Bandra

Tuesday & Wednesday, 11 & 12 April, 2017

We enjoy visiting the Bandra area of Mumbai. Officially a “suburb”, it is now in the thick of the metro area. It’s an interesting place to walk around and enjoy the ambiance of an old Portuguese colony that has now been overtaken by high-rise apartment buildings and enormous Bollywood “bungalows”. There’s also plenty of shopping to be had here -- from street stalls for clothing and shoes to very upscale specialty boutiques.

The Taj Lands End Hotel in Bandra is a great place to spend a few days. As the name implies, it’s at the end a small peninsula that forms the north side of Mahim Bay.

We had a great view of Mahim Bay and the Sea Link toll booths from our hotel window.

The Bandra-Worli Sea Link bridge. Completed in 2010, it saves 30 to 60 minutes when driving to the southern parts of Mumbai.

The Taj Lands End is at the southern end of the Bandra “Bandstand”, which not a music venue, but a 1+ km long promenade along the Arabian Sea. It’s very popular for exercise in the early morning and evening.

It was a very hot day -- near 95°F (36°C), but the intense humidity made it feel much warmer.

The sea shore here is very rocky.

An old fishing village survives along the shore amidst the high-rises of modern Mumbai.

Fishing boats. At low tide these are high and dry!

I liked the multiple layers of palm tree shadows on the marble exterior of the Taj.

This doesn’t fit here, but it doesn’t fit anywhere else, either.

This high-rise apartment building is on the east side of NH8 north of the airport. I don’t remember seeing it before, but clearly it’s been there a while. I’m not sure if this is a single unit (the top terrace suggests that), or whether it expands the adjacent flats.