Tuesday 26th February 2019

Agra to Delhi

The neatly trimmed lawns and flowerbeds in the grounds of the hotel were covered with leaves and debris this morning from yesterday’s storm.  A small army of gardeners were diligently sweeping and tidying.

Devendra picked us up at 10am for our drive to Delhi.  He stopped at a small electrical shop to purchase some batteries on our behalf.  The batteries for our alarm clock had run out and we will need it for our extremely early morning flight tomorrow.  The cost for each of the batteries was a ridiculously cheap 8 rupee, the equivalent to just 0.10 euros!

The three, four and in some places five lane Yamuna Expressway is the fastest route to cover the 200 kilometre or so drive to Delhi. Once more we saw some ridiculous driving, a couple of vehicles were driving along the hard shoulder in the wrong direction.  Speed limits along the highway varied between 75km and 100km but apparently speeds of 150km were often recorded.  Huge signs advised drivers to overtake on the right and to indicate before doing so but this advice was largely ignored.  The journey was quite monotonous; there were no little towns or villages along the way.

Nearing Delhi, we passed the Buddh International Formula 1 circuit.  There have been three Grand Prix races at this new site to date.

Our hotel close to the airport was at the side of a main highway next to many other hotels. Our stay would be short, we had just 12 hours before we needed to leave for the airport.  After saying a fond farewell to Devendra we checked in and after depositing our luggage in our room we headed to the comfortable looking bar.  However, this was a bar without alcohol so we settled for a couple of soft drinks. The lack of alcohol was apparently due to politics. More than two years ago the government revoked all alcohol licences to hotels that were within 500 metres of a main highway due to the many accidents caused by drinking and driving.

The bar manager told us that a short while later, the law was changed and hotels within the city boundary were once again permitted to have their licences.  “Unfortunately these licences have to be reapplied for and this is India and therefore it takes time” he added.

Dave and I sat relaxing, reminiscing about the fabulous time that we have had here in India, it has been truly fascinating –  smog shrouded cities, grid locked roads, erratic driving, blaring horns, crumbling architecture, architectural delights, beggars, peaceful temples, majestic mosques, happy smiling  people, colourful, vibrant, noisy, dirty, pilgrimages, rubbish piles, spicy foods, pristine palaces, excellent guides, marvellous memories– all of this make up Incredible India!

Once again we agree on our favourite place – Varanasi – for so many reasons, the atmosphere, the faithful pilgrims, life (and death) on the ghats, the colours…

Will we visit again?  Oh we do hope so!

 

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