I woke up feeling much better than yesterday. So,this morning we went down to the old town of Mathura to the ghats on the river and the site of where they claim that Krishna was born. There was an unusual temple with the usual “guides” that wanted money for every thing. We did not give them money since we did not hire them. One guy came over and wanted to put those red smudges on our foreheads for a price, of course. We told him no, we did not need the smudge. Another wanted us to send flowers off into the river, again for a price. We said no. The guide guy kept trying to hurry us along and kept calling to me “Sister, come on, now!”. I finally told him, I was going to look at my own pace in my own way and he should go on without us. In the end, we did not pay him either. We did pay our wonderful driver. In the old town area, there are the strangest old buildings with what seems like art nouveau wrought iron and stone decorations. They were old and pretty amazing in what was a pretty well worn part of town. There were not many tourists there especially westerners. In our hotel there, we were the only non-Indians. And there was no toilet paper in the room. We had our own, but that seemed peculiar. One day, if you ask me, I will try to explain what I think happens…..
At about 3:30 we went over to the train station and caught our train up to Delhi. We rode on a first class car with a Finnish woman and her 12 year old niece who were returning to Delhi after going on a safari in the big national park. They were delightful to talk to.
Now we are at the Clark Heights Hotel that is really posh compared to where we have been. The room is large, clean, with a nice flat screen tv, refrig, great bathroom, and free internet for a few hours. I feel rather spoiled. We ate and now are back in our room. Tomorrow we plan on walking around in Old Delhi since we only got to see if from bicycle rickshaws last time. There is supposed to be some great markets there especially the spice market. We have two nights in this hotel then off to home. Unless something else happens that is greatly noteworthy, I think I will next update when back home.
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While spending our last day in Delhi, we went to the amazing National Craft Museum. We had never been and wonder why this was not on our tour with the students that was put together for us. It is a must for anyone slightly interested in the arts, crafts, culture or textiles. There is actually a library of textiles showing actual pieces from every textile producing region of India in this gigantic display gallery. The curator there gives you a comprehensive overview of the collection showing you its higlights.
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Our driver thought we were nuts not to go to the Red Fort and all the other tourist sights. Oh, well.