First four days in Thailand at Siam Bayshore Resort & Spa (pictured). Next three days TBA. July 29th (my half birthday) to August 3rd.
Back to Bangalore after that, where Maggy will have returned from months in Belgium.
Then, less than 30 days till Minneapolis, UMN and Beth (xoxo).
Old Delhi is a bustling market with trade every which way. Wholesale, retail, shipping, delivery, and support are all done on a narrow, uncontrolled streets. Most means of trade are manual, simple, and gritty. Smiles come easy however, like a lotus flowers from the mud.
I rode on the back of motorcycle to get to the metro to get to a bike taxi. The air was hot and thick with dust, dirt, spice, incense, and “something” else. Spent the next few hours riding and walking though dense street markets; Spice, brass, sarees, jewels, shoes, and more. Visited a Muslim mosque & a Jain temple. My guide, Akbar took me through narrow hallways, blackened stairways, and into and through organized chaos.
Visited an incense “factory” in Mysore Sunday. After the process of rolling the paste on to sticks, the sticks are dipped in oils like sandalwood, rose, or lilly. After that, they are dried and packaged to be shipped around the world.
Next time you want to burn a little incense, remember the blackened hands of this young woman. Everything starts somewhere, consume wisely.
The commute is a 15 minute beautiful scooter drive, until I get to the mud pit of Pipeline Road. A series of cement tubes is being installed to deliver water. The project is slowly getting done one 30 foot tube a week +/-.
