All done.
Ive run out of money even to pay for the internet som must be brief.
Im knackered but the journey was good, just looking for to the next show, spirit of summer and pulse where we can show off our stuff.

Thank you for reading.

Good night form India,
dominic

www.thesariexpresscompany.co.uk

Hot but good

A long day. Hot, sweaty and with excellent results.

Day by day the sun has become stronger here, pushing 33-34. Although this may not seem massively hot for a desert, it does feel it, coming straight out of a winter in Europe.

Motorbike - bus - motorbike 3.5 hours and I am at my destination. A small dusty village. I have found the man i need. This man hoards these Kurtas like gold, going from village to village and buying them from households as is commonly done in the antique market. The Kurtas are what i need to make the bags.

They are antique, handmade by individulas within families and were traditionally used as wedding dress or as wedding presents among the tribes of the Thar desert which extends itself wee intio Pakistan.

I sweat through 2500 pieces and choose 33. It will take 1.5 to make one bag. The material itself does not come cheap so I cannot afford to make too many bags, as I would like to. I choose the freshest most outstanding designs.

I have the choice to stay overnight or a have a straight 2.5 hour motorbike journey back through the desert at night - it's cold. I opt for the latter. Great choice. Fantastic bike ride and a little hairy at times, the lights not working properly so luckily the moon is very bright out here. It's a little tiring trying to hold on even when driving the bike due to the rubbish track and obviously lots of stand.

I got back to my room at about 2.30 in the morning and collapsed. Very tired today.

I need to just give the material to the tailor and buy some extra litte bits like zips etc. and I'm done for the day.

Another train journey this evening going back to Jaipur about 15 hours, mostly sleeping time.

By the way have a look at The Darjeeling Ltd on youtube, a famous film, here you will see the type of scenery I am travelling through. I have also added a short video of a train ride and a motorbike ride to the bus stop yesterday.

Good day from India

dominic.

www.thesariexpresscompany.co.uk

Ok

More photo content than words as I am I am feeling a little hot and Lazy.

4 photos.

1. A boy in Jaipur were I popped in for an afternoon. He was 13. He came with a bag containing a necklace stand he had made and was trying to take orders for from all the jewellery shops. Although he looked quite angelic he certainly wasn't shy to put his foot down when it came to bargaining with the shop keeper.

2. I looked knackered. This is 5.30 in the morning after a long run. A very nice way to wake up espescially considering the views I had for breakfast at sunrise, see pic 3/4

3. Breakfast table. 3 omlettes 1 porridge two fruit salads.

4. The view at breakfast. Together with the tinkling sounds of bells in the wind from the nearby Jain temple and whisp of incense you couldnt ask for much more to start the day.

I will travel today to a village around 50 km from here to find my material for the bags.

Good day from India.

dominic

www.thesariexpresscompany.co.uk

day 5/6

Day5/6


I had a lovely mutton meal with chicken biryani, dahl and
flat bread at a suppliers house 2 nights back. We all sat on the floor, or at
least the male family members and ate a lot. Infact 2 hours solid eating. The
meal was finished with countless bowls of fruit and rasmalai, sweet curd
dumplings in a yellowy sweet aromatic milk.

Next day was a buying of jewellery day. I used to buy silver
and gems. As we have a retail show coming up in May I thought I might buy a few
necklace and bracelets designs. These are now being made and having rhodium
plating put on, this is so the silver doesn’t oxidise – go black as all silver
tends to. Hopefully they will be ready in 3 days time. I have had pieces made which I will be
able to adapt to the wholesale market.

I caught the train last night to Jaisalmer, noth west India
quite near Pakistan. It left at 12 midnight and arrived at 11 am midday.
Wonderful journey. 2nd class AC compartment. 4 beds to a room albeit
without the 4th wall. The girl on the bed below mine had a fright
with a rat or two and kicked up a big fuss. She was ordering her husband to go
and get the guard etc, he sheepishly went and I swear he was mumbling curses to
himself under his breath whilst walking away. Myself and another fellow traveller,
an old French man who was on the bunk bed opposite mine were giggling together.
It all made for some very happy colourful dreams. I woke feeling great at 9am
and quickly went and opened the door to the train between compartments, sat
down and watched the shrubby desert fly by. A wonderful way to start the day
whilst chatting to Frenchy who has been visiting the area since 1978.

Jaisalmer is a beautiful fort town, in the middle of the
Thar dessert which runs into Pakistan. Tourism seems to be the main income
although we are not in high season. I am currently sitting on the roof terrace
eating eggs and goats milk, cheap and healthy. The weather feels to be about 30
and the cheap room that I have found, is all I could ask for, well sort of . It’s
large, has a double bed a single sofa a large bathroom and loads of windows.
The walls are clay inside and the feeling is of a simple solid room with just a
few lovely pieces in it. The hotel is part of the fort so the views from my
many windows are quite astounding looking
over this shrubby desert,all for £4.50.

I shall let the weather cool down a little then stroll in to
the warm evening and start asking around for the bits I am after.

Good day from India,
Dominic.

www.thesariexpresscompany.co.uk

day 4

A long but quite fruitful day.

I woke at six to take a cold Delhi morning rickshaw ride to the bus stop. My rickshaw driver Vinod is wrapped up and around with a large Khaki blanket covering his body as well as his head. We arrive at the stop have a cup of tea together and I jump on the bus.

Seven hours later, it is considerably warmer maybe 27/28 and I am in a small town maybe 100 miles north of Jaipur. Here I have contacts and a few friends.

