We just finished our full day tour (morning slum a...

We just finished our full day tour (morning slum and afternoon city sightseeing tour in a private car). Having read Shantaram (like probably all westerners who travel to India!), I was inspired to see the slum but also conscious of being a voyeuristic foreigner. So going through Reality Tours who, via their sister company, reinvest 80% of their profits back into the slum definitely felt like the right option and we really weren't disappointed. The guide and driver collected us from our hotel, and showed us a few landmarks en route to the slum. Our guide, Nil, was really informative and engaging. The tour would easily dispel some preconceptions of a 'slum' and would be even suitable for your children. For lunch we went to the vegetarian restaurant recommended by the tour, which was simple but tasty and 3 courses for 350 rupees. It's worth noting that if the tour participants go to this venue for lunch, the guide and driver get their lunch paid by Reality Tours. However if you decided to go elsewhere, they need to pay for their own lunch. So we would encourage future participants to invite their guide and driver to this veggie restaurant for sure! The rest of the afternoon was a whistle-stop tour of some other interesting spots of the city, with social/political/local history commentary from Nils. He loves his city so his enthusiasm was infectious. We're back in the city in a few weeks so might sign up for the street food tour, which I'm sure will be equally fun!