A lazy morning today. Vikram, our guide, picks us up about 11. We head to the old city, and definitely feel the difference between Varanasi and “The Pink City”. So called because in 1876, when the Prince of Wales (later Edward VI) was planning to visit, the Maharaja wanted to paint the city a welcoming color (similar to the idea of the red fort in Agra). After going through a whole rainbow of colors, they settled on pink. Although it’s not really pink, more of a light terra cotta color.
First stop was the Palace of Winds; not really a palace, but a part of the Maharaja’s resident that provided a facade for the women to peer through to watch parades and goings-on. Beautifully designed from the front,
we entered through a couple of intricately decorated gates,
and climbed ramps up to the top, where we could peer through windows down onto the streets below.
From there, we walked (and caught sight of a dude carrying rice flour pappadum to vendors)
to the Unesco World Heritage Site of the world’s largest stone observatory. But not in the sense of watching the planets, like we think. This one had a small and (the world’s largest) a large sundial that could tell time year-round. Pretty cool:
Smaller:
Largest:
You can see the guide pointing to where the sun’s shadow hits the numbered scale to see the actual time.
Then there were two submerged half globes that could be used to calculate the astrological sign of a baby born any day of the year.
The priest doing this would then walk over to the station of the proper sign, and create the astrological chart that would tell the parents everything about the child (as if!). Here I am at Libra:
and here are all the signs, as well as the City Palace and a fort off on top of the nearby “hill”:
Then a little further (it’s nice that everything is so close in the old city, which was designed for about 345,000 inhabitants, but now there’s a little over 3 million) we hit the museums of the City Palace. No photos allowed, but we checked out some of the outfits that the Marharajas and their queens wore, the weapons and ammunition of the time (Matt loved this one. A particularly gruesome weapon looked like a long pair of scissors with two long straight handles, kind of like big hedge shears. The idea was to stab into someone’s body, then pull the handles apart to really do some damage). From here, on to the chandelier museum, which was originally a receiving room. The large chandelier in the center is the second largest in India, and weighs 2 tons. We walked the perimeter to meet some of the Maharajas of the past (or study their pictures and history, rather).
Next stop was a family jewelry store. Supposedly better quality and prices. Scored a pretty pair of earrings and got some names for Stacey to talk to to try and find new sources for her jewelry business. Engrossed in negotiations:
Back to the hotel to rest. Matt’s not quite 100%, but def on the mend. I retired to the business center to upload more pictures while I have the chance (no Internet at all in Darjiling), then a rest before we head out to have dinner in the home of a local Indian family. A very interesting experience. We are greeted by the grandfather (his son was called away on business) and his brother, and sit in the front/living room with them, two of their granddaughters who are in the university and 3 of their grandsons, who are between 10 and 12. Halting conversation, but of course the little dudes start chattering away after a bit. Dinner is all being cooked by the wife of the absent son, and we sit down to a good vegetarian meal, trying a few new vegetables, enjoying a carrot and cashew dish that’s similar to the sinful one Roberta makes for Passover, and finish with some gingery chai.
Our chef (who pulled her veil over her face anytime she walked into a room where her father was, evidently out of respect. We asked the university girls about this and they confirmed that modern girls do not practice these “old” customs):
After dinner, the boys insist that Matt play a video game with them:
They exchange facebook info, and we head back to the hotel. A busy day tomorrow!