The market and sari shopping.

One day on our India trip the whole group went to a market and then headed to Laxmi road to visit the sari shops. The trip started with a rickshaw (Tuk tuk) ride to the market area. The rickshaws only hold 3 people maximum and with 45 people in the party that involved several rickshaws. We usually had the same drivers and we always ended up racing. Lucy and I generally travelled with one particular driver and he found it really funny when we pretended that we were playing Mario Kart.  As one of our other rickshaws came along side we acted out throwing out the exploding mushroom and got our driver to speed up....if it was safe to do so. It certainly livened up the journeys.

The first market area we visited was a fruit and vegetable market.

The market was covered but open on all sides. This meant that there were birds flying around. Most of the fruit and veg were known to us but some we hadn't seen before

All the fruit looked delicious. The girls were given some rupees and a name of a fruit or vegetable written in Hindi.  They were sent off to discover what they had to buy and then get the best quantity they could for their money. They enjoyed the activity and it got them talking to the stall holders.

We then made our way through very narrow lanes to different market areas.The markets tended to be arranged in areas by the types of goods they sold e.g one area was for household goods such as pots and pans, another was for jewellery. It rained on and off all day but was very hot however it didn't stop our enjoyment. I did find the sheer number of people very stressful at times. It was similar to walking down Oxford Street in London in the run up to Christmas. That's an activity I don't take on unless absolutely desperate.

The girls spent  a lot of time choosing jewellery. and presents for family at home.We split into smaller groups early in our trip which made it easier for weaving in and out of the traffic.

We had been out shopping for hours when we headed to the sari shop. It was an interesting experience. The shop floor had a padded covering and you sat on the floor whilst the men serving pulled 6 metre lengths of sari fabric from the shelves and threw them towards you so the fabric spread out over the floor in front of you allowing you to see the design and colours. They made sure to show you the end that would be used to make the bodice. If you liked a particular fabric the guys would help you try the sari on. Big mirrors helped you decide on the sari.

So may beautiful fabrics, it was so exciting. This is one of the sari lengths I tried but it wasn't the one I bought. We also visited another fabric shop where we bought fabric to make a Punjabi. The fabrics were beautiful high quality cottons. There were so many fabrics I wanted to buy but I wouldn't have had room in my luggage for them.

We ended our shopping trip with dinner out at a restaurant. Unfortunately Lucy had to take her meal with her as she has a nut allergy and the restaurant we all met up at couldn't guarantee that her meal would be nut free. Special diets are always a little worrying when eating in other countries.

I need to take some photos of my new project before I can tell you about it so that will have to be tomorrow. Yipee tomorrow is Friday and I have a free weekend. I see sewing in my future. The plan is to finish the tuffet top. So for now I think it's time to head to bed and spend a little time reading the next chapter of my book.

Lyndsey