Last day in India and a sad farewell

What a sad day. I have had so much fun in Nepal and India but this is my last day. At the beginning the trip seemed so long but as time went on, time went faster and faster. I don’t think it was till we had our last bus trip, then our last train trip that is really set in that the days are numbered.

My last day started slow as roomie had had a good dose of gastro overnight which had left her a bit sluggish so the start of the day was on the seats in the reception area of the hotel (free wi-fi) catching up on emails, flights etc. We did eventually get going about 12 and headed back to Connaught Place to find that illusive market. It appears that it is down the street we tried yesterday but we just didn’t walk far enough. Along the way we stopped for lunch at Pizza Hut. Who would have thought my last meal in India would have been a margarita pizza from a multinational but as it turned out that is what it was. It was nice to sit there and savour the pizza before the haggling and bargaining that was to come. I wasn’t intending to buy anything but sometimes you get caught in the moment so I brought a miniature Taj and two bags. Jackie, who had absolutely no room left in her back pack brought more to fit who knows where in her backpack. It was alot of fun for our last day.

Dodgy scaffolding

A street market that proved to be expensive for Jackie and I

We retreated early from the markets as roomie’s belly was not behaving. We ended up doing a power walk back to the hotel. Soon my room (technically) became the packing station as the girls were meant to be going to a nearby hotel for the night. With Elisca resting in bed, Jackie and I starting lugging the backpacks over to the other hotel in two trips. On my final trip and with a heavy backpack on I got chatted up by some guy. He was trying to guess which country I was from and as per usual never got it right (phew) so I carried on. The only problem was I had to go past him to get back to my hotel. I got offered a cup of tea on the way passed and I had a nice smile to myself. The plan was to go out with the rest of the group but things changed and I stayed behind with Elisca and Raj as they had a bit of fun with a new computer. Elisca decided to stay the night at my hotel which was nice. At least I had someone to say good-bye to even if she was sick and half asleep. I left the hotel at 4.30am on a very foggy and somewhat cold morning. As a reminder of the driving in India the car that I was in had a close call with a van. Call it Pavlovian conditioning but I didn’t feel myself flinch which is a worry. And so ends my Nepal and India story.

Just a few points

My favourite places?

1.      Taj – a dream fulfilled

2.      Kathmandu – chaotic with great, cheap food

3.      Ganges at Varanasi – you hear about it but seeing it is another thing

My favourite memories?

·         An awesome guide in India (thanks Raj)

·         A beautiful roommate for 20 days

·         A great bunch of travelling companions (we got along so well)

·         The night at Thordi Ghar

·         Elisca’s response on the bus when we had a near miss with a truck (near miss might be an understatement!)

·         Wearing a sari for a whole night and the thing not falling off

Favourite eat?

·         Steamed momo in Nepal

·         Dossa in Delhi

Favourite photograph?

Final words

This trip would not have been what it was without the people that I travelled with.

Raj, you were fantastic. I know you were as sad as we were that the trip had finished and it sort of feels like we have abandoned you but you have left us with lasting memories especially of the time that you gave us at the end of the tour. You never seemed to get stressed out (at least outwardly) and you were so easy going. I promise I will do the feedback form but it is currently about 4000 kms away in Cairns. Please stay in touch Raj.

Elisca, words cannot describe what a  privilege it was to share with you. You are a beautiful woman who will land an amazing man one day. I loved your honesty and strangely we had a similar wit. Love you sis.

Jackie and Alex, I still have a quiet laugh when I see the picture of Alex walking the Annapurna circuit in a skirt...such a girlie girl on this trip that seemed so ungirly. Jackie, you have an amazing sense of humour which I can’t wait to meet again on Friday (I won’t let a natural disaster like a flood stop me...hopefully)

I will stop there before I really embarrass myself and others. Thank you to all my travelling companions. It’s a shame it didn’t last longer.

