Day 2 - Indigo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo_dye

Had lunch in a small village that was something of a magnet for tour buses. Our guide, however, took us not only to a small, very quiet and good restaurant but also, by weaving through the back streets of the village, to a beautiful indigo shop.
The shop was owned and worked by one family, who could well have lived there as well. The wares, all made with natural plant based indigo and in the ancient tradition, were gorgeous. This stop was early on in the trip and, sensitive to travel weight restrictions that would be coming up, we refrained from buying anything. In retrospect that was an error. In looking for gifts to bring home and despite the fact that everything seems to be made in China we never saw anything of real quality again.

The last image is a bit abstract. It is the fabric resting on the vat of dye as seen in the 2nd image. I seem to have fallen in love with the little bit of red in the picture so indulged in posting it.