Three Places to visit in Mumbai – The Real Ones

Mumbai is among the strongholds of culture, history, art and entertainment in India. The financial capital of India, has a whole lot of items that make for a heavenly holiday. There are a good number of places to visit in Mumbai that makes for a complete Mumbai experience. The main sights and monuments are certainly not to be missed, but there are certain aspects of MInbai, that is no visible on the surface, and one has to dig deeper to get a glimpse of these. How will any tourist imagine the slums of Dharavi, when looking at the marvelous Gothic and Victorian structures in the city center? Will he know the real Mumbai, or the real Mumbaikar if he stays in the comfort of his luxury hotel?

If you have read the “Shantaram” by Gregory David Roberts, there certainly is a lt to larn with respect to traveling anywhere. Mumbai of the time described in the book is a world apart from the Mumbai of now, but no less intriguing, no less thrilling. There are interesting travel places that should be visited to get a complete update on Mumbai and its culture. A good way of getting a glimpse of the real Mumbai would be to get a guide that would show you the real sites, like in the book, and make sure that he is trustworthy.

There are a whole lot of places to visit in Mumbai that are not visited by the run of the mill tourists. The loss is certainly their alone, as the real taste of Mumbai was lost to them. The culture and way of life of Mumbai’s millions of inhabitants were not discovered by these. There are a good number of such locations that would be a whole new experience. A word of caution though, although a majority of Indians are among the friendliest people in the world, and the most honest, and non violent and all of that, but Mumbai is actually known for having all kinds, and always carry youer common sense with you.

1 ) Take a Train Ride and visit the suburbs of Mumbai
Taking a trip in a packed local railway coach in the peak hours to the suburbs is a total Mumbai experience. Although not for the faint hearted nor the frail bodied, the experience is certainly worth it. You certainly feel like a tightly packed sardine in the compartments, and the air certainly wont be fit to breathe, but it feels so good when you get off… may be that would be incentive enough.

2 ) Go to Dharavi
Slum Tourism may be frowned upon by people, but it certainly brings in a lot of benefits to the economy here, and it is certainly an experience, sometimes heartening, to see such love and joy being shared in such closed confines. Sometimes sordid, but definitely Mumbai.

3 ) Go to Chor Bazaar
Chor Bazaar literally means thief market, and everything under the sun can be soyrced here at ridiculously low prices. You certainly need to be careful here, and be accompanied by a guide. Chor Bazaar is Certainly among the most exciting places to visit in Mumbai.