Finally, a full night of sleep. Dinner last night was at the Tapas place in the Jaypee Siddharth hotel in Delhi. I think we’re all tired of Indian food, no matter how good it has been. Sometimes you just need, you know, fancy jalapeno poppers, lamb meatballs and a Greek “calzone” with mushrooms and feta. With Internet access procured, I set about updating the blog and getting in touch with some friends back home. It was nice to not have to think having my suitcase packed and ready to load onto the bus at dawn, which seemed to happen a lot during this trip. I relaxed, watched some TV, imported my photographs from my camera into my laptop (so I have something to do during the 15-hour flight home) and went to sleep unencumbered by THE WAKEUP CALL NEVER CAME! fears.
I awoke at 10am, because the window to obtain a free breakfast was to close at 10:30. I enjoyed a ham and cheese omelete, a couple croissants, and two bowls of Corn Flakes. I had until 3pm to be out of my room, so after showering and ensuring all my things were together and ready for the flight I went to the pool and hung out for an hour or two. If you’re having trouble figuring this out — I had a lazy day. A very lazy day. Once I was out of the room I found an electrical outlet in the balcony overlooking the hotel lobby and watched a few episodes of Delocated.
Dinner was at the Hilton in Delhi, it was a really nice Pre Fixe restaurant that offered a multi-course Indian dinner with a dance show to keep us entertained. Assuming it was just another buffet (whoops!) I didn’t bring my camera inside, which is a shame because it was one of the better meals I had. We started with Tamatar Ka Shorba (a great, spicy tomato soup with masala and chilis) and a flight of different sauces served with breadsticks that were made from a mixture of flour and beet root powder. The first course consisted of Lamb Seekh Kebab, Murgh Malai Tikka (chicken marinated in yogurt), and Achari Paneer Tikka (barbecued spicy cottage cheese wedges). The second course included Rarha Gosht (mutton in gravy), Murgh Makhani (butter chicken), Mirch Makai Do Pyaz (baby corn and peppers stir fried with cumin and coriander), Kumb Masaledar (something with mushrooms and peas over rice), Dal Makhani (lentils boiled with clarified butter, the best Dal I had on this trip), Dal Tadka (fried in oil), and a couple different styles of Naan. Dessert was Gulab Jamun, my new Indian dessert obsession. I was happy that would be my final taste of the cuisine of India.
Up next is a 15-hour flight home. We leave at 11:35pm tonight and arrive just five hours later, at 4am. By the time I’m through customs and on my way home it’ll probably be 6am. Then I have to try and get a few hours of sleep, and then I have to run 20 miles. This will be the pinnacle of my marathon training regimen. Everything after this is a “cool down” to give my body the recovery time it will need to be primed and ready for the race on December 4th. In other words, tomorrow is going to be a hell of a day.
See you on the other side of the world…
Dark Day – Flightless Birds
