Back to Delhi

We have never, ever, ever, ever, ever seen such bedlam and chaos on the roads as we saw in the taxi on the way to the Varanasi airport. The sheer density of the traffic of all kinds in all directions was completely overwhelming and the noise was unbelievable. Toss in the fact that our taxi had no aircon and all our windows were wide open for us to take in the full extent of the fumes, along with the fact that the suitcases were strapped onto the roof with one piece of string, ( would they arrive at the airport with us??!) and that the temperature was probably around mid 30's - and you might begin to understand that it had its own warped version of Monty Python humour that we have enjoyed here in India.
The airport wait was 3 hours. However, we have become so accustomed to hitting the next experience of India and finding it a little bit more ridiculous than the last that when we finally boarded our aircraft ( Air India) we were completely flawed by how normal and pristine it was. It was so sanitised and uncrowded. J said this morning that he felt when he took off his sandals that he might even be guilty of dirtying the carpet!!! Ah, such a marvellous hiatus in the whole potpourri of India.
We began to hold lightly to hope that the hotel in Noida, previously planned to be a lovely end to our stay, might even be nice. Lightly, mind you because we have learnt to have our hopes dashed at every corner when we have expected perfection and cleanliness
However, we were almost overwhelmed to discover that it is GREAT and very western - still with its delightfully enjoyable quirks - such as crooked toilet seats, leaky showers, ( but they are GREAT showers, nevertheless!) peeling paint, etc.
We went down like excitable children to have dinner in the lovely little restaurant as soon as we had had out shower and ordered a pizza - which was outstanding. The boys had a cold beer or two which they had been hanging out for.
We then went next door and had a hot chocolate sundae in the fast food cafe which is also part of the hotel. Cannot believe how enjoyable it all was.
Today we are filling in the day until V and S come at 3.30 - we will say our farewells and have dinner together before we head out to the airport to head back to Malaysia at 6 pm.