Walking and Shopping

 

 

 

 

The group split in half in the AM today. Some of us went on a walk through the old quarter. The other half (including Cathy) stayed at the hotel for a lecture on textiles. When we compared notes at noon, we both had a great time.

The old quarter is very crowded. The alleys go every which way, and if we got lost in them, it would be difficult to find our way out. The streets are jammed with women washing clothes, cows, motorbikes, strollers, hawkers, and people just hanging around their home. The ground level of the homes may have a tiny business in front like a tailor or cigarette sales. Most of the homes leave their doors open and you can look into these homes that are hundreds of years old.

There are Hindu Temples or shrines every block or so, there are Mosques all over, there are Jain Temples scattered through out. They all seem to live in harmony.

The little alleys lead to a small public square that are located through out the old quarter. On a wall at each square is a blackboard where they people who live nearby posts messages to each other. Kind of an ancient example of facebook.

Among the highlights, Sid Saeed Mosque an ancient Mosque that has carved window screens that you would swear were like stain glass, but are actually carved from stone. I have included a picture. We visited a very rich Hindu Sect, where we saw a service with all of its banging drums and bells. The drums and bells are automated no humans play them. It was fun to watch: a very Rube Goldberg machine – but boy was it loud!

We had to take our shoes off, of course, when we entered the temple. When we left the temple someone had stolen our guide’s new tennis shoes. Luckily, there was a sandal maker nearby and he was able to purchase new sandals.

We visited a Jain Temple. I know very little about this religion, except the people are such vegetarians that they sometimes where masks so they won’t inadvertently breath in an insect.

There were streets bustling with sari shops and vendors of all kinds. The people were amazing, the love to have their picture taken.

Kite flying is very popular. We came across men preparing pink kite string. The string is coated with ground up glass, and the object when you fly a kite is to rub your string against another kites string and cut it. The last kite flying wins. You can read all about in the book: The Kite Runner. It is excellent.

We went through an abandoned large house in the old quarter. It is over 20 rooms with two indoor courtyards. If someone wanted to, and had the money, they could create quite a living space.

We eventually tuk-tuked back to the hotel to meet the rest of the group. They had learned much and had bought a few pieces. We went to lunch and then went shopping.

We first went to Shrujan. This women’s clothing store, trains women in the villages to be self-sufficient by sewing. They provide to the women the education necessary to do the work. This is critical in India because so many people live in small, primitive by our standards villages. These projects greatly assist them.

We walked around the corner to another store and continued to shop! We then jumped aboard tuk-tuks for a ride back to our hotel.

After drinks in our room, with others, we had dinner in the hotel and packed for our trip tomorrow to Udaipur.