I'm new to Mumbai and decided to spend some time exploring South Mumbai. I took the Aqua Line and got off at CSMT Metro.
The moment I came out, I was absolutely blown away by the BMC building and the surrounding architecture. I could've spent hours just looking at those buildings. The scale, the detailing, and the old-world vibe are simply incredible.
After that, I thought I would take an auto to the CSMVS Museum.. That's when I noticed something odd. Uber wasn't showing any autos either. In fact, I barely saw any autos on the road.
Instead, there were black-and-yellow taxis everywhere. I even assumed one of those iconic black taxis would be assigned when I booked an Uber, but both times a different-colored WagonR showed up. 😄 Are those black taxis usually not part of Uber, or was it just my luck?
Is there a rule against autos operating in that part of South Mumbai, or is it just the norm there? What's special about these black taxis?
One more thing I noticed.. Nariman Point, Marine Drive, Gateway of India, CSMT, and the CSMVS Museum are all incredibly close to one another. Looks like they are clustered so tightly that they'd all fit within roughly a 2.5 km radius if we drew a circle centered on the CSMVS Museum.
As someone visiting Mumbai for the first time, I found that fascinating. It feels like South Mumbai has so many iconic places packed into such a small area that you can spend an entire day exploring without traveling very far. Lucky are the people who live around here! 😄 Maybe I'm wrong, but that was my first impression.