The last days: Delhi

We arrived in Delhi at about 7.30am, piled back into a bus for the last time L and headed to the hotel. The streets around the hotel were still quite quiet and after what seemed like a bit of a search we got to the Hotel Dreamland in Karol Bargh. Time for a shower and then off to see what Delhi has is store.

Arriving at Delhi train station. We all look like zombies

I must say that the Metro train is mighty impressive when compared to what we have seen for public transport in India. I think, us woman were probably more impressed than the men because we got our own (along with other women) carriage on the train away from the guys who were travelling cramped cattle class in the carriages behind. It was the first time in India where us as women had something over the men and meant that we felt a bit safer from pick pockets etc. The poor guys were very cramped back there while we were basically the only ones standing in our carriage.

What a lovely sign...just for us women

We made it to the old part of Delhi (Chandni Chowk) and walked to the Red Fort where the paparazzi was at its worst for Jackie and Alex. J walking also proved to be a bit more challenging than other towns. We walked to a mosque which some walked to and others (me) didn’t choosing rather to be steered at by some mentally unstable person (not by choice). We walked down some little alleyways through some really old buildings. I am fairly sure you could get truly lost in these alleys without some knowledge.

The Red Fort in Delhi

Before the onslaught of cameras

Streetscape of Delhi

The small alleys of the main streets of Delhi

The alleys obviously make a good motorbike park to

Shopping opportunities in old Delhi

 Eventually we made it back to the railway station and went to Connaught Place to see a bit of modern Delhi. This was where Raj left us and off we went for lunch of dossa’s. A dossa is a massive crispy crepe roll with a bit of potato masala in it (see pic). Despite being really oily, it was really nice and kept me going for the rest of the day.

New Delhi

Elisca and her Dossa



Almost didn't put this one in (weird face!) but this is me and my dossa



 After lunch we attempted to find some markets that Raj had suggested but just couldn’t find them so returned via the Metro to the hotel and watched TV which was probably a good move considering the lack of sleep last night. Tonight was our last group dinner, although Michael had already left for Australia. Tonight was chicken tikka. I think I am curried out and need a break and the chicken tikka was just right along with the long island iced tea. After dinner we retreated to Michael’s now vacant room to have farewell drinks. I think this was dampened due to the lack of sleep that most of us had last night and at least for me it was an early-ish night unfortunately.

The track to Delhi: Another train trip and more laughs

Morning awoke and off we went in search of breakfast again and with no surprise we headed back to the Lotus for a bit of jam and toast and then it was shopping time and shop we did. More pashminas and more scarfs. I don’t know why...I live in the tropics. The coldest it got was 16 degrees this year, hardly a reason to buy scarfs! We went for a wander around the jewellery stores but I didn’t buy any as it didn’t really seem that cheap. All in all, it was a good day of haggling and having some fun with the local sales people.

We had to get back to the hotel by 5pm in order to catch the train to Delhi. To get from the hotel to the train station we had to take a tuk tuk ride and I felt sorry for the tuk tuk because it had two of us plus our backpacks (and one of them was not too light) but surprisingly we past two other tuk tuks from our group but the driver was getting some encouragement.

Back in the train again and with some swopping of beds I finally got a top bunk by the door AGAIN compounded by the fact there was no ladder to get up there when the time came to go to bed. We filled in some time with UNO which Jackie is queen of. Then, we had the pleasure of watching Jackie eat a meal from a stall at one of the stations (a bit of a risk) especially when you eat the hot pickles on your first bite and end up with a burning mouth and turning into a bright shade of red. Bed time came and a clamber up the beds to the top only to discover an air conditioning duct right by my bed which led to a rather chilly night. For the most part I had a light annoying me and it was only at 6am when I got Eric to turn off the fan that I found out that we had the light switch!!!!! Because of the air conditioning duct I turned myself around (somehow) and put my head by the door which proved to be my best move all night – I just had to make sure that I didn’t hang my head over the end and get my head jammed in the door like my feet were. Apparently the only bed is a short bed in an Indian train. Overall, it was a cold night with some sleep but not much!