Introduction
The national musical instrument of India is not the sitar, nor is it the tabla drums. No, it is the car horn, the motorbike horn, the truck horn and the bus horn.
Everywhere you go, you are accompanied by the sound of these. It is not angry or aggressive. It is not macho in the Italian way; it is simply them all saying, “I’m coming past, don’t change your line.”
I wouldn’t want to drive there, but when you get used to it, you learn to trust your driver and realise that, while there are no real rules on the road, everyone obeys them anyway.
I spent the week of 5th to 11th August on a short tour of Mumbai and the Pondicherry (Puducherry) region, courtesy of Chai Rose Travels.
Full disclosure, I am married to one of the Directors and this was my birthday treat, as well as being a useful opportunity to experience these elements of the tour first-hand.
Arriving in Mumbai
I took the evening BA flight from Heathrow. I was lucky enough to be upgraded to World Traveller Plus and, despite the slight but negligible disappointment at still never having had a window seat on a Dreamliner, this was a major boon for a night flight.
I arrived at Mumbai airport on time. It has certainly changed in the 20 or so years since I was last there, being now a modern and efficient terminal where one can pass through easily.
One note to remember: stop at the biometric capture machines on the way to immigration.
Rather than having the driver offered as standard by Chai Rose Travels, I had decided to get a taxi through Uber.
It was Uber Jim, but not as we know it. Instead, you book it and then simply join a queue in a car park, where you show the booking reference to the driver to confirm that you have paid.
The cars look small and a bit tatty on the outside, but mine was scrupulously clean and tidy inside and the driver was perfectly competent.
I did also get myself in a bit of a tangle as the app instructed me to join the queue in car park 5. Car park 5 does not exist and it is actually 6, though this is well signposted as the Uber queue.
A Warm Welcome at The Oberoi
I arrived at The Oberoi at just the same time as Tracey, who had flown into the other airport after working through another tour.
And wow! The Oberoi — what a welcome.
I have travelled a fair bit in my time and stayed in some great hotels, but I have never been made to feel quite so special and welcome.
The bedroom had also been decorated with balloons and a most delicious cake in honour of my impending birthday.
As the tour proper was actually starting the next day, Tracey and I decided to make use of the pool. The staff there continued with the stupendous level of service, providing us with complimentary juice, presented along with a spritz spray and individual miniature bottles of sun cream.
Exploring Mumbai on Our First Evening
For dinner, Plan A had been to go to the famous Leopold Café, but we were not able to book a table at short notice.
We started with a cocktail at the hotel. I had an excellent Old Fashioned and Tracey explained to the waitress what sort of thing she was in the mood for. The waitress immediately suggested one that was not on the menu and which absolutely hit the spot.
After that, we were picked up by the car that Chai Rose Travels had provided, with our driver, and went to the Olympia Café, which is opposite the Leopold.
This was nice, simple street food and I had a straightforward masala chicken with chapati, eaten with one’s hands and quite delicious.
We then went across to the Leopold and found that we got a table quite easily in the end and had a drink there.
The Leopold, along with the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and the Trident Hotel, which is next to and part of The Oberoi, was one of the sites of the 2008 terror attacks, being a popular haunt of foreign tourists at the time.
It was good to visit it as a landmark, but generally a bit underwhelming as a venue in its own right.
The driver then took us back to the hotel, where we had a nightcap and repaired to our room, where we had an excellent and comfortable night’s sleep.
From Mumbai to Pondicherry
Breakfast maintained the immaculate standard of service. The young waiter who served us could not have done more and appeared delighted every time we ordered something.
The driver picked us up at the due time and took us to the airport for the next part of our adventure.
This time it was to the domestic terminal, where we were catching an IndiGo flight to Chennai, formerly Madras.
Again, the airport was easy, but my one gripe was that to get onto the Wi-Fi, one needed either an Indian mobile number or an international boarding pass.
First-world problems, eh?
I was mentally braced for the IndiGo experience to be awful, but it turned out to be anything but.
The cabin staff were excellent and even called me by name when giving me the pre-booked sandwich.
At arrivals, we were met by a local representative of Chai Rose Travels and our driver, Balasundar.
From Chennai, the drive to Pondicherry took around three hours.
Balasundar’s car was clean and roomy and he had provided bottled water and KitKats for the journey.
Pondicherry is officially now called Puducherry as part of the great renaming that took place, and the road signs on the way use that version, but either is acceptable and understood.
Discovering Pondicherry
Our hotel was the Palais de Mahe. This is a small hotel of just 18 bedrooms in the French (seafront) quarter.
We were given a lovely warm welcome at reception with jasmine garlands and shown to our room on the first floor.
