Your half-day journey begins at the pier where you’ll board your motorcoach and drive into Mumbai, past the Town Hall, a heritage building that houses the Asiatic Library and features a collection of 800,000 antique volumes, including a priceless first edition copy of Dante’s Inferno.You’ll drive past the Municipal Corporation building, the Central Telegra ph Office and the magnificent Gothic-style Victoria Terminus, one of the busiest railway stations in India. The first train in India started from this stati on in 1853. Today, it has been renamed the Chhatr apati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, after India’s lege ndary national hero(1630-1680). Then stop for a photo opportunity at Dhobi Ghat. Known as the w orld’s largest outdoor launderer, here washers or “dhobis” scrub the laundry for many of Mumb ai’s businesses and citizens despite the advent of the automatic washing machine.
You’ll next board a local train for a brief ride to Churchgate Station, the terminus of Western Railways. Local trains are the lifelines of the city, carrying as many as a milli on people to work each day. Upon your arrival at the Churchgate station, view the activities of “Dabbawalas” outside the station known for their accurate delivery of freshly cooked food in lunch containers to thousands of people who reside in the suburbs of Mumbai to their workplaces in the city, including returning the empty containers to the customers’ residences. This task has become a highly specialized industry that has been going on for over a century now, and a fixture in the lives of Mumbai’s people.
Next, you’ll visit Crawford Market, the wholesale produce bazaar, to take in the bustling scene and watch as vendor’s wheel and d eal while a cornucopia of exotic and domestic fruits and vegetables are bandied about. Afterwards, you’ll board your motorcoach and pass through the Gateway of India. The iconic yellow basalt triumphal arch was built to celebrate the visit of King George V for the 1911 Delhi Durbar, marking the coronation of the King and Queen of the United Kingdom. Stop for a brief photo opportunity b efore returning to the pier.
Duration Activities
From To Places Visited, OR Activities
1100 1120 Depart pier for Dabbawalas at Churchgate station.
1120 1150 Arrive & visit Dabbawalas at Churchgate
1150 1206 Walk to Chu rchgate Station
1206 1216 Board a local Train for Mahalakshmi
1216 1250 Arrive & visit Dhobhi Ghat for a photo stop
1250 1320 Depart to Crawford Market
1320 1350 Arrive & Visit Crawford Market
1350 1425 Depart to Gateway of India en-route drive past via
CST Station and Mumbai
Municipal Corporation Building
1425 1440 Arrive & visit Gateway of India for a photo stop
1440 1500 Depart to pier
1500 – Arrive at pier
