Day 5: Sun 9 Nov 25

Sun 9 Nov 25 - Mumbai

At 06:30, Greg and I went for our early walk through a part of Churchgate that has a lot of grand old buildings that are now dilapidated and appear vacant. Apparently, a restrictive Rent Control Act, complex redevelopment challenges, disputes over ownership, and the high cost of repairs for old heritage structures are the reasons. Many tenanted properties have rents that have been frozen at very low pre-1940s and 1970s rates, leaving landlords with little or no income to invest in maintenance and structural repairs, leading to gradual decay and a lack of interest in upkeep.

It was a beautiful clear 21 Deg morning, and not hazy as it has been since we arrived likely due to being a Sunday and therefore generally less pollution. After breakfast we met with our tour operator Mike, and his team outside the hotel to set up and test ride our bikes for the ride to Goa which starts tomorrow. My bike is a brand new - freshly unwrapped Polygon Hard Tail MTB with 29" wheels and a single front chain ring, which should do the job nicely. After we were set up on the bikes we left them behind, and Greg, Dogan, Ken and I walked to Cafe Pret a Manger for our morning brew. By now the temperature had reached balmy 30 Deg, but not too uncomfortable walking around. From are coffee fill, we walked about 2km to find a memorial to commemorate the victims of the November 2008 Mumbai Terrorist attacks in the Colaba area of South Mumbai. It took a lot to find, because it is actually located on the roof of a five story House (Nariman House). The building was one of the sites of the terror attacks, and six of its occupants, including a Rabi and his wife, who was six months pregnant, were killed. Their two-year-old son Moshe survived the attack after being rescued by his Indian nanny. Once inside the building after showing copies of our passports, the security guard took us to the roof to show us the memorial, then walked us down the stairs into the apartment where the shootings took place. Significant and graphic damage from the terrorist attacks and Indian Special Forces action is very evident in the rooms. A very sobering experience, and hard to believe that is is almost 17 years since it happened. Satisfied finally finding the memorial, we all walked back to Pret a Manger for a change in diet from Indian cuisine to a baguette for lunch, then we returned to the hotel for a rest and quiet afternoon out of the heat. At 5:30pm the cycle group met at the hotel entrance then walked a couple of kms to dinner and back past the Chhatrapati Shiva Terminus Railway Station (one of the most populated railway stations in the world and site of one of the multiple terrorist attacks in 2008). All I can say is the meal was not worth the walk, but seeing the Railway Station lit up at night, and experiencing the massive crowds out shopping at what appeared to be thousands of market stalls was interesting. Tomorrow, we have an early start at 05:30am to beat the city traffic and leave Mumbai behind on the bikes.

The Flora Fountain

Street food stalls before hours

Sleeping arrangements for those same street food operators

Some very labour intensive recycling

Preparations already beginning for the day

Some help cleaning the dishes

More recycling

A wonderful heritage building in relatively good condition

Wonderful architecture

The most over the top start to a bike ride that I've ever seen - not even a race, just a short bike ride around the streets. Good to see the activity anyway.

Wonderful architecture

Churchgate Streets

Wonderful Buildings

Couldn't find out anything about this building

Quiet Churchgate Streets and wonderful old buildings

Wonderful old buildings

A quiet morning in Churchgate

Wildlife taking over the building

A wonderful grand looking old building

Our hotel gatekeepers

Backstreets of Colaba near the Terrorist Attack Memorial

Nariman House (centre building), one of the sites of the Mumbai Terrorist attacks in 2008

Story Board

Kuber Boat:

On 21/11/2008, 10 terrorists left pakistan in a small boat, and headed towards India. The terrorists hijacked the "kuber" - an Indian fishing boat, they killed the four crew members, throwing their bodies overboard, and forced the captain to sail to India. On the 26/11, when they were 7 km away from the Mumbai shore, the terrorists killed the captain, and headed towards Colaba in inflatable speedboats. They then split into 5 groups to commit their terrorist attacks on pre-planned targets including planting bombs in local taxis.

Chhatrapati Shiva Terminus Railway Station:

CST railway station is the headquarters of central railway. More than 3.5 million passengers pass through the station every day - one of the most crowded train stations in the world. On 26/11, around 21:30 two terrorists armed with rifles entered the passenger hall, and opened fire. The attackers killed about 58 people and wounded about 104 others. The attack lasted for 90 minutes. They then left the station and headed to the Cama hospital, where they attempted to attack but were unable to enter. frustrated they hijacked a car and drove towards Marine drive, where they were stopped by the police. After a shoot out with a few casualties including the killing of 1 terrorist, Kasab was captured.

Oberoi- Trident Hotel:

The hotel has two wings, Oberoi and the Trident, together they have 877 rooms. At about 22:00,two terrorists entered Trident hotel through the main entrance and started firing indiscriminately, they crossed over to the Oberoi and sprayed bullets into the restaurant. The terrorists moved to the upper floors of the Oberoi, killing guests and hotel staff that came their way. They laid siege on the 16 and 18 floors, where they kept many guests hostage .The Indian Commandos stormed the Oberoi hotel, and at around 11:30 on Friday, 28/11 they managed to free the first batch of hostages. By 2:30 p.m.., it was over, the terrorists were killed, and security forces began combing the hotel looking for people trapped during the fighting. In total 32 of its staff and guests were killed by the terrorists in a three-day siege.

Tai Mahal Palace Hotel:

The Tai Hotel came under attack at about 21:30 on 26/11. The terrorists entered the hotel Through the restaurant and started pumping bullets into the gathered crowd. Six explosion were reported - one in the lobby, two in the elevators, three in the restaurant. Firefighters rescued 200 hostages from windows using ladders during the first night. The image of the front dome of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, filled with smoke and fire, became one of the visual icons of this terror attack in Mumbai. The hotel was stormed by the Indian Commandos and all four attackers were killed by the morning of 28/11. 32 people were killed in the 3 day siege by four armed terrorists."

Leopold Café:

Leopold Café and bar was established in 1871 in the Colaba area and is one of the city's iconic restaurants, both for travelers as well as locals. On 26/11 the terrorists attacked the Leopold Café and opened fire in the dining hall-killing about 12 people in an attack which lasted about 15 minutes. After the attack the terrorists headed to the Tai mahal Palace Hotel.

Nariman House:

On 26/11, at 21:30, 2 terrorists stormed the Nariman House, home to Chabad of Mumbai and opened fire. On the 2nd floor they murdered Rabbi and Mrs. Holtzberg along with 2 of their guests. They then took 2 women hostage on the 4th floor. The Indian commandos fought the terrorists in a 3 day battle, on Friday, November 28, the handlers in Pakistan ordered them to murder the 2 hostages, the siege ended that evening with the death of 1 commando and both terrorists. In total 7 people were murdered by the terrorists. Moishy the Holtzberg's two-year-old child ,was sleeping in his baby crib on the 5th floor- at the beginning of the attack 14 hours into the attack his Nanny Sandra was making her escape from her hiding place in the storage room of the first floor restaurant. When she reached the staircase she heard Moishv crying from upstairs. Moishy had jumped out of his crib and miraculously descended the stairs unharmed by the terrorists. His nanny Sandra, found him on the 2nd floor beside his parents bodies. The Nanny immediately grabbed him and ran out of the house, saving his life.