Lauri, I didnt see any shoes, but he did buy quite a turban!

On the way to Agra

Ok, I lied. While in Jaipur, the Marriott had this little jewelry store with some nice things. A number of us stuck our heads in, checked out prices, but didn't buy. After visiting the recommended shop, where prices were outrageous, we stoppedby and renegotiated and asked the shopkeeper if he'd open up before we left at 7:30. He agreed.

I slept on whether I wanted two necklaces and Doug obliged coming to help me negotiate. We entered to Gayle and Eugene, Lenore and Phil and Susan and Dennis all trying on goods and negotiating away. Evidently, Pam and Jim had beaten us all to the punch and Pam "taunted" (not really, Pam is a sweetie) the others into action with her great deal. I quickly lunged at my two necklaces, grateful that one of the other super negotiators hadn't already secured them. Doug whipped into action; god, I was happy for his years in banking negotiation, and I walked out with a yellow sapphire necklace and another multi stone necklace, Susan and Gayle walked out with rubies and Lenore with peridot. We were all sparkling as we left Jaipur for Agra.

We had a 4 hour drive. Driving in India isn't for the faint of heart. Indian drivers drive at speeds of "fast, faster, and oh my god." Then, they manage to avoid colliding with herds of camels walking in the middle of highways, cows wandering aimlessly across highways, auto rickshaws, motorcycles, pigs, and other crazy drivers. They do this by constantly leaning on their horns and blaring away. They also abide by the Highway Code of India:

Article I: The assumption of immorality is required of all road users.

Article II: Indian traffic like Indian society is structured on a strict waste system. The following precedence must be accorded at all times. In descending order, give way to cows, elephants, camels, buffaloes, pigs, goats, dogs, heavy trucks, buses, official cars, pedal rickshaws, private cars, motorcycles, scooters, auto rickshaws, handcarts and pedestrians.

Article III:  All wheeled vehicles shall be driven in accordance with the maxim: to slow be to falter, to brake is to fail, to stop is defeat. This is the Indian drivers' mantra.

Article IV: Use of horn (also known as the language of the road): Cars: short blasts(urgent) indicate supremacy, ie., clearing dogs, rickshaws and pedestrians from path.  Long blasts (desperate)  denote supplication, I.e., to oncoming trucks "I am going too fast to  stop, so unless you slow down, we shall both die." note in extreme cases this may be accompanied by flashing of headlights (frantic); single blast(casual) means "I have just seen someone out of India's gadzillion whom I recognize" or " there is a bird in the road  which at this speed could go through my windscreen" or "I have not blown my horn for several minutes."

Article V: all maneuvers, use of horn and evasive action shall be left until the last possible moment.
Article Vi: in the absence of seat belts car occupants shall wear garlands of marigolds. These shall be kept fastened at all times.

Article VII:  Right of way. Traffic entering a road from the left has priority. So has traffic from the right and also traffic in the middle.

Article VIII: Traffic management-it's a jungle out there.  Apparent traffic islands in the middle of crossroads have no traffic management function and should be ignored.

Article XI:  overtaking is mandatory. Every moving vehicle is required to overtake every other moving vehicle, irrespective of whether or not it has just overtaken you.

Article X: Nirvana may be achieved by head on crash.

Much to our collective shock and surprise, we all lsurvived our journey to reach Agra. We only witnessed one angry beating of a car and its inhabitants by throngs of angry folks in the middle of a highway. I wonder what they did? Steal a camel?

The ITC hotel was somewhat the opposite of the Marriott. It had beautiful grounds and common areas, but the rooms were a bit tired. We gobbled down lunch, becoming all too familiar with Indian buffets, and headed out for our options of seeing an art and jewelry display and how they make inlaid marble.

We drove to Kohinoor Jewelers in Agra expecting another overly priced shopping experience like the previous day. It was described as a place where we would see skilled embroidery and jewels.  Doug's eyes were glazing over before we got there. However,  this was less a jewelry showroom and more of a museum.  We pictured some kind of small place where women would be embroidering things. What we got was a large building that was essentially a huge vault. We passed through some heavy-duty security precautions and we entered the temperature and humidity-controlled building and we were introduced to the charming owner,Mr. Mather .

We gazed around the lobby of the building, where extremely elaborate artworks of embroidery were showcased on the walls. This embroidery was three- dimensional, and some of the relief stuck out a good 3 or 5 inches. Mr. Mathur explained that this was not achieved through padding – it was layer upon layer of thread: cotton on the bottom, split silk on the top. This technique was pioneered by Padma Shri Shams, whose works we would see momentarily.

Once everyone was ready, Mr. Mathur took a handheld computer console and opened a vault door to his museum. He explained a bit about the late Shams, and how this room was a private museum and none of the works were for sale at any price. The room looked empty, but Mr. Mathur pressed a button on his control panel and a curtain lifted on one of the walls, revealing a beautifully lit piece of embroidery. It was huge and looked like a Persian rug. It was inset with precious and semi-precious stones (30,000 carats if I heard him correctly). Everyone marveled at the workmanship, and photos were allowed without a flash.

One piece at a time, the embroidery was illuminated to superb dramatic effect.. There was an unbelievable iconic image of Jesus with a flock of sheep (though Shams wasn't Christian). The sheep were incredibly puffy; the depth had to be at least five inches.

The ultimate piece was a life-like embroidery of a bejeweled vase of flowers which Shams embroidered for his wife’s 40th birthday. Gems adorned the embroidered vase. Mr. Mathur’s family (a long line of jewelers) had provided the gems for Shams’ works, and it was obvious that Mr. Mather was quite proud of being associated with Shams' body of work. When you see the detail and sheer size of the embroidery pieces, it is not entirely surprising to learn that Shams became blind in the final decade of his life. The amount of strain put on his eyes by such precise work on such a grand scale must have been enormous. As we filed out of the museum, we were all speechless, but Mr. Mathur was just getting started.

Mr. Mathur handed us each a brochure. He then locked up the climate controlled museum and we headed upstairs via escalator to the jewelry showroom. Mr. Mathur showed us an issue of National Geographic from April 1985 in which he was interviewed about a certain tumbled emerald Mughal necklace, and then produced the necklace itself. It was unbelievable. The emeralds were not cut; they were tumbled smooth, and they seemed to change in the light, to dance almost like an opal.

Next he pulled out a huge emerald ring surrounded by rows and rows of diamonds. He let Susan try this on, and along with it a dainty gold and emerald bracelet, and, the coup de grace, an enormous emerald pendant surrounded by diamonds. He asked me if I would like to try it on as well, to which I happily agreed. We posed for pictures wearing these priceless gems. Were they afraid to let us try them on? No, all the doors were sealed "for our protection."

I truly wanted to buy something from the showroom, but I had already splurged earlier in the day and walked out empty handed. One day, though, I will return!

Our last stop was a short one for us. We were exhausted. We watched the interesting marble inlay process, used on the Taj Mahal, but left without wandering through the showroom of lovely items.

We had to eat a quick dinner and rest up. The next day was a 5:30am departure for the Taj Mahal.