Delhi then home... Reluctantly...

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The journey from Goa to delhi was our longest yet, a mammoth train on a high speed 29 hour trip covering 2029km in one hit. We got settled in and soon enough we were on our way, i'd bought a book from the station and the only english they had that looked even remotely interesting was Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, si i bought it for the voyage back home. on the train ride, a guy came up to me and asked for a lighter, we chatted and had a few cigarettes and discovered that we were goin to delhi together and were both flying out the next day, he was going home to england as were we but we were on different flights. arriving in delhi after a good 30 hours and we all clubbed in together and got a taxi to the Pahar Ganj for our last night in india. On our way to the pahar ganj we came to a set of lights where a riot was going on over the road, police in full padded armor with hundreds of people throwing rocks at them and generally being violent, we found out later that there had been some dispute over the building of a mosque, the indian government refused to give permission for the building of the mosque so the muslims just went ahead and built it anyway. The indian authorities then turned up and knocked it down again so the muslims kicked off over the destruction of a building that shouldn't have been built in the first place... fairs fairs children... We went to stay at the hotel we'd stayed in prior but it was full so we went next door and got a room for the night.

The Pahar Ganj had changed... it was still a dive but it had a few more classy looking shops in it than from 10 weeks previous, the urinals had been ripped out and replaced with nice new ones at the end of our alley, the tarmac had been patched up in places, a few permanent bollards had appeared here and there but the place still felt the same, there was still a permanent beige fog, it still smelt exactly the same, the same people were there selling the same things but not many of them bothered me now... they just all smiled and nodded... maybe its because i was wearing all indian clothing or because i had a little more colour to me or i was walking with a little more confidence but i wasn't harrased by anyone that night.

The morning came and with our bags packed and the last of our rupee's spent, we got in a taxi at 6.30am and went to the airport. The journey back to england was pretty swift and painless, we were sat across the aisle from two bollywood stars who were getting super preferential treatment for the trip to munich but that didn't matter as i spent most of the flight asleep. We got back to blighty and everything changed, even the way you walk down the street had to change. I am glad to be home but i'm definately not finished with india yet! i still have the south to do. I made a resolution of sorts when it comes to travel: Not if... When! I made some good friends on my journey around the subcontinent, friends i hope i'm gonna have for a long time to come and who knows, maybe we'll travel together again... To be continued...

Being away in such a large place really made me appreciate how tiny Britain is, now there's no excuse for not having travelled in my own country. Travel in Britain however is different. The train journey from Manchester to Scarborough felt longer than the journey from Goa to Delhi because during the journey from Goa to Delhi, theres always people walking up and down selling food, drink, chai, newspapers, magazines, toys cigarettes and more chai,everyone on board the train is a potential friend you haven't met yet and will make an effort to be such where as Manchester to Scarborough, we were just sat... waiting... feeling every second of time drag out to the next... nothing to do, nowhere to go, just waiting... for the apocalypse or our stop, whichever came first.

Arrival back in my town was a very strange thing, it didn't feel real! i still knew every crack in the pavement and every blade of grass and in a few ways it didn't feel like i'd ever left but now i'm home, safe and sound, complete with fresh culture shock. The welcome we've had from our friends has been imense! and we thank all of you for making our home coming so massive! I'm gonna go away again just so i get the same welcome😊

So thats India '10-'11. I'll be back, don't you worry. It won't be shanti shanti for too long, i promise. 😊

Love and Peace. Alan and Jilly.

Special thanks to James, Rebecca, Andrea, Rachel, Oliver, George, Yigor, Galia, Bobo, Mark, Stuart, Michael, Myriam, Mark, Robert the Bruce, John, Duncan, Peter, Milly, Glen, Banti, Nich(with a H) and anyone else we've forgotten to mention... You guys made it an experience that we'll take to the grave.

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