June 30, 2016
Week 66: Delhi: five last days in India
We have hired another taxi to take us to Delhi. Going by bus or train would be a lot cheaper, but we would have to find transportation to and from the bus station on both ends, keep track of all our gear, and deal with the bicycles. Now we have a taxi to pick us up at our hotel and drop us off at our warmshowers host on the other end.
There is a slight hiccup when our driver thinks the bikes are too large for his roofrack, but with some pushing and sliding he gets it tied down to his liking. Part of the issue is that Delhi cops do not allow roof loads and could stop us to try to extract a "fine" (bribe), so when we get close to Delhi our driver tries to camouflage the bikes with a blanket.
It is about 400 km from Amritsar to Delhi, it takes us about 8 hours. We pass through a huge thunderstorm, hopefully the beginning of the monsoon for northern India.
Our Warmshowers hosts live in a rural area just south of Delhi, to get there we use the GPS to navigate on the ringroad around Delhi, then find our way to the house. Karan explains to us later that many Indians are nervous about coming to their house because they feel uneasy outside their built-up environment. It explains why our driver is so nervous and almost refused to believe the GPS when Patrick directs him into the "bush".
We stay four nights with Karan and his wife Mussarat in the house Karan's parents built. Karan's father is an international dog show judge and leaves for Australia the day after we arrive, his mother also works outside the house but makes sure we are very well taken care of. We have many tasks on our list, Karan's and Mussarat's help makes things so much easier.
First of all we arrange for our tickets to Dushanbe, we end up buying direct flights on Tajik Air, cheaper and more convenient than the other options we had considered. Next is ordering a new camera for Rachel since hers died in Keylong just before riding the Leh highway. We are able to find the same older Sony model, on the Indian Amazon.com and are able to get it in two days. Next, we need bike boxes and some replacement brakepads.
With the great help and transportation Karan and Mussarat provide, we tick off a task or two every day. In addition we see some of Delhi's sights, but it is just too hot and humid to spend much time outside.
On our last day in Delhi we all go to an "American Diner" for brunch, we find some Belgian Leffe beer and plenty of Kingfisher lager. Thank you Karan and Mussarat for making our last days in India so carefree and enjoyable!
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