Destination Delhi and Home

February 9-10, 2015

After our last game drive in Bandhavgarh, we drove to the airport in Jabalpur, a few hours away. There we said our goodbyes to Butch and Susi. They had a few days break before meeting up with their next guests and were returning to Tala after dropping us off. We flew back to Delhi, where we were met by a driver and escort and went back to the Sheraton Four Points Hotel and the same room we had at the start of the trip, but this time there were no raucous wedding parties across the hall.

After a good night’s rest, we spent our last day in India touring Delhi. We met our guide, Vijay, and our driver mid-morning and headed out for a tour of the city. We had a few specific things that we wanted to see but left the rest of the day up to Vijay. Our plan was to be back at the hotel by late afternoon to pack up and head to the airport at 7:30 pm for our 11:30 pm flight.

We headed to New Delhi, the seat of government within the heart of the city of Delhi, where many of the government buildings and embassies are located. These structures, along with the wide avenues that lead up to them were designed and built by the British when they ruled India. The area is green, open and pristine and stands in sharp contrast to the very bustling, crowded roads in the rest of Delhi. It was there that we saw the famous India Gate, a large triumphal arch and memorial to the 82,000 soldiers of British Indian Army who died during World War I and the Afghan war of 1919. We also drove by the houses of parliament and the Gandhi memorial.

From there we drove to old Delhi, where we made a brief stop at the Red Fort, just long enough to grab some photographs. Our main objective was a visit to nearby Chandni Chowk, one of the oldest and largest markets in Delhi. It dates back to the 1600’s, and was built by none other than the Mughal ruler Shah Jahan, who also built the Taj Mahal and many other monuments and structures during his reign.

Vijay hired two bicycle rickshaws and off we went through a maze of streets and alleys, dodging other rickshaws, carts pulled by oxen or men, bicycles, and thousands of people. Along our route we came upon a group of men staring at a television screen outside a shop. The results of a major election going on in Delhi were being counted and the “Common Man Party” was trouncing the other parties, much to our rickshaw driver’s pleasure. He proudly showed us his finger stained with purple, evidence that he had voted. We had also experienced the local election in Tala and it was fascinating to see how engaged people were in the process and in celebrating its outcome. Voter turnout is so much higher in India than in the U.S.

We left our rickshaws to wend our way through the small alleys around the spice shops in the market, doing our best to stay out of the way of the men carrying huge sacks of spices and other goods. It was an amazing sight!  Stall after stall after stall of every spice you could think of displayed in large, upright burlap bags or trays. Most of the stalls were wholesalers, but Vijay took us to a shop where we were able to purchase small packets of spices and some special teas. In addition to the fabulous Indian peppercorns, turmeric, nutmeg, mace, saffron and a wealth of other spices, A. Kumar’s had amazing blends of seasoning for different styles of biryani, garam masala and even the mixed spices to make our own wonderful masala chai at home. Needless to say we couldn’t resist and ended up leaving not only with spices, but with a couple of bags of premium Darjeeling tea as well.

Had we gone alone to Chandni Chowk, we would have lost our way, but amazingly, following close on Vijay’s heels after leaving the spice shop, we were able to find our rickshaw drivers in the mob of people. We traveled down more small alleys through the cloth and jewelry shops and saw some of the most exquisite fabrics for saris and beads along the way.

After our tour we went in search of a good place to eat lunch. Although it might have been interesting to sample the fare of the Indian McDonald's on the corner, we opted for a restaurant recommended by our guide that specialized in southern Indian fare.  It was a good choice!

