End of Travellator...

January 30th

We got up and started Tetrising all our stuff into the huge bag. Kamal brought over the sitar – while Mike was in the shower and I was still in bed – and of course he wanted to say hello to his friend Mike. So I tried to get him out of the bathroom. Then Mr. J, of Namaste, wanted to meet with us, so we met him downstairs – he paid Mike back the 4000 rupees that he had loaned Hukam in Rishikesh, and told us he hopes to see us again, and that he plans to visit the U.S. sometime in the next two years. We told him he was welcome to stay with us, if he would like. We got all the stuff into our huge bag – heavy – and we left it in the cloak room at the hotel ‘til later.

We went to out to the same Emporium that Prem took us to on our first day in Delhi – Mr. “Harry Potter” recognized us – he turned bright red when we walked in (?). I had some coffee (yuck), because they said they didn’t have any chai – even though, just a few minutes later, Mike got some chai anyway. Harry told me that all my stuff was already shipped and gave me a tracking number for the package – so that is a good development – maybe the package will be there before we get home? We looked at some statues – they had some cool unusual ones, but we weren’t really looking for us, at this point. A lady working there laughed when Mike asked for Jesus statues for his parents, and then I laughed when he asked for a Patanjali statue and they didn’t know what it was. He got a little Jesus carving, and then we got a few nick-nacks for little gifts, and then it was time to go pick up the photos. They were ready when we got there (I REALLY didn’t think they would be, so that was also a nice surprise!), and we bought the album. Then we went to have something to eat at the “Tempting Restaurant” across the street from the Hotel Apra. We were the only ones there – but the food was good. We put the photos in the album before and after food. We decided it was time to leave soon, when water started coming up from a hole in the floor and flooded our part of the restaurant. We had these guys at the hotel load up our stuff – I sat in the back seat with the sitar and wrote our note to Hukam in his book. We talked to Mr. J on the phone and said goodbye once again.

We hugged Hukam and gave him the photo album along with a gift for Lata, and his tip for taking us all over India for a month!
I’m glad we got to the airport early because it is kinda confusing – but now we wait until our ticket counter opens up…

(At least you know which bathroom to go into... ladies into the side with the huge photo of a pretty lady, gents into the side with the guy in a turban... - at Delhi Airport)

(In Amsterdam; we had a layover on our way from Delhi to home, so we finally got to play in the giant tea set...)

(End of Travellator ) As we rode to the airport, even though I am soooo ready to go home, I got a bit teary-eyed at the thought that, tonight, we will be leaving India…

But we will be back!