It's 4am in the morning, and the streets of Delhi are unusually quiet as we're on our way to the airport for our flight to Israel. We've just spent the last few days shopping, something we've mostly avoided since leaving Australia, although we figured this was our last chance to get a good Indian market bargain and there were a few things we needed...

Our old shoes had suffered some serious wear and tear last year in the Asian wet season, and trekking up and down mountains in Nepal took the last life from them, so we left our faithful foot protectors behind a few weeks ago. So, new shoes were the first items on our shopping list. Apart from that, Aidan thought it would be a good idea to get a suit tailored, Jess a new pair of jeans and we eventually found a good set of Tabla drums to practice on in Canada. The challenge now is arranging our bags to get through the next few flights as we makes our way there!

We also took the chance to have a good look around the old Red Fort in old Delhi. This palace was built by the Muslim Mughal empire in the 17th century and inside the longstanding red walls is a beautiful, typically Islamic, arrangement of gardens, water channels and breezy royal chambers. Half the attraction though was just watching the chipmunks and groups of Indians picnicking in the shady grounds.

Close to the Red Fort, we had lunch at a fantastic Mughal restaurant, who's chefs claimed to be the descendants of the Mughal Empires' most trusted caterers. Although we avoided the brain soup, our tandoor more than lived up to the hype!

So goodbye India! Everybody said we'd either love it or hate it, and with so much to offer, we find ourselves already working out when we'll be back. I guess we loved it...?