Budget: 3640 Rupees/$70; Spent: 8965R/$179.30
Today began earlier than usual for us because we had the driver from yesterday coming to pick us up this morning to drive us around. We got up at 9am (not really that early, but early for us) and got down for breakfast around 9:30am. We had a very nice breakfast at our hotel and ran out the door. We looked for the driver we had had the night before who said he'd come pick us up this morning, but we didn't see him. We waited for 10 minutes or so then decided to jump in another auto-rickshaw.
Our first stop was the post office. We had to ship a bunch of clothing home, as well as our DVDs with our pictures on it. Our book warned us about India's postal system, but we really weren't prepared for the ridiculousness we experienced. The first step as we entered was to get our package wrapped in a white fabric. The guy literally sowed our package shut. And then, to top it off, he melted some wax using a candle, rubbed the wax onto the corners of the package and then pressed a seal into the unmelted wax. I guess this is for safety purposes. A very elaborate process! This took about 20 minutes, including waiting for our turn. The next step was to get in line to get our package weighed and paid for. While in line, we remembered that we needed to send the DVDs with our pictures, so I bought an envelope and shoved them inside. When we finally got to the front of the line, our bill came to 1650 rupees, which is about $30, for shipping 2.5 kg. We were not happy with this price and demanded to know why it cost so much. We had shipped nearly 10 kg in Hong Kong for the same price. The guy at the counter was not helpful in explaining this to us and he also tried to shortchange us. I suppose we are used to this. The guy who wrapped our things eventually explained how the pricing system works and showed us why we were charged so much. What makes no sense is that we went online to check how much it should cost and it was much less using the calculator on the India Post website. It was very frustrating.
After this, we had to send our DVDs and this required postage. We went to another counter to buy stamps, which we then pasted with glue on the envelope. After this, we got in another line to just give them the envelope. Thankfully, some random worker saw that we were just waiting to give them the envelope so he took it himself, stamped it, and put it with the rest. We couldn't believe how antiquated the shipping system is here in India. It's so ridiculous that it's actually kind of endearing. India is such a backwards place in so many ways.
From the post office we went to the Bapu Bazaar. Patty has been obsessed with Indian jewellery forever and was hoping to buy some today. We ended up buying quite a bit from a young guy. He was very helpful and patient showing Patty all his merchandise and explaining when their worn, what they're called and how to wear them. Here's Patty wearing a full set of jewellery that would typically be worn by an Indian bride:
We ended up buying quite a bit of stuff from this guy and left wishing we had done a better job of bartering. I guess we're not used to bartering in a jewellery store. Plus the sales guy was pretty good, he even gave a tika to Patty for free which threw her off her game. We vowed to never make the same mistake bartering for jewellery again. In the end though, we got some beautiful stuff at a pretty good price, several tikas (jewels from hair to forehead), 2 hatfuls (ring connected to bracelets), bracelets, tummy belts, a necklace and earrings set.
After this we went to Crystal Palm Mall and ate McDonald's and then watched The Hobbit for a second time. This was for Patty who fell asleep the first time we watched it, though Jeff didn't mind watching it again.
It was still pretty early when the movie was over so we decided to head back to Bapu Bazaar and we bought a shirt and tights. The markets in India are the best we've seen so far during our travels. Their stuff is beautiful. It's a lot of fun bartering and the sales people are always fun to talk to. It has been a fun way to get to know the culture and the people. Here's a cow walking down the market stalls non-chalantly and fitting right in with everyone... I wonder what he was shopping for. This is common place in India but it's still hilarious. Bet the shop owners are always praying he doesn't decide to use the front of their store as a bathroom.
Once we got back to the hotel we decided to have a late night snack. We bumped into Arnaud and chatted with him and bought him a beer. We met a lady from Poland who was very nice who was sitting with Arnaud. After that went back to room and Patty chatted with her mom and aunt, dad, and Elena.
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