Homeward Bound From DEL

Today was pleasant and a fairly relaxed way to spend our final day in India. Our driver picked us up at 10:30 a.m. and we headed toward the Red Fort. It turns out the Red Fort is closed today, possibly for security reasons, as there were even more police and soldiers present than we've seen previously in various locations, some even lurking behind the sandbag bunkers which are surprisingly common.

We spent some time in Old Delhi, where Ellyn and Haley ventured into a mosque and the rest of us didn't, wandered around a couple of bazaars, enjoyed our farewell-to-India lunch at Lazeez Affaire recommended by Jitten, and enjoyed driving around Delhi one final time before Raj, our excellent driver, dropped us off at the Hilton to pick up our bags.

Now we're sitting in the very warm contract lounge at DEL, Indira Gandhi International Airport, and waiting to board our flight to EWR and onward.

Tom is coughing, Brian is still suffering from a touch of Delhi Belly, and Kathy still misses her wallet and all those shiny credit cards that were stolen. Still, despite everything - or perhaps because of all of our good and not-so-good experiences - India has proven to be an amazing place to visit, and one that's truly unique in our experience.