FLIGHT HOME - FEBRUARY 24

Our flight is at 2.50 in the morning.... The flight is late, as some passengers could not make it in time, due to the many security controls... The whole airport seems to be just endless waiting queues...
Jocelyne almost had to leave her clay pot at the airport, as we are not allowed to have two carry-on bags. Even if those bags are not very big... She does not know what to do and she manages to put stuff in her checked luggage in order to have just one bag. We see other passengers who have several bags, so it seems the same security measures do not apply to everyone….

The flight is smooth, nothing to say about it. When we arrive in Milano in the morning, we hear that our continuing flights to Lyon and Marseille are cancelled due to fog. It seems quite a few Alitalia flights are cancelled, but not the ones of other airlines… It is very difficult to know what is going on, there is no staff at the counters and the staff we find do not know anything. We have to fetch our bags and there, the waiting continues…. In the departure hall, it is just big chaos. It is non-descript…. Crazy! Jocelyne and another passenger go upstairs and they find someone in an office who can get us tickets for our continuing flights. Unbelievable! Instead of flying at 9.50 am, we depart at 3.30 pm. Better than no flight at all, which would have been the case if this employee had not rescued us.

In any case, it is no wonder that Alitalia faces so many problems, as they are fully unable to find solutions. The only impression we got was that is was only chaos. Even getting a voucher for a drink and something to eat was a battle. I think that the airline cancelled many flights, as they were not full, in order to save money. The fog was just an excuse. How could the other airlines fly then? The fog was there for all airlines, wasn’t it?

Anyway, Bernadette and I we arrived in Lyon and Jocelyne in Marseille.

Conclusion: INDIA was wonderful, beautiful, incredible… noisy, smelly, friendly, funny, sad, beautiful, gorgeous, smiling, delicious…. One thing is sure: we want to get back there. As soon as possible!

INCREDIBLE INDIA is true!

And now, see you on my next trip!

LIZELLE IN GREECE

LAST DAY IN DELHI - FEBRUARY 23

After a nice breakfast in a nearby coffee shop where we had our dinner last night, we set for our day tour of Delhi. We meet Jassi right at the beginning of Main Bazaar, we don’t want him to drive again among all the stalls, cows, rickshaws on the street, that is not really meant for car traffic. Jocelyne does not come with us, as she feels tired. It was quite noisy all night long and very difficult to sleep.

We first set for the Mosque, a magnificent building. Entrance is free, but there is a hefty camera ticket…. Most tourists do have a camera, so they have to buy that ticket…and it would be a pity not to take pics there.

Pigeons are fed there, there is corn all over the ground, I don’t think it is good, as they grow in numbers very quickly and they destroy the buildings.....

Then, we visit the Gandhi Memorial, a peaceful place amidst a huge park that is kept very green. There are also magnificent dalhias.......
..Then, the absolutely beautiful Humayun’s Tomb. It is a complex of buildings of Mughal architecture. The tomb of Humayun was built in the 16^th century and it took 8 years to complete it. It is built in red stone and is surrounded by green lawns.. There are many groups of scholars who visit it, it is noisy and very funny to watch them in long processions......

............................................................................................................... ....................The smaller mausoleums on the sides are not so well preserved.......................................
Then we drive to the India Gate, one of the landmarks of Delhi. It was built from 1921 to 1931 to commemorate the Indian soldiers who were killed in WWI and the Afghan wars. The roads right around the monument are now closed to traffic, due to threats of terrorism.
After so much sightsseing, we ask Jassi to drop us near Connaught Place to start our shopping. We walk the whole afternoon and find quite a few things to buy.
In the evening, we take the metro from Connaught Place to the Railway Station. One can't get into the metro without a bag search first. It is very busy in the metro, but we luckily only have one stop. At the Train station, we try to figure out which way we need to go out to reach Main Bazaar, that is just in front of the station. It is dark now, the station is HUGE and we get lost. And numerous people want us to take a taxi or a rickshaw and give us wrong directions. We ask a police officer and he gives us the right exit. We have to walk all through the station and it is very busy. We think that we would not have managed travelling by train. It seems to be very stressful, the crowds are endless, the noise...
We have a dinner on a roof terrace, Bernadette gets her beer in a tea pot (in many restaurants, alcohol is not permitted and is sold in a discreet way). Christine offers us cute elephants as keyrings...
And our dinner is once more fantastic.....
Yummy dishes! .......................... Incredible India! We feel very sad that we have to leave tonight...
Jassi picks us up at 9.30 pm, as we'd like to be at the airport one hour later. We leave Christine behind, as her flight is tomorrow. She will spend one more night in Delhi, on her own. Bye bye, Christine, see you soon again!
It is about 10.30 pm when we arrive at the airport and there are endless queues right outside the airport. Luggage security check, check-in, safety check, passport control, another check before getting to the plane.... It takes us about 4 hours to do the whole process.... Always endless waiting queues...

BACK TO DELHI - FEBRUARY 22

After watching sunrise from the back garden of the guuesthouse, we have breakfast and then it is time to drive back to Delhi. Our holidays is coming to an end...

There are friendly dogs and a cat at the guesthouse, they keep us company.

...It takes us about 7 hours to get back to Delhi. The Shekhawati roads are not all very good and when we arrive closer to Delhi, there are a few large suburbs with crazy traffic. We get stuck in several traffic jams. We have time to take photos from the car........

Once in Delhi, we first stop in front of the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir, a beautiful Hindu temple. ...We visit the inside as well, magnificent, but no photo allowed....

Then, Jassi takes us to Bobby for the final payment. Then, to the hotel, Hotel Namaskar, off Main Bazaar, in a tiny alley. Driving along Main Bazaar is an experience! Still, Jassi is a very experienced driver and he does not drive over any cow or rickshaw…

Our hotel is not that great, the bathroom is awful, but it is in the middle of the hustle and bustle, so we can walk Main Bazaar and have a look at the many shops. There are also plenty of nice places to eat everywhere.

http://www.hotelnamaskar.com/index.php