Pondi

Today we had no plans so we made it about shopping. We had been harassed by many a bag saleswoman, metal sculpture salesman, tuktuk drivers and jewellery makers. But eventually we did finds shops we liked.

A juice to get us started then we found a man making sandals. They were 800 rupees each (about $16) and were just beautifully made of leather with suede soles. Mum and Dad got a pair each but couldn’t talk the kids into getting some too! Lunch was (finally) at a genuine Indian place, Biryani for Dad so he can send a selfie to the Dad’s curry group back home! Dad got a haircut and Lara hung out on a swing at FabIndia while Mum shopped.

With some confidence behind us we went again in the afternoon. Just up the road from our hotel was a Crocs shop! Never would have thought we would happen upon that and even more surprising was that Dad and Stanley both bought a pair so that no-one missed out. ‘Never in a million years would I buy crocs’ Stanley had previously declared. To be fair so had Dad! A croc shot had to be done!

Lara was on a mission to find a nail shop and Dad happened upon a shop which had the brightest coloured shirts and it was his comfortable happy place. With shirts at around $20 we were saving around $80 a pop so on girl maths the 13 shirts saved about $1k NZD! Should have bought more!! Four pairs of trousers ensured the savings were enhanced further!Read more