goodbye to Delhi

We made the long drive from Jiapur to Delhi on Tuesday. The drive took five hours. We traveled along the highway for most of the drive. There was a lot of construction happening as they work to make overpasses and entrance ramps. We were welcomed back to the Thikana B&B with the comment "Oh my God, they're back.". We all had a good laugh. No mistaking the sound of my three children entering a room! It felt like coming home after traveling around for six days. It was nice to see some familiar faces of the long-term guests, the owner, and the kind staff. We decided to go back to one of the boys favorite spots in Delhi called Jamali Kamali. There are ruins that have been excavated and partially re built. The kids enjoyed climbing around on the structures and letting loose a little. The highlight of this spot is the well. You have in your mind a typical water well, right? This well has that right in the middle, and then a big structure built all around it. It looks like it had bathing and swimming areas when it was used back in the day. There are lots of "secret stairways" that lead to new and interesting levels. Just as we began to explore at the well, we were swarmed by a group of school boys, looked to be about Yves's age. Do you know what they noticed first? Brian's tattoos! I heard the words dragon and snake mixed into their Hindi as the jockeyed for position to get a closer look. Then they followed me all around the well very closely. They seemed more interested in me and Brian than the kids. Once we had provided enough entertainment to the kids, we headed back to the car and called it a day.

Today we bid farewell to Vinah, our fearless, kind,and safe driver who took us all the way around the Golden Triangle. God bless him for spending 10 days in a car with the Geyer family. He's heading back to his home in Jaipur because this is the slow season for tourists. As we flew south, I was struck with a bit of melancholy because this is probably the only chance I'll have to visit these beautiful places in India. I spent some time reviewing in my mind all the amazing things we saw.