Wanna buy a…sundial?

Yes I realize that is from Hercules and thus ancient Greece, but I can’t remember what the vender says at the beginning of Aladdin. Anyways, I went to a black market today, but you’ll have to keep reading to get to that:

So we finally got to sleep in some, which was very nice. After breakfast, we went to the mausoleum of Shah Jahan’s grandfather, the precursor to the Taj Mahal (some of the differences observed in the Taj originated with this building). It was pretty cool and much less crowded than the Taj. It was made out of some reddish material, I can’t remember what. After that, we went to the place where Ghandi was assassinated, as there is a shrine in his memorial. It’s in the center of this grand garden, with grass all around the shrine and then a plaque signifying where he was shot. They keep a fire burning and water present as part of the Hindu belief. After that, we went back to the hotel for lunch and to decide what we wanted to do in the afternoon. The itinerary gave us two options: shopping or temples. One of the kids on my trip had found some black market and had asked our guide if we could go there. He told us that it was a good market, the first black one in India, but that we would have to walk there if we wanted to go. Well, most of the group, including my trip leaders decided to go check this out. When else would I be in India and be able to go to a black market?

            So we started walking and had to pass by a long row of markets. After stopping many times there, we finally pressed on to the location that google had told us. The only problem was that we were looking at a field. Well, that’s because it was underground, via some really cool, massive spiral staircases. Once through security, we started walking around. Now, at first glance, I thought I was basically looking at markets that I passed on the streets. It wasn’t until later that I remembered some of the Indians on board the ship telling us that blue jeans were the ‘must-have’ item. There were several blue jeans stores, watch stores, toy stores, etc. It was actually pretty cool. The venders here didn’t hassle you as much because they knew their items were in demand. We only had so much time there, so we had to leave and go back to the hotel. Then we went to a restaurant for dinner (the same one we’d gone to the first day we were in New Dehli) before heading to the airport. We just barely got on our flight (like 15 minutes to spare) and then took off for Chennai. They had a full dinner of things that I don’t remember – I didn’t eat much because I was trying to avoid getting airsick. This pilot had a worse landing than the other. Then, we took a bus back to the port gate, where we had to go back through security, and then go through another round of security before arriving at the ship. Then, as is protocol for the ship, we went through more security and bag checks before actually stepping foot on the ship. I didn’t get to bed until 1am. It was a long day and waaay too many security checks.