Delhi, January 1, 2012: Happy New Year! (and kind of Part 2 Shopping)

I wish everyone the best and hope that you have a prosperous and happy new year.

Jay and I had a fairly quiet New Years Eve. We decided to go to a movie in the early afternoon, so we headed off via the Metro to Connaught Circle, where there is a cinema that has movies in English. We saw the new Sherlock Homes, which was OK - I'm not sure what is up with all these fantasy/magical movies. Maybe I'm just getting old.

After the movie, we walked over to the Central Cottage Industries Emporium, which is a government run store which sells textiles and other products from all over India at fixed prices, i.e. no bargaining. It looks almost like a department store, with brass and wood on the 1 st floor, jewellry and carpets on the 2nd, saris and cloth on the 3rd etc., going up to 6 floors. Apparently, it is fairly fair tradish - we don't know for sure- but the prices are reasonable, so you won't get entirely ripped off but you might find it cheaper bargaining in the street if you are so inclined - personally I think not having to bargain is a plus, as you get pretty sick about bargaining for absolutely everything after a while.

In any case, I finally found some high quality Darjeeling tea to sample, so I bought a few different kinds, and have actually just finished a fine cup of Nilgiri tea as I type! We will come back to buy some carpets for sure, and likely some brass and jewelry as well. The clothing wasn't exceptional (FabIndia is better I think) but the scarves and shawls weren't too bad either.

We decided to find a restaurant in Connaught Circle to eat in, despite the crowd of revellers around, blowing noise makers etc. There were also lots of police and army about which we didn't really think twice about. They usually carry around rifles, although we did see a few behind sand bags which was a bit odd. In any case, we found a restaurant, ate and finished about 8:30ish, expecting to hop on the Metro and make it home in about 40 minutes.

Once we left the restaurant, it was dark and quite a bit less crowded, but still a few people around. However, the police/army had closed the Metro station and all the incoming streets, I suppose for security reasons. This left us high and dry as there were no rickshaws or other transport to be found. The police suggested we try another Metro station, but it was dark, dusty/smoky and we were getting a bit concerned as the crowd was thinning out by the minute and we weren't quite sure where the next nearest station was. Eventually, we stumbled across a hotel at the perimeter of the Circle where we found a taxi. We did get home safe and sound, with a few less rupees in our pockets than if we had taken the Metro. The celebrations were just beginning in our neighborhood, with firecrackers, music and singing. All was well, there were no incidences of violence or anything else anywhere in Delhi that I have heard about.

Today, Jay and I joined a hotel gym, which is very convenient for us at it is only one Metro stop away. Jay thinks its actually one of the best gyms he has joined. It's certainly the best we have seen so far here in India but I wouldn't say it has the most modern equipment. However, it does have everything that we would want, plus towel service, fresh fruit and juices etc. We will try and stay healthy and in shape for the rest of our stay.

Well that is all for now. Happy New Year again!