# @kirstenalana on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Bgk4E5QFpsQ
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/2429954-kirstenalana-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/08d3770cc0.jpg
- **Posted:** 2018-03-21T07:03:31.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Kirsten Alana (@KirstenAlana) — https://gondola.cc/KirstenAlana

## Caption

The first time I came to India in 2015, I visited only Agra and Mumbai. That year I stood in the exact spot I did when I took this photo yesterday, and in those moments I didn’t get it. I didn’t yet LOVE India. It wasn’t a horrible experience, it simply wasn’t one that made me fall in love with the country or the people that make it SO special. This time when I stood in this spot overlooking Dhobi Ghat, after THE MOST INCREDIBLE pre-dawn tour of #Mumbai with @coxandkingsusa alongside new friends from @tajhotels and photographers I’ve admired for years, after several talks with locals who are some of the warmest and kindest people I’ve ever met in my life...... I got it. I found that deep well of love for India that finds many a traveler who chooses to interact with the country on a level that’s profound and almost unmatched anywhere else on the globe. India is a land of the most intense contrasts I’ve ever found but it is in those contrasts that is found a beauty which can’t be put into words. The complexity of this country and this city baffles people who come to study it and enchants travelers like me who crave opportunities to learn.
•
Speaking of learning, Dhobi Ghat is Mumbai’s 140-year-old open-air laundromat. Estimates place the number of pieces of laundry that come through here each day at over half a million pieces. From above, it looks like perhaps a form of organized chaos but the system is known to be uber efficient and reliable. Much of the work is done by hand without modern technology.
•
Can’t wait to share more photos from our tour with #coxandkingsusa but in the meantime you should check out @twheat, @alice_gao, @ananewyork, @noahleh & @dlcuratolo who have already begun sharing portraits of some of the incredible locals we met in Bombay nay Mumbai. 🙏🏼🇮🇳 #incredibleindia #dhobighat #shotoniphone #shotoniphonex #hostedtravel #sponsoredtrip

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 2,808
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 80

## Tags

hostedtravel, sponsoredtrip, incredibleindia, coxandkingsusa, shotoniphone, mumbai, shotoniphonex, dhobighat

---
Copyright (c) Gondola