Posted by Catherine

We were up early for breakfast and prepared for another 6 hour bus ride.

Before we left Jaipur we said goodbye to one of our group members, Verena from Austria who was heading further south and not coming to Delhi with us.

Driving out of the city everyone was going about their day. Imagine navigating a busy roundabout with this “vehicle”. Now that takes a lot of nerve!

The road to Delhi was in fairly decent shape and time went by quickly. We realized this was the last we would see of the Indian countryside.

In this part of India camels and small horses appear to have replaced elephants & water buffaloes as the most basic level of transport. It was not uncommon to see drivers calmly crossing through 6 lanes of traffic at major intersections.

While we were driving Manu explained to the group that Delhi is it’s own state and New Delhi is the capital city but everyone calls it Delhi.

We saw these tiny buff coloured birds in remarkable nests at the place where we stopped for lunch. Google says they are called Baya Weaver birds.

Delhi is unbelievably massive, home to 17 million people. We drove in some very heavy traffic and came to wide boulevards, parks and large government buildings.

The fountain roundabout at the center of government secretariat area was a very photogenic place but unfortunately it was far too busy for us to get out & walk around.

We drove by the India Gate that was built between 1921-1931 as a memorial to the 70,000 Indian soldIers who died in WWI.

Delhi had a very different feel from anywhere we have been before, more affluent, modern and cleaner – at least in this part of town.

Photo below: a Hanuman temple at a busy roundabout in Delhi

The bus dropped us off close to the tour hotel. It was our turn to say goodbye to the rest of the group.

Photo below of our group taken the day before at the fort in Jaipur

We were so very lucky to have had such compatible travel companions and fantastic C.E.O. – Chief Experience Officer in Manu Rao (wearing sunglasses in the photo below)

We had used Wally’s travel points to book into an upscale hotel before we leave India. This will give us a quiet couple of days to rest and recoup before the long flight back home.

We took an Uber to the Hyatt Regency which is located pretty close to the airport. We walked into the lobby and felt like we had been transported to a different planet. With over 500 guest rooms it’s absolutely stunning.

Hot water – lots of it, soft sheets and towels, snacks including fresh fruit and veg that we haven’t eaten in a month. To quote my dad – we felt like we had died and gone to heaven! Such privileged lives we lead!

We will rest up until our flight home on Sunday night! Wally’s sinuses are still giving him grief because of the poor air quality so I don’t think we will be going too far.