What a wonderful day Janet and I have had. We were a bit worried about going after reading www.visitsouthall.co.uk . Some of the information claimed it was the 5th most deprived place in the Uk, streets are littered with rubbish etc. The other thing it mentioned was that very few westerners visit and the ones that do are normally tourists. I was also told, to watch my bag in case I got robbed or pick pocketed. So before we set off, I can honestly say we were really nervous.
We shouldn't have been, we parked in Herbert street just behind the high street. It was cleaner that some parts of Hemel Hempstead. We had to ask a few people for directions etc and both were nice. Onto the high street we went. First shop we came across was a fabulous gold jewellers, next door to that was an Indian CD/DVD shop followed by a Poundland. These shops were followed by dozens of fruit and veg, saree, fabric, homeware, music shops and cafe's. The smell was aromatic, the sounds in the distance were authentic. It was very much like stepping into a tiny area of India, hence the name 'Little India'. We were both curious as to wearing traditional Indian clothing., however after visiting and asking questions in several ladies clothing shops our minds were put to rest.
Janet decided to seek the wisdom of a Pandit (know to us as an astrologer/palm reader) WELL! that was an experience she won't forget. Very strange experience indeed! I would like to say she came out of the room full of excitiment with regard to all the things he told her about her past and her future. This was not to be the case. After spending 15 minutes holding hands and starring into the eyes of a stranger in a tiny little room or should I say a cupboard, she emerged white as a sheet and £10 the poorer. It actually was only £5 but Janet had no chance and neither did the man, so he was happy to take the £10 from her. I on the other hand had overheard some of the reading and was in fits of giggles when she emerged. We left the shop (OH I forget to mention this reading took place in the corner of a 50p for everything shop). Janet was shell-shocked by her experience and I was in hysterics...... Only Janet would wonder off the street into the most tackiest shop and start chatting to someone who turned out to be some sort of Black Magic Man... lol Well! lets just say for the record she will not be repeating this experience again and certainly not in India.
After Janet got over her ordeal we got lost several times and stumbled across the market. Which I would not recommend. We headed back to the glitz and glamour of the saree shops and got lots of advice about purchasing such attire (the advice being that we were both far too big to fit in a off the shelve saree). We did however puchase from a LOVELY shop assistant a three piece tunic set, this came with a pair of ali baba pants and a scarf. £10 each. Janet's second drama of the day was asking this manager if he could point us in the direction of the nearest public toilet. He insisted Janet use the shop toilet, so off she went as I browsed the amazing saree's and fabric on sale. She came out looking like she had just had to squat in portaloo which had not been emptied for a month. Only Janet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We had lunch in a cafe named Punjabee. Delicious................... and very cheap. £15 got us more vegi food than you could eat in a day, two bottles of water, a cup of tea (not so nice) and a slice of the most sugary sweet milk cake. The lovely staff even put our leftovers in a doggy bag, after this we found a shop selling bags of fabric for £5 so we purchased a bag each and then headed home.
We stripped our clothes of as soon as we got back to my house and tried on our new outfits. I thought we looked the part. Ellen my daughter thought we looked ridiculous. ha ha ha
I think we look great.
Karen x
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