Wednesday 19th February 2020 - to Delhi

Up early this morning as we wanted to try and get some photos of the mountains in the clear morning light, before the haze descends/ascends! Even so they are so far away that photos aren’t great, but we enjoyed the view and 30 minutes exercise, half of it up a steep uphill, was good before breakfast.

And now it’s back on the road to Chandigarh to get our flight to Delhi. On the way out of Shimla we could see the walkways constructed by the sides of the road and jutting out over the precipice below.

On all the journeys there have been stalls along the side of the road. I understand food, drink, which includes sugar cane juice, fruit and vegetables, but to see piles of rattan chairs or large soft toys in a lay-by or carpets draped over bushes or the barrier is beyond me. We wonder how much business they do and assume trade must be reasonable otherwise they wouldn’t be there.

We were informed this morning that at midday yesterday in Shimla there was an earth tremor.

In some ways I would have liked to have been there just to know what a little tremor feels like, but a big tremor would be terrifying and particularly when this city is all perched on the sides of the mountains. The devastation of a large quake could be horrendous.

Our journey to Chandigarh takes just over 3 and a half hours. Gradually we wound our way down the mountain sides and after we had stopped for a break finished the last of the mountain roads and were back to much flatter territory.

There are no blue skies today. The first time since we landed here 20 days ago. It is overcast! There is also so much haze, even though it is windy.

We said farewell to Ram at the airport. He really has done a stirling job driving us around safely.

Then it was back to all the hanging around that you do at airports.

Once back in Delhi we checked in at our hotel for the night and had a meal. Our last vegetarian meal, maybe?!

Being vegetarian has not been a problem, although Geoff was drooling over a chicken leg the other day!!! What’s been harder has been keeping off salads, particularly when some of them look so fresh and lush. But we have maintained discipline! I’m looking forward to sausage and chips! Some of the food has been absolutely delicious. What has irritated us at times is the price. We really have felt ripped off at some places, especially when the same dish has been eaten elsewhere for a quarter the cost.

We are looking forward to not having to refrain from turning the tap on when we clean our teeth, to not having to use hand gel, to not having to think about whether a dish has meat or salad, or sometimes removing salad items before eating anything. But it has served its purpose. Just one iffy day in 3 weeks and that didn’t stop us doing anything.

At the moment both of us feel like our heads our bursting with all the things we have seen, done, heard and experienced over the last 3 weeks. I now understand why people head to Goa for a few days downtime before heading home!

This may or may not be the last blog from this adventure. I’ll see how the mood takes me tomorrow!