Wednesday 4th - Back at Lutyens Bungalow

 Less than 20km outside Delhi our train is on time. We arrive two hours later. We are staying at Lutyens Bungalow again and they have arranged a car for us. The traffic is the usual mess as we leave Old Delhi station but eventually we are free of it and cruising past the familiar landmarks of Lutyens' Delhi. As usual we are made most welcome by Shukla and are soon installed in our room showering off the grime of the train. Not too much seems to have changed apart from the big tree in the garden which has been mainly felled in a storm. The parakeets and squirrels are still around and there was no damage done.

 Our plan today is a bit of shopping, but first lunch at the eminently trendy Sodabottleopenerwalla restaurant at Khan Market. We are allowed lunch as it was biscuits for breakfast today.We find this and as we climb the stairs we both get a familiar feeling. Upstairs we recognise it as a former Tex Mex place where we once had a beer. The place is a kind of good natured pastiche of the Britannia in Mumbai and offers Parsi dishes on the menu. R settles for Aloo Parantha, not very Parsi, but D goes for Baked Eggs with potatoes and spicy tomato sauce. Lunch done the next stop is the bookshop but they don't have what we are looking for. Clothes etc are top dollar here so our next stop is Lajpat Nagar market, a couple of stops along the metro.

R is in the market for churidar trousers to go with her kurti tops and D has a hankering for a new kurta. The market is not too busy and there a lot of sale signs around. We have a good look around and find a kurta shop where we have bought before. There is a very smart one on display but sad to say the biggest size is just not quite big enough. The man climbs a lader and fetches down his stock of larger size kurtas and we find quite a nice one at a very nice 500 rupees. By now it is time to return to base for supper which is two metro rides and a pleasant walk in the evening sunshine.

Supper is a convivial affair. Shukla joins us and around the table  we are joined by a French couple, an Australian lady and her grand daughter and a solo lady traveller,  originally from Australia but now living in Perth, Scotland. One of the topics of conversation is about where to find a good bookshop. Apparently there is one at Jor Bagh, just a few minutes walk from where we are staying. One to check out tomorrow.