Currently I am on the rooftop of my guesthouse in the town drinking chai and lassi and eating fruit. It’s a little chilly but very much bearable in a long sleeved shirt buttoned to the top. Traditional music is being played just down the road which is floating up to me here, there are hand drums, a sitar and a little singing, all very pleasant and when the music dies down between sets, you can hear the crickets. I think it is a wedding party.

Immediately on arrival today and I am on the search for a lovely antique material once made predominantly in Afghanistan and Pakistan but also in the very west of India in the Thar desert. This material is what I want my newest product – bags, to be made from. These bags are not to be mixed up with the other cotton printed bags referred to yesterday. I have seen these bags made before but thought it better to go to the origins to find the best stuff I can afford and have them made just right.

I find the material I am after, it’s expensive, but you can see the quality and originality. The material was traditionally made to make dresses and often wedding dresses for the nomadic desert tribes and particular muslim families. It is all handmade and you get what you pay for, there are lots of different styles and qualities the roughest looks a little or a lot hippy whilst the very well looked after cuts of material look fantastic, very much bohemian chic and a definite cut away from the hippy. I cannot wait to start designing (that’s quite an elaborate word).

I shall also have a look elsewhere in a few days time skirting around larger towns like Bikaneer and Jodphur to see if the material can be found there as I have been told.

Goodnight from India.

Dominic

www.thesariexpresscompany.co.uk

Day 3.

6.30 start and a huge breakfast very nice.

Today I found a man who will print names and designs on bags.

Don't want to say too much now as there is still the possibility it may not happen but iI am very excited about it. Infact I couldn't get to sleep last night as all the ideas were turning around my head.

I have brought out a really beautiful pair of earrings bought for my wife in Italy, I will try and get them made for me and therefore for you. Hopefully you can see them clearly in the picture.

One funny thing. Whilst crossing the road today I saw a traffic policeman bend down towards the back of a bicycle rickshaw that was parked up with the owner standing next to it chatting to friends. The policeman twisted the tyre tube cap ( where you pump up the tyres) and let out the air. The bike owner looked shocked the polliceman didn't care. From what I gathered the bike was not meant to be loitering at the entrance. Bikeman soon learnt his lesson.

Goodnight from India.

dominic

www.thesariexpresscompany.co.uk

Day two.

It took ages to get started today due to my love of chai /
sweet indian tea.
Sitting outside in the morning sun sipping tea on the
street and eating a couple of pappadoms, well, one tea stall led to another. And by the time I was finished it was
lunch time. I heartily tucked into some delicious South Indian masala Dosa, two
infact. A dosa looks like a piece of A4 paper rolled into a large open tube,
the tube which is a spiced battered paste is stuffed with fried vegetables,
there is a side dip of sambar and peppered coconut chutney. I love them, I
think being greedy I could probably eat 5 or 6.

I have struck a deal with a man who sells bags. It looks
likely that we will stock them. I have put in a small first order of 200 units.
These are the bags mentioned yesterday and there is a photo
you can see. The length and width are about 40cm the opening depth is roughly
32 cm. These are the most durable bags I have come across and have used them
myself for some years. With bright iconic prints of tea adverts and animals,
sounds a little strange; they are, but a little quirkiness and a dash of cool
originality mixed with solid durability and you’ve got a winning combination.
I shall retail these at The Spirit of Summer show in May.

Wholesale price is estimated to be £6-8. They are being made
now. I am to pick them up in 10 days or so, fingers crossed.

This deal took half the day. The rest of the day I wandered
around markets, to see if anything
caught my eye. I happened to stumble across a beautiful little street in the
heart of this chaotic city. It was pretty narrow, no cars just a few bikes. The
street had a natural shade due to the bending leafy trees on each side. The houses were all shack
like bungalows all attached running up either side of the road. The lovely
thing was everybody in the family seemed to be outside kids were playing with
their bikes and kites, younger children
were playing with their baby sisters and brothers, more kids were playing
cricket and drawing with chalk on the street, groups of women were chatting away
and a few of the old men had brought out their beds and were dozing off.
Everyone enjoying this little oasis of a
road. All the doors, when there were some, were open. A very sociable
street indeed.

The evening was spent eating fruit salads, drinking tea and
talking to inquisitive strangers.

I’m off now. Tomorrow will certainly be a busier day.

Good night from India,
Dominic. The Sari Express Company. www.thesariexpresscompany.co.uk

1. Venice to India

So the journey here took a long time. Door to door over 25 hours. No sleep. I was too thrilled on the plane to sleep as I flew over Iraq the Tigris, the oil fields and into Muscat, Hindi movies helped to keep me goggled eyed
India has beautiful weather at the moment about 27. I had a usual hair raising auto rickshaw ride into town from the airport, cheaper than taxis and much better fun.
Ive already got my eye on some very Kitsch shopping bags with iconic prints. Ive used these myself for the past 5 years and they just don't break. Let's see, the chap is asking for double the price that I will pay so it may take a while. I will hopefully post a photo tomorrow.
Cows, donkeys, monkeys and camels to name just a few of the animals seen on the road. Hot pakora, samosas, channa masala and uttapam washed down with lime water has been on the menu today. Im stuffed, tired, excited and dirty and smelly all at once.
Will try my hardest to post tomorrow.

Goodnight from India,
dominic
The Sari Express Company

VENICE TO DELHI

This blog will begin on 10th March or 11th March evening......do you like the bag? check out www.thesariexpresscompany.co.uk for further info on where you can see us next.
take care. dominic