Southern India - 9 February 2012 (3)

Shopping, Eating and Sleeping

Next stop was shopping.  There hadn’t been any opportunities to shop so far, so people were eager to start spending.  We thought it would be free time in a shopping area, but it turned out to be hard sell carpet shopping in an emporium.  The carpet sellers were part of a co-operative from Kashmir.  We were given cold drinks and invited to sit down.  I found the sprite quite reviving and it was lovely to be in an air-conditioned area.  The carpets looked and felt good.  They were hard wearing and so we were encouraged to walk on them when heading for the restrooms.  I managed to resist buying, but Shona and Stewart had come to India intending to buy a carpet, so the sales pitch wasn’t in vain.

Most of us headed downstairs where other items were on sale.  I looked for jewellery as I wanted a pair of earrings to wear for the rest of the holiday.  The first ones I was shown were decorated with precious stones and so were too good for what I wanted.  Eventually I found someone who had a box of silver earrings.  He fished out a couple of pairs and quoted RS2,400 a pair.  I haggled and eventually got a pair for £20 or Rs1,500, so I was quite pleased with myself as I am not usually a good haggler.  They are quite ornate and have a stamp on the back to show that they are silver.  Some of the others bought things like pashminas and cushion covers.

Then we got on the bus and headed to the Bell Food Court for lunch.  We went into the more expensive air-conditioned room, but even this was far from cool.  I decided only to have two chapatis and my usual fresh lime soda and this came to just Rs90 with a tip.  I felt so much more human after that and quite recovered from my funny spell at the start of our sightseeing this morning.  The bus back to the hotel did a small diversion to drop people off at the Gandhi Museum, but I stayed on.

Back at the hotel, I washed my feet, caught up with my journal and slept.  Once again, Jen’s key card didn’t work, so it was a good thing that I was in the room when she got back.  It was also a good thing that I had the card which did work.

We ate the buffet dinner in the hotel which was very nice, especially the bhindi dopiaza.  It was the most expensive meal so far: Rs650 including fresh lime soda and tip.

Andrew had been late for dinner.  He had been using the free internet in the hotel to contact Australia and said that this had been available in all three hotels we had stayed in so far.  After dinner, I decided to take advantage of the facility.  I sent three quick emails and then had to run to the room.  The only time my tummy felt bad on the whole trip.  Then I had some quality reading time and was still awake when Jen got back.

The others had gone back to the Meenakshi Temple to see the statue of Shiva being put to bed with his wife, Meenakshi.  From what they said, it seems to have been very interesting, with lots of people attending.  They felt very welcome and there were plenty of requests for group photos in both directions.