The second tour yesterday was Panoramic Mumbai, and it went to several very interesting places: the Victoria Station (again), the house where Ghandi lived for several years, the ghats where the washermen do their washing, the Queen's Necklace (the seafront promenade where residents of Mumbai go to walk in the evening or meet friends, or whatever. We also went to the Prince of Wales Museum (now called Chhantrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghrlaya Museum), and finished up back at the Gateway to India, where the start of a really good party was taking place.

The house where Ghandi lived (called Mani Bhavan) was extremely interesting: it is now a museum dedicated to Ghandi’s life and teachings. We saw the room where he lived (very Spartan and practical), the balcony he talked to crowds from, and several letters he wrote to heads of state, including President Roosevelt and Hitler. The room gave real insight into the man – there was even a hand loom: he taught himself how to weave. There is a floor with many dioramas depicting significant events in Ghandi’s life, which is very interesting and instructive. The museum, and also the guide, emphasized the fact that Ghandi came from a very well-to-do family (for instance, they had the funds to send him to England for his education) although he chose to live quite simply.

When we came out of the Ghandi museum, it was obvious that Holi, especially the throwing of colors, was in full swing. Nearly everyone we saw was streaked with red and maybe blue and green colors. As we were driving to the next site, the Queen’s Necklace, we passed a street vendor who was selling the colors that everyone was throwing. At the promenade, we stopped for a photo opportunity, and got pictures of many people who had obviously begun celebrating.

Our next stop was the ghats for the washermen of Mumbai. The guide explained that it was men, not women, who took in washing, because they had to go to people’s houses to pick up and deliver the laundry, and it was not considered seemly for women to go to the houses of strangers. The ghats had a lot of people there, but they were not washing clothes, they were washing the colors off themselves. Still, we got good pictures of the areas, and there were clothes drying, etc.

Next we went to the Prince of Wales Museum (sorry, I can never remember its new name, let alone spell it). We had about an hour to walk through it and absorb the exhibits. I looked at the archaeology hall, which had information about the history of the area, and many artifacts depicting gods and goddesses. They also had a wing with Tibetan artifacts, which I enjoyed greatly. The last wing I looked at was the mythology, particularly the mythology pertaining to Krishna. They had a book that was so interesting that I bought a copy of it in the bookstore.

Our last stop was back at the Gateway to India, which was now completely crowded with people in vehicles, on foot, and in boats. Someone was throwing colors in the water, and two buses came through with people who had lots of balloons and were singing and yelling to the crowds below. The horse-drawn carriages were all decorated with flowers, and everyone was having a great time. I was exhausted, however, and glad to see the bus come so I could go back to the ship and David and dinner (I had eaten nothing since breakfast).