When I was planning this trip, Mumbai really wasn’t high on my list of places to visit. I’d seen a couple of episodes of the TV series ‘City of Dreams’, which is about Mumbai, and it looked a bit busy, noisy and brash. The reason it ended up on our itinerary was because it was a logical stopping-off point on our way from south to north. Also, the train connections were good – so I pencilled in a one night stop-over.

Mumbai has turned out to be a real delight. First there was the unexpected gay pride march, then, this afternoon we found our jaws dropping as we wandered around the neighbourhood close to our hotel. We walked past block after block of amazing art-deco buildings. I had absolutely no idea that Mumbai is the Indian equivalent of Miami Beach, Florida.

The area is called Churchgate and clearly it was the des-res neighbourhood in the 1930s. Some of the buildings were looking a little  tired by now, but in a way the neglect may well have saved them from being altered too much. We could have been walking around the set of a Poirot episode! I don’t know what the locals thought of two British guys gawping at their apartments, but they were truly splendid – and we loved it. Our walk was concluded with dinner at the fabulous vegan Earth Cafe – the food there was delicious.