Mumbai!

I am currently reading Shantaram and so was excited to visit the city in which the book is set. Gregory David Roberts describes the first time he ever reached Mumbai (or Bombay as it was then) and how he smelt freedom and it was wonderful, but to be honest the first thing that I smelt was poo. 
On the day of our arrival we visited an art gallery and wandered around the city, drinking beer whilst watching cricket at a local sports centre before going out for a nice meal. 
The next day we decided to take a trip to Dhiravi; the slum area in which the film Slumdog Millionaire was filmed. It is absolutely huge and so we didn't explore too deep, but were surprised at how the area functions so well. Jonny was the only one to brave the public toilets, yet reported back that they were some of the cleanest he has seen in India. Despite this, it was very shocking to see the conditions that some people grow up in; watching young children running around playing with rubbish on the street wearing nothing whatsoever apart from a t-shirt. We also saw some of the toilets used in the film, dropping straight over the river. I have used some disgusting toilets on my travels, but all safe in the knowledge I can return home to a lovely clean white loo. These people don't have this luxury. 
The next day we took a trip to Elephanta Island to see the ancient caves built into the hillside by monks, some over a thousand years ago. It was a nice day out, however a bit of a tourist trap where we were constantly having to pay more and more each step of the way. It also gets annoying when most tourist attractions charge foreign visitors so much more than Indians. We were charged 250 rupees whilst Indians pay just 10. I'm happy to pay a bit more, yet to pay the equivalent of 25 Indian people's entry seems a bit over the top.
When the ferry got back to the mainland we visited the bar Leopolds; written about in Shantaram for some beers and chicken before our night bus to Ahmedabad. 
When we arrived for the bus it turned out it was delayed by over an hour leaving us stood next to an overflowing bin. The smell was unbelievable. I was angry yet felt bad to complain as we were stood where the travel office was situated. The people organising our travel had to put up with the smell every day.
When the bus finally arrived we were very happy to leave Mumbai.