The room was huge, with separate sleeping and sitting areas.
Once again, I was provided with a delicious cake in advance of my birthday. I was definitely starting to get to like that, even if I was worrying whether my belt could cope.
The hotel has a nice pool in the courtyard that runs through the middle. This gave it the feeling of being in a Balinese villa, though on a bigger scale.
After settling in, we met up with Balasundar and our guide, Raj, for a tour of the town.
This included a visit to the house where Sri Aurobindo and Mirra Alfassa, known as Mother, lived and held meditations.
The house is still active and we were able to look around, though with a strict rule of silence.
Mother’s story recurs later too.
The tour mostly focused on the French Quarter and we visited a Hindu temple dedicated to Ganesh.
This was especially enhanced as Raj was engaging with the rituals there and also explaining what he was doing and the meanings behind them.
The temple was, in fact, a fantastic and fascinating place with so much life and vibrancy, quite in contrast to the more Western religions.
We also visited a church in the Tamil Quarter while a service was in progress. The service was conducted in Tamil and did have a decidedly Indian feel to it.
An Evening at Palais de Mahe
We decided to stay in the hotel for dinner.
We started with a cocktail in the bar room — are you detecting a theme here?
The hotel makes its own bitters, which they use in the cocktails and which gives them some interesting signature cocktails, though the standards are also available, of course.
Dinner was excellent, though interrupted by having to move inside from the terrace due to a monsoon storm.
The move was handled very efficiently by the staff and our table was still next to the outside.
I love the sound of a tropical rainstorm and the feeling you get from being close to it, though of course not actually being in it myself.
A Visit to Auroville
The next day, after a good breakfast, we headed off to Auroville.
This was, as promised, the continuation of Mirra Alfassa’s work and her legacy.
Auroville was a concept that she built as a dedicated place for people to live and meditate.
It was founded with participants from many different countries, with a specific ethos of being international, and the foundation was laid with soil from all the countries of the initial participants.
The centrepiece is a giant gold dome — yes, real gold — which is a dedicated space for meditation.
They were also in the process of building a large moat around it for security.
Privacy is highly protected and we had no access except for the visitor centre and a viewing point.
Only people who can demonstrate a commitment to meditation are allowed in the dome.
We asked Raj how the residents were selected, to which he answered, “First they pay.”
Altogether, it was a bit underwhelming compared to the rest of the wonders in India and, call me cynical, it did make me think it was a bit Disneyland for hippies.
A Relaxed Afternoon in Pondicherry
After a swim back at the hotel, Tracey and I went for an unescorted walk around the local area.
We enjoyed walking by the seafront and there was a hive of activity, with children in school or cadet uniforms practising marching and drills ahead of the national day on the 15th.
It was then rinse and repeat for cocktails and dinner and off to bed.
We needed to leave for the airport the following day before the scheduled time for breakfast, and the hotel kindly offered to let us have breakfast early.
Back to Mumbai
The next day, after breakfast, it was back in Balasundar’s car and off to the airport and the IndiGo flight back to Mumbai.
We were again met by the local Chai Rose Travels representative and our driver, Sheshi, who took us to the JW Marriott, Juhu.
This was everything that you would expect from the flagship marque of such a major hotel group.
The hotel was being partly renovated, so one wing was closed.
Our room was right at the end of the corridor away from the lifts. It was a very comfortable and well-appointed room and we had a great sea view.
In the afternoon, we availed ourselves of the large swimming pool and had some relaxation time, knowing the guided tours would be continuing the next day.
Of course, we then had our customary cocktail before dinner.
These were excellent and the young mixologist, Klayne, really knew his stuff and was friendly and helpful while serving.
While we fancied eating in the Kerala Kitchen over the road, we were too late to book a table, so booked for the following night and had the buffet in the hotel.
The buffet was excellent, with a wide range of cuisines catered for and all superbly cooked.
Exploring Mumbai’s Cricket, Heritage and Culture
After a very good night’s sleep and following the very good breakfast buffet, Sheshi picked us up and took us to meet Noshir, our guide for Mumbai.
Today’s first stop was the Wankhede Stadium, where we had a tour and learned all about the history and the stars of cricket from Mumbai.
I really enjoyed this and it was very interesting being able to compare it to the tour of Lord’s that I had taken the previous year.
One notable point of difference is that the home dressing room has a separate annex with a shrine to Ganesh, to bring luck.
Funnily enough, the visitors’ dressing room, while also very well appointed, does not.
Noshir then took us on a tour of some of the major sights in Mumbai, focusing on the UNESCO heritage places such as the Chhatrapati Shivaji (Victoria) Terminus, which is a great example of Victorian Gothic architecture, as well as the areas exhibiting this and the Art Deco buildings along the Queen’s Necklace.
