Dhobi Ghat + Slum Walk in Mumbai: A Real Look at the City’s Backstage

I joined a walking tour that combines Dhobi Ghat and a nearby slum-area route, and the experience started feeling “different reality” even before the tour began. The meeting point was at Third Wave Coffee, and I got there by Uber. It was peak commuting time, and the station crowd alone was intense—packed platforms, fast-moving flow, and that moment where you realize you’re seeing the city’s daily rhythm at full volume. I also noticed how people naturally clustered around the women-only local train carriage area, which made the “rules of the city” feel very tangible, not just something you read about.

The tour itself kicked off in an area that felt industrial—at first glance, almost like a row of car repair garages. But once you look closer, it’s a totally different world: plastic recycling and sorting in real time. Workers were separating plastic by color and hardness, then breaking it down step by step. What hit me was how close the work and living space were. Some buildings felt like a combined workshop-and-residence, with housing stacked above the production space. It wasn’t “work over here, life over there”—everything was connected, layered, and happening in the same footprint.

As we kept walking, the scenes shifted one after another: a sewing workshop vibe, spaces that looked like fabric processing or dye-related work, and even iron-press shops. It felt like watching the hidden “flow” behind a big city—the practical systems that keep clothes, materials, and daily life moving, but usually stay out of sight for visitors. Honestly, I don’t think I could have walked into these streets alone with any confidence. The atmosphere made it clear that a guide isn’t just helpful—it’s basically essential. And when we passed residential areas where filming is not allowed, the tension level went up immediately. You can feel that you’re a guest in someone’s living environment, not an “attraction.”

Midway through, we also visited a leather processing spot. The guide explained that cow leather can be complicated in India for religious and cultural reasons, so what we saw was mainly sheep leather. There was embossing machinery stamping patterns into the material—so the raw material itself didn’t seem bad, but the overall “local manufacturing character” was obvious too. Stitching choices, hardware details like zippers, finishing… it all had a strong personality. That’s not a negative; it’s just very real. Seeing the production process made the pricing feel more meaningful as well—small leather goods around the 400-rupee range, wallets around 700 rupees—cheap enough to be tempting, but also the kind of price point that makes you think about what corners might be cut, and what parts are actually decent value.

After that, we moved to Dhobi Ghat, the huge open-air laundry area that Mumbai is famous for. It’s known for processing massive volumes of laundry coming from hotels, hospitals, and households—an entire system running in one concentrated place. One detail that stuck with me was the explanation about drying: instead of using lots of clothespins, people twist the line and pinch the fabric using the tension of the rope itself. Small trick, but it tells you a lot about how daily work evolves when cost and scale matter.

That said, this part of the tour was a little disappointing in practice. We didn’t enter the laundry area—everything was explained from a viewing point. If I had known in advance that it would be “look from above and listen,” I might not have chosen a tour specifically for Dhobi Ghat. On top of that, the listing said three hours, but it felt closer to two, so the cost performance was a bit questionable. For me, the real value was the slum-side route and the behind-the-scenes manufacturing flow—that part genuinely felt like something you can’t replicate on your own, and it’s what I would strongly recommend if you’re considering a similar tour.

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I lived in Chuuk, Micronesia for two years. I went to many remote islands and did a lot of diving. I communicated with the local people and had invaluable experiences. These videos are compilation of my photos and videos.

Federated states of Micronesia (FSM)
Micronesia is consisted with Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae.

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