3…2…1… Action: Slumdog Millionaire Slum, Bollywood Beach & An Indian Railway Experience

Posted by Greg in 3...2...1... Action: RTW Video, India on Jun 2nd, 2010 | 6 responses

Slumdog Millionaire depicted the Dharavi Slum accurately. The video rolled while Ash and I were on the verge of tears, appalled by the living the conditions and bubbling waters of the moat surrounding the slum:

Ash commentates while at Mumbai’s Juhu Beach where the Bollywood stars live:

Bollywood stars love a good beach carnival:

Watch as our Mumbai to Agra (Taj Mahal) train pulls into the Bandra Train Station with hundreds of men in line:

Take a peak inside the cramped restroom and sleeper car of one of India’s long distance trains:

- Greg and Ash

Learn From Our Footsteps:

1) Flying from city to city is certainly doable at reasonable prices for the most part in India. However, part of understanding the Subcontinent is riding with the locals. The 2nd Class Sleeper (AC2) cars are comfortable enough. Just mentally prepare for an odd ride with numerous stops, roaming touts, and noisy nights.
2) Everything you need to know about riding Indian Railways can be found on The Man in Seat Sixty-One website: http://www.seat61.com/India.htm.

Amy Balentine

Oh Gosh! I love you guys so much. The sleeper train and restroom might have been the yuckiest.
Love you and keep the footage coming.
Amy
Nina

Can not believe Mumbai…how is it possible to live like that and not get sick? Did you sleep on beds that were washed in the community “laundry mat”? this might be one of my favorite's to read about to date! One more question why worry about the water splashing on you in the train bathroom, I would worry more about falling off the pot when the train swayed!! Love to both of you.
ps ashley i noticed the new outfit, I like it! (First change I noticed from the back pack closet!)
fofs

Amy – we love you so much too! The Indian sleeper train was an experience to say the least. One aggressive tout stuck his head into Greg's compartment around 5:00am, woke him up, then asked if he wanted crackers. Ummm, no thanks. Having a camera crew follow us around the world has been amazing and they are working on some outtakes at the moment.

- Ash and Greg
fofs

Nina – I thought the exact same thing. The children living in the slums seem so happy and oblivious to the conditions in which they live. They were too cute to watch. Yes, we did happen to sleep on sheets that were laundered in the ghats and they seemed clean. Lower caliber hotels use this service and that is why you always see white sheets on the line. I wondered often how they stayed so white in the dusty air when our shirts always seemed to turn brown. Due to the squat toilets in most of Asia, we are now pros at that uncompromising position! Now I won't have such a difficult time camping And thanks for the comment about the new outfit. I grew tired of my backpacker clothes so you will start to see new clothes on future blog posts.

Great questions and thanks for reading, Nina!

- Ash and Greg
fofs

Amy – we love you so much too! The Indian sleeper train was an experience to say the least. One aggressive tout stuck his head into Greg's compartment around 5:00am, woke him up, then asked if he wanted crackers. Ummm, no thanks. Having a camera crew follow us around the world has been amazing and they are working on some outtakes at the moment.

- Ash and Greg
fofs

Nina – I thought the exact same thing. The children living in the slums seem so happy and oblivious to the conditions in which they live. They were too cute to watch. Yes, we did happen to sleep on sheets that were laundered in the ghats and they seemed clean. Lower caliber hotels use this service and that is why you always see white sheets on the line. I wondered often how they stayed so white in the dusty air when our shirts always seemed to turn brown. Due to the squat toilets in most of Asia, we are now pros at that uncompromising position! Now I won't have such a difficult time camping And thanks for the comment about the new outfit. I grew tired of my backpacker clothes so you will start to see new clothes on future blog posts.

Great questions and thanks for reading, Nina!

- Ash and Greg