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Published: March 14th 2007
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Or as they would say it here"bajaar." Yesterday after writitng to you we went down to the old part of town, The Charminar or Laads Bazaar. Much like Albuquerque it is the oldest part of town where most of the historical tourist attractions are located as well as all the cool open air shopping. We scoped out a couple of hotels from the Lonely Planet book as this is central to most of the things we would like to do. They were interesting, although one was booked full with a wedding. But after an afternoon in the press of human activity we both were relieved to go back to the resort-like hotel we are staying at in the sister town of Segundabad. We will spend a little more on travel in autorickshaws, but that is an adventure all in itself. So we extended our reservation at the resort. The Kodavatikantis will probably breath easier over our safety. There is so much to see and do it looks like we will stay here until we leave the country, catching a flight on a local carrier from here to Chennai the evening of the 19th to connect with the London flight that leaves
at 4am on the 20th.
The old town is very Muslim. Christina and I both noticed that everyone looked angry. We realized that a large part of that impression was due to our being soaked in the current "homeland security" wash on our culture. On this trip we have learned not to rely heavily on our normal american translations of facial expressions and physical mannerisms in communication. People here look and move differently. For example nodding your head from side to side means "yes" in India instead of "no" like in the USA. Once we decided we may be misreading the appearance of anger, we discovered in fact that people were very friendly.
Many of the women wear burka or burqa. This is a suit of outdoor wear that goes over you saree. It consists of a thin black crepe coat with long sleeves that covers from neck to floor, a long headscarf that covers the head and drapes around the neck and over the shoulders, and a veil that attaches to the headscarf near each ear. The result is that all you can see of a woman generally is their eyes. Some of the coats are lavishly
embroidered in black. The new ones for sale in the clothing stalls have colored embroidery and sheer inserts.
This afternoon we went back for more sight seeing. We stared with Charminar which is a large Arc de Triumph type edifice built some centuries back to commemorate the end of a plague. It is located in the middle of a busy traffic circle. We bought tickets and walked up a an old circular staircase to the second story open air promenade. The narrow worn uneven stairs were built into a tower just like in the cathedrals in Europe. We spoke with a Security Gard for a long time about his life as a student with a part time job, his new wife, and a desire to visit a brother working in California. Next we met a very friendly Muslim man carrying a baby that wanted us to take his picture as he enthusiastically cuddled his charge. It is a great happy picture. He was with a couple ladies in burqas. As they walked away, I told Christina I missed the opportunity to get a shot of them all. We had been sneaking pictures of black clad women thinking they would
not let us take thier picture if we asked. Well, Christina went right after them, caught up and asked. They were very casual and happy to let us take a family shot. It turns out it was his wife and her sister. They were on vacation from Bangalore.
One thing we have noticed is that Indians love to have their picture taken. All ages of people on the street frequently ask us to take their picture. The digital camera with the LCD display for the picture is a great way to connect with people. Take a picture, show it to them and instantly you have something in common that opens the door to conversation.
We stayed in the shade and peace of the Charminar monument as long as we could, even bought tea from a passing vendor, but eventually we braved the crossing of traffic and plunged into the Laad Bazaar. The bazar is a chaos of tiny shops in buildings, on the sidewalks, and on carts that fill the narrow streets. Anything you can imagine is for sale and bargaining for the best price is part of the game. For reasons unknown shops for similar items are
all congregated together. The first thing was saw was pearl and jewerly vendors. Hundreds of little shops and stalls with strands of pearls, birthstone jewelry, ankle bracelets, toe rings (signifying the wearer is married), bangles and glittery necklace sets. We went into a government shop that was recommended to us for it's regulated quality standards and fixed prices. Seems I could get a beautiful 18" string of 6mm cultured rose pearls for 2500 Rupees or a highest quality string of larger white pearls for 3500 at 44 Rupees/1USD that is quite a bargain. Mmmm, I Don't know what Fran and Jimmy would say (being they are expert jewelers) but I might go back. Next We went through the clothing area. Every imaginable kind of fabric possible. More embroidered bejeweled bright coloured sarees than you can possibly imagine. We would ask a few questions of a sales clerk that would lead to sitting on plush cushions on the floor while they laid out as many beautiful items as the floor would hold. A bargain would be struck, money changed hands, well wishes exchanged and we would be on our way. Kitchenware, shoes, books and the bazaar still went on. Exausted we at questionable, but tasty Street food (passionately prayed over) and road home with the evening traffic.
Okay back to the news; this morning the film crew was back at the hotel. We talked with Sunil a member of the production team we met yesterday. He asked Christina if she would like to appear in the movie. So, if everything works out, tomorrow she willl have a speaking role in a major motion picture. How's that for travel adventure?
More as it happens,
Sheryl
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