High Himalayan Heavens :Part eight

Day 16 and 17 -

Last entry in my journal, the last two days of our amazing journey. We woke up late ,pampered ourselves for the last time at the hot springs. Vivek and I walked down Kalath and crossed an unstable bridge to the other side of the river bed,and discovered a natural hot spring,it was a rarity to watch the hot water bubbles. Our bus to Delhi was at 5pm. We bought the last set of purchases,with shawls being exchanged,jams being bought,2 kg of apples ,we were settled in the bus at 530pm. The bus didn't start till about 6pm. We bid our final goodbye to Hari bhai, Shabu,Neelu,Negi and Amit rana,and of course,Pobu,velu and Tarle who were ending their vacation for another week. The bus journey was tolerable , but he stopped often to fill up the remaining seats.

Reached Delhi at 6am. After a great deal of debate on what to do, we took two AC rooms in Karol Bagh for the day. After freshening up,we planned the course of the day. Even though all of us (largely vivek) wanted to go to Ram leela maidan and support Anna Hazare break his fast,we decided otherwise. We left for Chandni chowk at 10am,in Metro! :) Very convenient. First stop, Paranthewala. Inspite of the shabby and unclean lanes,the food was exceptional! We had rounds of all the different types of paratas offered there. Satiated , we went to Red fort. It was noon, and the heat was getting to us. Vidya and Vivek ,complained about the heat and were horrible lethargic. We had some enthusiasm for a while,before all of us followed suit and very lackadaisical . Red fort was magnificent ,and had so many patriotic stories to tell us, but we were zapped of energy. Vivek,in the meantime, made calls to Raghav at Bangalore,to find out directions to a place called Karims , supposedly the best chicken in the city. We meandered through the by-lanes of Jama Majid and it opened up to the Sunday Muslim market. All of us were just tired and needed food. We found out way to Karims,it was right opposite to one of the gates of Jama Masjid . It was closed on the occasion of Ramzan. We had lunch at the neighboring restaurant called Al-Jawahar. The non vegetarians couldn't stop exclaiming about their mutton and chicken. We ,vegetarians ,had lost their appetites long before we even entered the place. We took the metro back to the room at Karol Bagh. Bairy and PV went to the UPSC guy's house to collect PV's US-returned suitcase. Vidya,Viek and I lost our way from the Jhandewalan station to the hotel. Booked a taxi for 6pm , PV's flight was at 8:30pm and ours at 8:55pm. With ample time in our hands, we finished our security clearance and were watching the runway from the food court of Delhi Airport. On the way down the steps,in the airport, I managed to slip and twist my ankle. Perfect timing! Landed at Bangalore airport at 11:30am. My ankle was swollen. Bairy, Vivek and I were reminiscing about the past two weeks. I might not have done justice to what conspired on the trip entirely. Sadly,it was the end of one of the best journey of my life.