After lunch, we were reunited with our car and driver and headed off to visit Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, the largest Sikh temple in Delhi. After entering the main gates, we went down to a room for visitors where we removed our shoes and socks and covered our heads with scarves, which are provided for those who don’t have their own. We waded through the shallow purifying pool at the temple entrance. Sikhism is the 5th largest religion in the world and started in the 15th century in the Indian state of Punjab. The Sikhs rejected the caste system of the Hindus and believed in one god and that all people were equal. Sikh temples are called gurudwaras meaning "Doorway to God". Inside the temple in the center of the hall on an ornate pedestal is the Guru Grantl Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs. Since the last human guru died in the early 1700's, the book is worshipped as the living Guru. We exited the temple next to an incredibly large and beautiful pool of water, where people can sit and reflect and the faithful can cleanse themselves of their sins.

Sikhism places a great emphasis on service. Everyday in Sikh temples, workers and volunteers cook a vegetarian meal, which is served free of charge to whomever wants to eat, regardless of their background. We were able to tour the huge kitchen with its huge pots over fires and the large griddle surrounded by women making chapatis. As we left, we went by the "dining room" where many people were sitting side by side on mats on the floor, enjoying their meal. Such a generous and astonishing practice.

As the afternoon wore on, we let Vijay know that we still needed to do a little shopping for gifts to bring home. We had originally planned to visit two shops that Susi had recommended, FabIndia and Central Cottage Industries Emporium, where items were sold at fixed prices. We wanted to shop without the hassle of bartering, but time was running short, and Vijay steered us to a shop featuring Kasmiri goods. We were overwhelmed by the huge selection of beautiful rugs, silk and pashmina scarves, hand painted jewelry boxes and carved elephants of all sizes. Although we made it pretty clear that we were not going to purchase any of the rugs, it did not stop the salesman from rolling them out, having us feel them, and doing everything in his power to change our minds. He even demonstrated how tightly they could be rolled up and packaged for travel home with us on the plane!  They were truly stunning, but we determinedly resisted temptation. Barb did end up with a beautiful scarf and Lydia a few mementos before leaving the shop.

We arrived back at the hotel in the late afternoon, where we thanked Vijay for our adventuresome and informative day and headed to our room to pack and freshen up before heading to the airport at 7:30 for our flight home. Fortunately for us, Barb happened to check her email at 5:30 and found an email from the airlines that had been sent out much earlier in the day, saying that our flight from Delhi direct to Newark had been cancelled. By 6:30 or so, after several phone calls, United had rebooked us on a 3:40 am flight that rerouted us through Heathrow on British Airways and United to O'Hare and then another flight on to St. Louis.  Despite our efforts to avoid Europe and Chicago in the middle of winter and to minimize our travel time and the number of legs of our journey, we ended up traveling through two of the largest and busiest airports on the planet with four flights. Once we got the flights sorted out, and rescheduled our driver to pick us up at 11:30 pm, we were able to enjoy one more Indian dinner - lamb biryani and Kingfisher beer. 

The rest of the trip was uneventful, but long! We had sprung for Economy Plus to Newark, which would have allowed for more legroom during the 16-hour flight. (United kindly refunded the cost of the upgrade.) Instead we were packed like sardines on the 9-hour British Airways flight to Heathrow. Then we had an 8-hour flight to Chicago before our final 1-hour flight to St. Louis. By the time we reached home we had experienced a 40-hour + "day" but forced ourselves to stay up until 8 pm so that we could start the process of getting over the jet lag. We always find that the return journey is the hardest part of any long trip – perhaps in large part because it means our fabulous adventures have come to an end!

Meanwhile, we are already thinking about what we’d like to do and see if we are able to return to India a second time. We barely scratched the surface of this fascinating country. We miss its diverse wildlife, habitats and cultures and its fabulous colors and flavors. Life at home felt pretty bland for a bit. Fortunately, spring has come to us and has diverted our focus somewhat. We find our longing for what we left behind when we departed Delhi is not as powerful as it was when we initially came back. Still, we manage to revisit our wonderful experience through the images we took and every conversation we have with people who want to know about the trip, so, thankfully, we do get to relive it again and again! Now, if only we could have a little poha for breakfast we’d be content to stay put for a few months, at least!