- Sauvik Biswas - https://sauvikbiswas.com -

Day 20: Back home via Delhi

Meeting a friend, lunch in Delhi and heading back home

The HRTC bus I took was really efficient. It covered the on-ticket distance of 370 kms in 8 hours time, including two breaks of 25 minutes and 15 minutes respectively. It dropped me at ISBT Kashmere Gate at 5:30 am. Delhi was still covered in fog and I did not want to travel in the darkness.

ISBT Kashmere Gate in the morning. [1]

ISBT Kashmere Gate in the morning. I took this photograph at 6:30 am. Delhi was still in darkness.

BSNL provides service in Delhi via MTNL-Delhi, which calls its mobile network Dolphin [2]. As a result, the 3G was pathetic. I swapped the sim in my smartphone with a Vodafone one and I was back on the grid.

Amit Prabhakar, a friend of mine had promised to meet me. Well, he had promised to cover the final ten days of this trip with me, too. Circumstances prevented him from doing so. At least he did not break his promise this time. I met him and his two brothers. One of his brothers accompanied us to the Jama Masjid area to have Karim’s biriyani. This shop’s entrance is through a small alleyway on the road opposite to Jama Masjid’s gate 1 and it’s easy to miss. However, you can ask anyone and they will show you.

Jama Masjid from gate 1. [3]

Jama Masjid from gate 1.

Amit and his brother, Achyut at Karim's Hotel. [4]

Amit and his brother, Achyut at Karim’s Hotel.

Let me tell you, the hype isn’t worth it. I have had better biriyani at places that I wouldn’t even recommend others. If you want to have good biriyani anywhere in India, head over to Samarkand in Bangalore [5].

With about an hour to spare, I was at Airport Terminal 1D. The metro in Delhi is extremely efficient and the connectivity is very good.

At 5:30 pm, I was at my home in Kolkata, thus ending my 20 day long solo backpacking trip.

What did I take away?

An idol of the founder of Himachal Pradesh, Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar, at Shimla. [7]

An idol of the founder of Himachal Pradesh, Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar [8], at Shimla.

Getting Speech Recognition to work on Mac [9]
Day 19: Shimla on foot and exit [10]