After a tiring first day in Mumbai, where I saw Gateway of India and Elephanta Caves just a few hours after landing in Mumbai, I had a good night’s sleep and felt well-rested. I was staying at Pals Hotel in Parel.
I went downstairs to have breakfast. It’s a very basic buffet, so don’t expect too much at this hotel.
There was some poha, thepla (both Gujarati dishes), corn flakes, and tea. It was enough to get rid of hunger, that’s all.
The disgusting sight of gutkha spit stains. It’s everywhere in Mumbai — inside or out! Yes, this was by the stairs in the hotel 🤮
I went back to my room and did my work for a couple of hours. I didn’t really have anything planned to go see today so after I finished my work, I decided to head to Phoenix Palladium Mall — Mumbai’s most famous mall.
This is what Pals Hotel looks like from the outside
I hailed an Uber as it only cost ₹169.91 to get there.
Just as with food, I’m shocked to see Uber cost a lot less in Mumbai than Bengaluru! I didn’t know how to get to Phoenix Palladium using public transport and the car ride only took some 20 minutes.
There are a lot of buildings like this all over Mumbai. Shops below, housing above.
Some buildings make way for newer establishments
Street food is so common in Mumbai — can’t blame the locals. It’s so cheap and good.
This is the Phoenix Palladium mall — Mumbai’s most famous mall
Palladium is not Mumbai’s biggest, that would be Phoenix Marketcity in Kurla, but Palladium is the premier mall in what is considered ‘downtown Mumbai’.
After arriving in Mumbai before sunrise and not being able to check-in online, I decided to visit Gateway of India just as the sun was coming up. I was contemplating whether or not to go back to Pals Hotel to try and check-in but if my room was not ready, I would have to step out again.
So I decided to just finish my sightseeing for the day by going for the Elephanta Caves tour early in the morning itself. The tickets for the tour are sold inside a small complex housing different tour agencies near the Gateway of India itself.
I bought a return ticket for ₹260 ($3/€2.6)
The first ferry sets off from Gateway of India to Elephanta Island (also called Gharapuri) 9AM onwards, and the last ferry leaves Elephanta Island at 5.30pm to return to Gateway of India. Elephanta Caves is closed on Mondays, so plan accordingly.
After purchasing the ticket, you wait near the back side of Gateway of India
One by one, boats come to the dock and leave only once enough tourists fill up each the boat
It took about 30mins for the boat I was assigned to fill up, so the boat did not set off sharp 9AM
We finally set off, and my boat was the first tour of the day
These are the types of boats used to ferry tourists
One of the popular activities on the Elephant Caves tour begins while on the ferry journey itself.
After not traveling anywhere in 2024, I began 2025 with a trip I had been planning for months prior. When Coldplay was going to play in Bangkok in 2024, I read rumours about the British band bringing their Music of the Spheres tour to India. So I held back from spending way too much just to go see Coldplay in Bangkok.
Tickets went live on BookMyShow on September 22, and although I struggled to purchase tickets, luckily I had a friend who got one for me. As luck would have it, the tickets arrived just a few days before I had to leave for Bangalore, and so I took the train to Calicut to meet my friend and got my entry tag.
I have already published the blog post about the Coldplay concert in Navi Mumbai, so now I’m going to begin my Mumbai series with all that I saw in the few days I spent in India’s financial capital.
Past midnight, I took an Uber to Bengaluru’s Terminal 1, which is now all domestic.
My flight was with Akasa Air
I booked with Akasa because at the time of booking, I got a fare of ₹3591 ($42/€39) including luggage and meals — which I thought was a good deal. More importantly, the flight was supposed to depart at 8:10 AM and arrive in Mumbai at 9:50AM — which I felt would have been a perfect to start my day and check-in to my hotel. Then one month prior, I get an email from Akasa Air saying due to a schedule change, my flight time was changed to depart at 3:50 AM and arrive at 5:35 AM! Grrrh 🙄
I didn’t have any check-in luggage since I crammed everything into one backpack to save time waiting for luggage
But while passing through security, I was sidelined and asked to take out an old mini mosquito bat that I was carrying. I was told that I would have to keep that in my check-in baggage because a device that can create electric shocks cannot be allowed on board. I told the guy it was old and not very strong but security wouldn’t allow it. So there, if anybody is wondering if mosquito bats are allowed in hand baggage on flights within India — the answer is no. I ‘gifted’ the security staff my old mini mosquito bat and walked to my gate.
Other than that, there were no delays and I didn’t have to take a bus to get to the airplane either
I don’t think there is a single moment when BLR airport isn’t busy nowadays
This is what counts for in-flight entertainment in a budget airline these days — a phone holder and a pull-out tray to place tablets 😊
For my meal, I pre-booked a chicken cafreal poi
Sadly it was served chilled but other than that, it tasted good. Cafreal poi is a Goan (originally Portuguese) dish — basically meat stuffed bread pockets.
