Entries about silk

The afternoon was a free afternoon but Joe, Ngaire, Robyn, Sally, Tova and I opted to go to see silk being weaved into cloth. So it was a quick turnaround after getting back to the hotel.

The tuk tuk who took us there also waited for us was 100 rupee / NZ$2.10 / US$1.60 each.

I quickly lost my orientation as we were led into an area of again narrow alleyways turning left and right and left ...

To me the way that the holes in the patterns are hand punch for the machines was very much labour intensive. Surely a machine would churn out them out in next to no time.

The noise of the machines clacking away would to me be deafening after a short while. Wonder what the workers’ hearing is like?

Then the shopping by the others. Somehow I enjoyed the 30 minutes as different quality of silk pieces covering the rainbow spectrum of colours was brought out and thrown in front of us. Eventually decisions were made and everyone left with their pieces to take home.

Got back to the hotel at 3pm / 15:00, 2 ½ hours after we left and while the others had an hour for a very late lunch at the hotel, JD took me to Varanasi Post Office, 100 rupee / NZ$2.10 / US$1.60 for the tuk tuk, so that I could buy a 20 rupee / NZ$0.40 / US$0.30 stamp to finally send Eve her post card that I got back in Mumbai. Time was running out to post it before I left India. This sending her a post card from every trip started back in when I was in Galapagos Islands 2011/ 2012 when I posted one from Post Office Bay, Floreana and it was hand delivered to her 2 months later by a traveller coming to New Zealand. http://v2.travelark.org/travel-blog/bruceontour/7

http://v2.travelark.org/travel-blog-entry/bruceontour/7/1325766339

(PS. The post card got to her several weeks later!)