Moving Mumbai

The two months of stay in the business capital of India has been just fantastic. The city rocks and so do the people. The impressionist slogan in The Times of India

A city so polluted, you don't see stars in the night

A city so talented, you see stars in the day light

are words of observation, and observation is what this blog is all about. So let the balls rolling ...

If you plan to settle down in mumbai or are on a vacation, this blog might save you a few bucks and some very precious time (Places in mumbai are distance apart).

If you are looking for the tourist attraction, get your hands on any of those dusty local travel books and if you are looking for how to get there, you punched in the write keywords in the address bar.

Mumbai connects through its local train system(click for the map), which functions from 4 a.m. to 2 a.m. at regular frequency of 15 minutes and connect to most places in the city. There are three tracks namely the western (Churchgate to Borivali via mumbai central, dadar, bandra, andheri), central(Mumbai CST to Thane via dadar, kurla) and harbor(CST to Panvel via wadala, kurla,Vashi). So if you in for a ride in the locals, make sure you are waiting on the right platform. Getting into one of the trains can be quite a job ( I prefer avoiding locals from 9-11 a.m and 5-8 p.m. ). Even the locals have reserved coaches, so make sure you have the right tickets ... and yeah the first class costs 10 times more than usual, so an autorickshaw or taxi is a better option.

There is a system of fast(halts only at major stations) and slow locals as well, so confirm the right one for urself and please take caution and remember about your safety.

Every station has two outlets (east and west), so make the right exit, or you may end up paying 20-30 bucks extra to the autorickshaw vala.

Bus system courtesy BEST is equally good and covers most of the places, but takes a bit extra time and money, but if you know the Bus no. you are supposed to take, I suggest you opt for a BEST.

AutoRickshaw and Taxi, the expensive and better mode of transport is all around mumbai. There are places where auto's are not allowed, so if you can see only taxis around, do not hunt for an auto there. All of them equipped with meters, which show the readings in points charged against a list(paper) of fares which should always insist on seeing before paying. The minimum for an auto is Rs 9 and Rs. 13 for a taxi. ( but it may vary w.r.t to place, so always insist on the fare-list to save from cheating.)

Now the craziest tip !

Do not use the MH-03 series of auto rickshaw(if possible). There meters run faster than others.

I hope the blog's some help, for more information refer to local residents, or mail me at anteshbansal@gmail.com