I like betel nuts. These things give you a mix between the feeling of a nicotine buzz and a concussion. I decided to open a pack to chew on and roam the streets, which makes me feel more at home in this strange place. The street vendors proved entertaining and all along the way the British architecture drew my interest but eventually I found my way to the edge of the slum and was overtaken by the smell of trash and poverty.
The Gate's pretty popular, definitely a touristy type thing. Within 1 minute out of the cab I was ambushed by business people on the street. They offered to clean my ears, tried to sell me weed, or would try to just follow me and ask me questions and then beg for money for the "help" they had just given me. It seamed that darting into traffic across the street helped me evade them, insults helped also. I was able to get in and get some good pics though, and then even made it over to the Taj Mahal Hotel for a drink!
I was lead into a nice British looking neighborhood where I ran across this famous guys house. From what I could gather he's like the Rosa parks of India, he also suffered from an eating disorder and was an extreme minimalist.
There were some good trees here in front of his house.
I went out today and took some pictures of the area immediately around
where I'm staying in Mumbai. While I snapped photos here and there, I encountered dozens of wild dogs
roaming the street and packs of persistent rickshaws in a frenzy to
grab my attention. The sight of the extreme poverty, smell of raw sewage, and sound of construction brought on a bit of culture shock in my already jet lagged brain.
Here's a more run down area at the end of the road.
