Markets
Trip Start
Jan 29, 2009
1
8
Trip End
Mar 19, 2009
Delhi, India
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Most of the shops sell pretty much all the same things and when I say the shops are full they really are full every inch of space is covered with something whether that be brass ornate sculptures, incense, earrings, bracelets or rings
Central Cottage Crafts Emporium
. One particular shop I went in was full from ceiling to floor of beads, not beads that were for sale but beads that they will make more jewelry from following the Tibetan traditional style of course - they also all seem to have attic storage although don't see how there can be much room up there either! I have truly got the hang of saying no if I don't want something - they are incredibly good salesmen and I can see how some of the other tourists that were there were walking away under the weight of several bags. They are also incredibly good at inflating the price appropriately to suit the customer. Thankfully I have also managed to get bargaining down to a pretty good art and they seem to enjoy it when you bargain with them, this is after all how they would normally trade with the locals and it is expected. I do however raw the line at bargaining for earrings that cost 20 rupees which I saw some American guy doing - fair enough if you buy twenty pairs or something but one pair of earring at 20 rupees and he wants to stand and bargain?! Thankfully the shop-owner got fed up with the idiot man and asked him to leave (which is the first time I have seen this happen) and to my advantage as well because the earrings were beautiful and are now mine!After making the odd few purchases I thought it best to leave while the going was good and I headed over the road (I crossed a main road by myself today for the first time (",) and am so proud...its only taken me 5 weeks) to Central Cottage Emporium which is a government emporium which sells the arts and crafts of all the villagers around Delhi (and maybe Northern India) its like a huge department store full of things all of which I wanted to buy. The craftsmanship is amazing and I'd love to be able to furnish a house with the stuff that they produce here. Some of it is expensive and when I initially look at things I think you could get that in the UK for that price, the difference is that you could get it in the UK from Ikea for that price and this is furniture that would last a lifetime for the same price....as great as the temptation is I have yet to buy anything that will not fit in my bag to take home although I am informed that stuff can be shipped(whether it would ever arrive is another matter). I spent around 3 hours wandering around this place looking and touching things. They have a children's department full of wonderful clothes (which were more expensive than any of the clothes I bought from Sarojini Nagar for me) and toys which were all made from wood.
They also have a small but very cheap cafe aimed completely at western tourist because there was virtually nothing Indian on the menu other than spicy burgers however the Indians have no idea how to move quickly and a cheese and tomato sandwich and a coke took 30 minute to arrive and there was only me and two Americans in the cafe!
