Getting to know the back streets of Mumbai....

               Leisurely start to the day---8.30am breakfast in bed!! No point in rushing---let the early morning rush hour volume ease off a little. My target today--thank you 'Lonely Planet' was the Kotachiwadi (wadi meaning hamlet).This is a small Christian enclave, surrounded by  predominant Hindi and Muslim neighbour-hoods. Noted several Christian shrines and St. Teresa's church--notable for its fresh paint and general heir of high maintenance in contrast to much of Mumbai. Vehicular traffic is not allowed in Kotachiwadi's narrow streets of formerly elegant, now relatively dilapidated wooden two storey homes, although noisy motor scooters seem to use the area as a shortcut.
                 Temperatures are higher today and the sun is quite fierce, so the pace of sight seeing is slow. It seems that one consumes bottled water by the litre without need of conveniences.

UNESCO rated ---Mumbai 's ornate main railway station.

              Today my mind has been moving into rail transportation mode, as tomorrow I officially commence my long rail journey around India.---Mumbai to Ahmadabad, first leg---about 8 hours travel time. Not totally sure of the standard of food service offered by India Railways, I bought packets of dry biscuits. apples and other fruit. I also took a recce to the main Mumbai rail station--Victoria Terminus. The outside of the building is 1860's colonial high ornate, looks like a European cathedral and is a listed UNESCO monument. I watched the trains roll into position and board their long distance passengers. As I had been pre-advised, the trains seem to be hundreds of metres long and the trick is to locate the correct carriage andspecific berth therein. Passenger waggons all look as if they were built in the 50's and put in 5 million miles plus! The names, gender & ages of all passengers are listed on computer run-offs pasted to the relevant carriages, along with a personal code (known as a PNR) for all individual passengers. Obviously, concern for privacy regulations has not yet overtaken Indian Railways. All quite intimidating, but I am sure that I shall master the complexities of Indian rail travel in due course.