This last part is not a single day. It is the water that kept returning through the trip: first at the end of my South Mumbai walk, then at Juhu after Kanheri, and finally from the plane.

18 June, evening. We had reached the sea at the Gateway, but the day did not end there. We stayed with the water as the light changed.

Buildings, and the sea under them

The city is tall along this coast. Glass, cranes, one tower after another. From the road they fill the sky; from the water they become a line on the far side.

High-rise towers seen through a window
Through the glass
A tall residential tower against a blue sky, with birds
One tower

Then the water opens, and the skyline sits on the far side.

Mumbai skyline across the sea in late daylight
The skyline, across the water

The sea turning gold

Then the sun drops behind the towers, and the sea turns gold. This was the beautiful side of the coast.

The sun setting behind a silhouette of Mumbai towers
The sun, behind the towers
Sunset over the sea with the city skyline in silhouette
Gold on the water

Concrete blocks along the shore, to break the waves. The city is still there, past them.

Concrete wave breakers along the shore, with the skyline beyond
Along the shore

People out walking. The road runs beside the water, and the lights come on.

People walking a seafront promenade at dusk, with the skyline ahead
The promenade
A road and blue railing beside the water, towers and cranes beyond
The road beside the water
Rocks along the shore and the lit city stretching down the coast
The city along the coast

A moon over the towers.

A crescent moon above the skyline at dusk
A moon over the towers

Two people walking the edge of the water, and the city lit across the bay.

Two people walking a seafront path at sunset, skyline lit across the water
Along the water

One tower, every window lit.

A high-rise at night with windows lit, seen past a street lamp
Every window lit

Juhu, after Kanheri

The next evening, after a day of basalt, caves, and forest, we went to Juhu. The sea was waiting at the other end of the day again.

The beach is beautiful. The sun on the water, people standing in the shallows, a palm over the sand.

Sunset over Juhu beach, with people in the shallows
The sun on the water
Juhu beach at sunset, palm in the corner, people on the sand
Juhu

Then we looked down at the sand.

Plastic, cloth, a pile of it in a puddle. Someone walking past. The sunset was still there, people were still in the water, and this was the same beach. We were shocked.

Plastic and cloth washed up on the sand at Juhu
On the sand
A person walking past a pile of garbage on Juhu beach
A pile of it

We read later what keeps happening here. Waste thrown into drains and nullahs goes out to sea, and high tides push it back onto the shore. Juhu gets the worst of it. After a week of heavy rain this monsoon, the BMC cleared more than 2,500 tonnes of plastic, thermocol, and clothes from Mumbai’s beaches. Juhu alone accounted for about 1,824 tonnes. The Indian Express wrote it up.

The next day, from the plane

From the plane, the separate pieces became one coast. Buildings packed to the water, the curve of the bay, ships out on the sea. Beautiful from up there. And we had just stood on the sand where the garbage comes back.

Aerial view of Mumbai's coast, dense buildings meeting the sea
The coast
Aerial view of a curved bay, the city, and ships on the sea
The bay

That is how this Mumbai journey ends for us: the skyline, the sunset, the beach, and what the tide leaves behind. The beautiful side and the shocking side belong to the same sea.