I didn't take any pictures on my second visit to Delhi. Delhi was my hub. I got up in the Metropolis Tourist Home and after breakfast I headed off to Connaught Place and went back to the travel Agency where I had originally booked my houseboat in Srinagar. Amazingly I was able to get myself a 50% refund on the cost of the houseboat I never stayed in. I told them that they really ought to have mentioned the fact that I never had a chance to actually find the houseboat I had booked. I remonstrated with them that the fact that there was a curfew meant I couldn't possibly have arrived in time to locate it. I couldn't believe that I did actually get some of my money back.
Flushed with that success I went a bank to exchange a 500 rupee note which had a tear in it. The fact is that any Indian bank note with a rip in it was unlikely to accepted as legal tender so the advice was never to accept one and if you got one to change it at a bank. So I did.
My next tasks were to visit both New Delhi and Old Delhi post offices for any mail that might have been waiting for me. There wasn't any.
I returned to Paharganj and gathered everything I wanted to post home and put it into the wicker basket I had bought in Srinagar. Before being able to post a parcel it had to be sewn up in white cloth and sealed with sealing wax. It was advised that one should affix a seal that could not be replicated easily to prevent anyone being tempted to open it up to steal anything valuable and then resealing it.
There were places where parcels could be made up and I sorted it out and headed off for the post office again. As I walked down Main Bazaar Road I noticed a man who was standing on something to raise himself above the throng. He was wearing a turban and was leaning out holding on to something to keep his balance. He looked right at me and said "Two women are thinking about you in England". That got my attention which was his aim. He asked me whether I would like to go with him to meet his Guru where everything would be explained. I thanked him for the invitation but, as he could plainly see, I was carrying a large parcel which I was taking the post office. The young man was most insistent and asked how long it would take me. I couldn't say having never posted a parcel in India before. He suggested that we have an appointment at say, 4.00pm? I said I couldn't really promise so he should just look out for me on my return.
So I went off to the Post Office with my enormous parcel.
