The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel consists of two separate buildings - the classic Palace, which was built in 1903 and was India's first luxury hotel. Wandering through the Palace really gives one a sense of another time. Of elegance and of wealth - and a reminder of India's colonial position under the British. And it was the target of the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008 because of its symbol of India's wealth and power. There is a simple memorial to the victims of the attack in an area just off the lobby.

Around the hotel




Having tea










The elevator - loved it!



Memorial to the victims of the attack. The names of the victims are on the wall with candles for each








A perfect way to end the trip

Like it or not, the British Colonial architecture is an amazing part of the landscape of Mumbai.












Gateway of India


The Taj Palace

Thank you for more great photography from a fabulous trip. The decorations provided for your 30th were amazing!

Those are amazing photos of Mumbai, Progol. I'm beginning to think that they are the closest I'll get to India so I appreciate them all the more!

jacketwatch, the stay at the Taj Palace and Tower was a real treat - not our usual type of accommodation, but it really made the end of the trip special. I would’ve loved another day or more just to hang out and do nothing there!

annhig, thanks again! I don’t even feel I’ve done photo-justice to Mumbai - by this time, we were tired from traveling and our energy in photos wasn’t there. It’s a fascinating, chaotic city, and we enjoyed it a lot more than we expected to.

A friend of ours got us a great friends and family rate at the Hyatt Grand in KL however we were so busy running around we did not really have a chance to enjoy this beautiful property. We too would like to go back someday just for the same reason you gave for the Taj!

The Taj Palace is stunning, no two ways about that...but your photography brings it all the more alive!
Thanks for sharing such marvellous pics.

progol, I know you from the Europe forums which I frequent and stumbled upon this wonderful TR by happy chance! I�m from India, from Chennai actually, and I loved reading about your experiences, your stunning pictures bring alive the sights and colors of India. And Sri Lanka too, thanks for taking us along on your journey, I enjoyed it as much as you did!

jacketwatch - the Taj was a perfect ending to our trip. And KL sounds fascinating. Maybe someday!

vpsingh - I’m so happy you enjoyed my photos! The hotel was such a wonderful treat for us - not our normal travel experience!

geetika - I’m thrilled you enjoyed the trip report and the photos! We visited with friends in Mumbai, also originally from Chennai. I wish we had time to visit that city as well, but there are just so many places to see! So glad you enjoyed our trip to Srilatha Lanka as well (though I will admit being partial to India, with its intensity and chaos, but also it’s sensual beauty).

And a bit more touring around Mumbai...

We continued to work with Indian Panorama, who arranged a guide for a day and a driver for the remainder of our stay. Our guide, Manick, was wonderful - she had wonderful knowledge of the city and a great sense of humor, and we fully enjoyed our day with her.



We stopped by the Dhobi ghats, or open air laundry, which is still very much alive, where laundry for many of the hospitals and hotels in the city continues to be done.

I just realized I never finished my trip report from 2019! And, having read tripplanner001 ’s recent trip report, I thought it might be high time I finish this! We ended our trip in Mumbai and really loved the city despite being a large, overwhelming city. As I noted above, we had a wonderful guide, Mannick, for one day. And on the next day, though we spent it on our own, we enjoyed the trip to Elephanta Island.

Our last full day of our trip! Hard to believe we are coming to the end. Our plan for our last full day was a trip to the Elephanta Caves, a series of cave temples dedicated to Shiva located on an island about 2 km, or an hour away, from the Mumbai Port. The ferry ride was pleasant and relaxing - but the smog was startling! Everything completely disappeared in the distance!

We were followed most of the way by sea gulls but the crows “met us” on arrival and dove into the boat for food lying around. They are scarily intelligent creatures.

We loved the Elephanta Caves! Although much of it is in poor shape, we were truly surprised- the columns were harmonious in their space, evocative of Egyptian columns and unlike anything we’ve seen. And the images, carved out of the rock, were astounding and spectacular, some of the best representations of the gods, and profoundly moving.

The most remarkable sculpture is the Trimurti, a 3-headed relief of Shiva representing 3 different aspects: creation, protection, and destruction. They are powerful images, beautifully carved, and very impressive at 20 feet high!

The Trimurti



This photo should give a sense of size








Again, another photo to give a sense of size

Cave exteriors, monkey business and return to Gateway of India

We were fortunate that we had friends in Mumbai and visited them in the evening for dinner which certainly made the visit to Mumbai special. And, as I noted earlier, we were treated very well at the Taj since we were celebrating our 30th anniversary. It added a lot to our feel for the city. Our last day was spent relaxing at the pool (photos were posted earlier) a perfect end to the trip.

Last views:

At what location(s) did you take the pictures of these clay horses? (We are in the process of planning a trip to south India and have ran into several pictures of these intriguing clay horses, but so far no luck in finding the name of the locations/cities of where these are at.)

Thanks!
Henk

Wow, amazing to see this come up! The Ayyanar clay horses are really intriguing! They�re not that easy to find unless you have a driver who is familiar with the locations as most of the photos I posted were taken in a location off a road as we were driving from one place to another. There are a few at the edge of Karaikudi, Chettinad, where we were staying for a few days. But when I look at the geolocation of my photos, the data indicates they�re located in an area between Pudukkottai-Iluppur. Here�s a screenshot of the data.

Thanks Paule!