Museum & Bazaars

This morning we walked to the National Museum. Along the way an auto-rickshaw driver stopped and asked where we were going. We said “for a walk”. He then informed us that India Gate was closed. We told him we weren’t headed there. He persisted and asked where we were going. We said just up the street. He told us, “That’s closed too.” We had a good laugh since it was so obvious that he wanted to take us somewhere farther away. Likely somewhere that he could get a commission from the shop owner as well as the fare for the ride.

To be fair, there is a national holiday coming up, so the street leading up to the museum was closed. This was the street where India Gate is at one end and the museum at the other. We did take several pictures before moving on. We had to walk around a large block, but eventually found our way to another entry to the museum, and surprise, surprise, it wasn’t closed.

The museum was quite good and they had an audio tour which we all enjoyed. Yasmin and Roya would go hunting for the next exhibit with the blue headphone sign indicating the number to enter into the audio set so that we could all listen to the descriptions or stories associated with the piece.

After the museum we took the subway to Chawari Bazaar. There were people everywhere! We walked for a bit along a street where all the vendors were selling various hardware and metal works. That wasn’t too exciting so we talked to a couple of elderly shop keepers and asked for directions to the clothing part of the bazaar. It was too far to walk so we took a bicycle rickshaw through the crowded streets.

Along the way we saw book vendors, paper and greeting card vendors, and so much more. We ended in a place where they were selling some western clothes, but mostly Indian clothes and fabrics. The fabrics were so gorgeous. Reds with gold embroidery, oranges, yellows, peacock blue, gold, beadwork, and all in such intricate designs. Too bad it was so busy. I would have liked to stop and browse a bit more, but it was just too congested.

From there we went to Connaught Place. This is another shopping area. We didn’t really go through any shops, we were just looking for a place to have supper by that time. Again lots of touts letting us know that one place or another was closed and that we should go up the street to another place. So many “helpful” young fellows pointing us in the “right” direction! Ahhh!!

We’re quite disappointed that we’ve arrived during this national holiday because many of the tourist attractions are closed or difficult to get to because of road barriers. It also makes me nervous because everyone is on high security alert, and so you are constantly reminded that something could happen.

CM