(Part 3) In India Like a Local: More Caves, More Bollywood!!

- March 27, 2018, Tuesday.

- My third day in India and last day in Mumbai was an unexpected highlight of my trip, mainly because I was running out of things to do in Mumbai. My itinerary for my last Mumbai day was finalized....just the night before!! The things I was supposed to save for my last day were already covered during the first two days. The challenge on my third day, however, was to make sure that the places I wanted to visit were more or less within the same area, and that I would make sure that I'll be able to go back to the hostel and go to the airport on time. Eventually, I chose to visit the Kanheri Caves and Mumbai Film City (Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagri), both of which are located at nearly opposite ends of the giant Sanjay Gandhi National Park in northern Mumbai. I noticed that these two are good nods at my earlier adventures in Days 1 and 2 (click here and here.)

- That early morning I went to Sanjay Gandhi Park, which is accessibl via the Borivali suburban train station and a rickshaw ride. However, as with the previous days, I just took an Uber because it's the most convenient way to go. But as mentioned in Part 1 (click here,) Uber in Mumbai sometimes isn't too reliable because of glitchy directions. I ended up being dropped off around 2 kilometers away from where I was supposed to go. The driver had already clicked on the "dropped off" button, so he couldn't drive me to the right location due to an alert for his next customer. We only found out that we were not in the right location because of a friendly and helpful local. The friendly local just told me to ride an auto-rickshaw, and it shouldn't cost much since I wasn't too far away from where I was supposed to be. Well, it was a good opportunity to finally try one of India's most well-known modes of transportation. I found out that India's auto-rickshaws have meters, but there are some dishonest drivers who will not use the meter on purpose if they see that you're a foreigner. SO ALWAYS ASK THE DRIVER TO USE THE METER.

My first ever auto-rickshaw ride!! It's quite comfy, not to mention fast!!

See the meter at the side??

- In no time at all, I found myself outside the main entrance at the northern side of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, paid the park entrance fee, and rode one of the vans near the entrance going to the Kanheri Caves (50 rupees per person). Sanjay Gandhi National Park is so huge, it's more than a hundred square kilometers huge. (It's almost as huge as the whole of Macau!!!!) It is possible to walk all the way to the caves, but it would be an endless walk to the caves (around 7 kilometers?) and there is a risk of getting lost in the jungle of a park, so it's better to take the service vans, unless you have your own private vehicle. (The park was so huge and like a jungle that there are wild deer running around.)

- The Kanheri Caves is a group of around a hundred caves around the peak of a hill, dating back to 1st century BCE to around 10th century CE. The caves are Buddhist in nature, and were used as temples, meditation rooms, kitchens, and Buddhist schools/universities. It will take around a full day to go to each cave, though not all caves are in good shape. If you have less time like I did, just go to caves 1-5, which will be the first 5 caves you'll see, and then go to caves 34 (wasn't able to see anymore but is supposed to have an unfinished ancient wall painting) and 90 (highly recommended). The guards on supervising the grounds may have other suggestions too.

Cave Number 1.

A small stupa.

Just imagine how long ago these intricate carvings were done!!

Buddhist pillar outside Cave Number 3.

Brahmi script.

Pali script.

This was around 2 stories tall.

How could they cave all these things on a rocky hill?!?!

With two Tibetan Buddhist tourists. 

Cave Number 3.

With the colors of India.

They were kind enough to let me have a photo with them.

- It takes some good knees and a lot of energy to go up and down the caves. They reminded me a lot of the ancient air temples in Avatar the Last Airbender.

Cave after cave after cave.

Cave Number 90.

This is perhaps one of my favorite caves here.

The carvings/sculptures in Cave Number 90 seem to be the most detailed and best preserved.

Hello Buddhist monk friends.

- After visiting the caves, I hurriedly caught the next van to the entrance, and rode another rickshaw to the far south of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, to Mumbai Film City in Goregaon. The closest train station is Goregaon, then a short rickshaw ride, but if coming from the northern end of the park, a direct rickshaw ride would be most practical. Film City was built in 1977 and is a large studio complex where many films and TV shows are filmed. This one of many film cities in India. Although it is not as big and colorful as Ramoji Film City, the most famous film city, in Hyderabad, this studio complex has a legacy on its own - one of its bragging rights is that most Bollywood films shoot here.

Entrance.

Ticket booth and holding area.

- Upon arriving, I was relieved to find out that I could still join the 11:30am tour since I arrived a bit late. Bookings can be done online in their website (click here), but there was some difficult booking the tour online. Thankfully, buying a ticket at the ticket booth as a walk-in participant was allowed; there are multiple guided tours around Film City daily. As usual, because I'm a foreigner, I'm subject to (way way) higher fees - but I was prepared for that, as stated clearly in their website. The guided tour, by the way, is mandatory for two reasons. First, the area is huge and it will be very easy to get lost, and second, because the film studios are still being used, and of course they want to make sure that no one will be sneaking into these closed sets (ever heard of stalkers or fanatics?)

One of the sets used for period films Bajirao Mastani and Padmavaat. (It doesn't look much because of course, there's a fence.)

For village scenes.

Where post-production editing is done.

AMITABH BACHCHAN'S CAR!!!! (Amitabh Bachchan is one of the most respected Bollywood actors for many decades now. He is loved by both old and young.)

Used as a temples.

These walls are fake; they're just sheets of cloth made to look like walls. This is so it'll be easier to change the look of the location, and so they can hide certain things like explosives (if the scene needs it) and stuff like that.

Flat houses.

Filming of a thriller series called "Kaal Bhairav."

In action!!

- As a fan of Bollywood, and having watched quite a good amount of films from the classics to the recent ones, I knew that going to Film City was a must for me. It was also not surprising to see that I was the only foreigner in our tour bus, but after our tour guide understood that I was a big Bolly fan, he immediately understood why I was there. The tours, by the way, are done in both English and Hindi by the same guide. As our bus was going around Film City, I was wide-eyed with excitement, and my mouth unceasingly agape with eagerness. These were things I only used to see on the big screen - and what makes it relatable would be the guide telling us in which (famous) film the set was used. I had seen most of the films that our guide mentioned, so I had no regrets at all.

Houses.

But are empty inside!! (Not even a room.)

This island is supposed to represent New Zealand.

The (fake) temple of every Bollywood movie everrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!! (They just repaint or tweak the design to make it look different for each film.)

When I was there, they were painting some pillars to convert the temple to a Buddhist temple.

Our very colorful bus.

Actor Saurabh Dubey.

Mohsin Khan from the series Yeh Rishta Yah Kehlata Hai (sort of like India's counterpart of "Days of Our Lives.")

- Towards the end of the tour, I got to have a free small meal since I paid for the higher-amount ticket. Hey, it's the least I could get for paying the higher amount haha. All the other people had to buy their own food at the cafeteria. I chose a vegetarian sandwich, and I liked it very much! 

My lunch!!

- After my eventful visit to Film City, I rode a rickshaw to Goregaon station to go back to my hostel. I took a rest and finally booked an Uber going to the airport - and as expected, Uber wasn't 100% reliable. Thankfully, my driver was willing to drive me to the correct terminal which wasn't too far away (because just like Manila's airport, the terminals are located in different buildings.) I got to the airport in time for my domestic flight, via Jet Airways, to India's capital region, Delhi!!

Inside an auto-rickshaw.

On the way to the airport, passed by Mumbai's Jama Masjid.

Other side. I like the architecture. It has been here since the 1700s.

- Don't forget to read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 6 here, and Part 7 here!!