We also visited the house where Mahatma Gandhi stayed when he was in Mumbai, which is now a museum, and learned about him and his life.
Noshir is extremely passionate about Mumbai and presents the city with verve and elan. It is difficult not to catch his enthusiasm.
He also showed us the biggest outdoor laundry in the world, where many businesses and hotels bring their washing.
Then it was back to the hotel and some more pool time before getting ready for the evening, starting, of course, with the obligatory cocktail. Klayne was still on good form.
We then braved crossing the road to the Kerala Kitchen.
This proved to be an excellent meal and we were glad we had booked.
My only slight complaint was that the portions were, if anything, a bit too large.
Yes, I am struggling to find anything to complain about.
Discovering Dharavi and Mumbai’s Dabbawallas
After breakfast on Monday, we checked out of the hotel and Sheshi took us to meet Noshir on the outskirts of Dharavi.
Dharavi is the famous slum of Mumbai and is regarded as the most crowded in India, with a population of over a million people in an area of approximately two square kilometres.
Dharavi is not just a place to live, but it is crammed full of micro-enterprises covering pottery, clothing, leather and recycling and generates more than a thousand million US dollars of revenue annually.
It is also the outsourced manufacturer for many international and domestic brands.
I do wonder how they feel now, as it is very much on the tourist trail and all the TV travel programmes showing Mumbai have it as one of the places they visit.
It is also different from the other slums there, which do not have the same type of industry and are just homes. These are not included on the tourist route.
Saying that, though, I should emphasise that, whilst you are often approached by beggars asking for money or food, I never once felt unsafe or threatened while there.
It was here that I encountered my biggest gripe of the whole trip, and it had nothing to do with India.
As we were flying the next day, I wanted to check in for our flight.
The BA app, however, did not actually display the seat map on my Android phone.
Therefore, as Tracey and I had booked our flights separately, I was not able to sit us together.
Come on BA, sort yourselves out.
While I am about it, come on BA, how about a better selection of meals in economy?
Chicken curry with rice, or vegetable curry with rice?
Hardly a choice, especially as passengers with specific dietary requirements can order specific meals, including Asian vegetarian, Halal, etc.
We had planned to see the Dabbawallas setting up their morning run to deliver lunch, but as we did not have enough time following the Dharavi visit, we instead saw them organising the afternoon returns.
The Dabbawallas are a group who provide a delivery service from home to office and back again for lunches.
There are no computers, but they almost never make any mistakes and, in fact, operate at a Six Sigma level of accuracy.
Learning About Mumbai’s Parsi Heritage
For lunch, and to satisfy Tracey’s cravings for Pani Puri, we went up to the Hanging Gardens and enjoyed a pleasant walk around.
Noshir is also very serious about his religion; he is a Parsi and explained the history and meanings of the different types of temple and levels.
We visited a Parsi temple, though we were not allowed in as it was only open to Parsis and Iranian Zoroastrians.
We learned about how the Parsis had arrived after being chased out of Persia and it was amazing to hear how old the religion was, with Zarathustra being around 600 BC.
I’m not smart enough to know Nietzsche, but I did have Richard Strauss going round my head for a while.
The Gateway of India and Taj Mahal Palace
Finally, we went to see the Gateway of India and Noshir told us all about its history.
This was the last stop on our tour as it was right next to our final hotel, the Taj Mahal Palace.
This is a famous and historic hotel and is considered the grandest hotel in Mumbai. It also achieved some extra, if unwanted, fame as the scene of one of the 2008 terror attacks shown in the film Hotel Mumbai.
We were warmly welcomed by the staff, though it was very busy, and shown to our room in the Palace wing.
This was beautifully furnished and decorated with balloons and another cake.
This was actually my birthday this time.
We had our customary swim before cleaning up and our also customary cocktail, then met the Chai Rose Travels representative in the lobby, who had arranged for us to have dinner at the Khyber Restaurant on MG Road.
The meal was delicious and the service excellent, and it was a nice way to finish our tour.
Saying Goodbye to India
After breakfast and checking out the following morning, the local Chai Rose Travels representative and Sheshi came to take us to the airport.
And we sadly had to say goodbye to India and our wonderful time there.
Special thanks to Noshir, Raj and all the local representatives and drivers who made everything so easy, and to all the wonderful hotel staff who gave such great levels of service.
Chai Rose Travels will organise great tours for anyone wanting to go, and I know I am one who wants to return.
About the Author
Alex Kan shares his personal experience travelling through Mumbai and Pondicherry with Chai Rose Travels, offering an honest first-hand account of the hotels, guides, food, culture and experiences encountered during his journey.