been quite the novelty and have been asked for endless photographs posing with all sorts of Indians – families, babies, teenagers etc. who have come from towns and cities outside of the capitals of the various States and never seen the likes of us “whities” before! It has been quite amusing at times.
2.30pm and we’re off to start our very exciting adventure. This is my first ship cruise and it was thrilling to arrive at the Mumbai International Cruise Terminal and see the Viking Mars in all her glory. She is part of the Norwegian line and is the newest ship in their portfolio. Launched in Malta in 2022, she is 227m long, 28m wide with a gross tonnage of 47842 gt and cost US$ 400 million. She welcomes 930 passengers and has a crew of 450. Our check-in was a breeze and within about 30 minutes we were enjoying a welcome flute of champagne and were shown into our cabin. Geoff has chosen well, he was particularly keen to have a cabin on the stern so we have a lovely view of the sea, and there are only 4 cabins across the width of the boat so it is nice and quiet too. It is beautiful! A quick trip to Guest Services followed to double-check all of our Shore Excursions and Dinner reservations and make a few more interesting bookings! More of all of this to come in later blogs!
A G&T in the breeze on the 7th deck with a delicious dinner from the World Restaurant followed, and then we retired for the night in the most comfortable bed with the most delicious sheets I have slept in.
Thursday 4 May - There will be plenty of time for me to tell you more about this beautiful boat as we sail, so I will sign off for now. We are waving goodbye to Mumbai at 6pm tonight and setting sail for Muscat in Oman where more adventure will surely await us.