Day 16.Homeward bound. The Final stretch and waiting arms!

TOYOTA Leh Jayenge
Day 16. Homeward bound. The Final stretch and waiting arms!
30th May 2010, Sunday.
Route : Hodal to Lucknow via Mathura, Agra, Firozabad, and Kanpur. Distance 250 kms.
Morning tea was in bed and we were down for breakfast by 9.30, and a nice bright sun welcomed us again. The Dining hall was bustling with activity as it was also attached to a huge showroom displaying curios, artifacts, memorabilia and souvenirs made of wood, stone, marble, metals and much more. The collection of these and some fabric based items would require a whole day to go through. Perhaps we would do that next time we were here.
Mouthwatering Parathas with aloo ki subzi, omlettes and other options helped us fill our tanks up and we said our goodbyes to our wonderful hosts after a brief photo session outside the Haveli like motel. It was 10 am and I took the wheel. The cheer was in the air as we were finally completing a blemish less trip laden with spills, thrills, adventure, bonhomie, male bonding, and more.
We were a bit solemn that it would all end, but looking forward to getting grounded! We’d actually being living out of our suitcases and in fact got used to it!
Mathura came on the Horizon and so did U.P. the traffic went unruly and the laziness was evident. But that was home for us! Up came a McDonald’s and we were ready to have the last binge………….strawberry thick shakes! Satiated, we moved on and got through the terrible Agra traffic, somehow.
The highway was good and aside from the cyclists and motorcyclist who drove in from different directions, making their own rules, we did good time. Vijay took over from me and as we approached Kanpur, Shekhar who was on the wheel next from Firozabad, and suggested we stop at a place he was familiar with, for Lunch. It was a cute little food outlet which was thankfully cool and clean and we made do with some Chinese and Indian food which was palatable.
By now all the phones had started to ring, timing our arrival into Lucknow. It was almost 3 pm and in two hours we would be touching Lucknow. We were energized at the though of returning back and around 5.30 touched down at Amausi. Our ride would deliver us at our doorsteps!
The good part was that we would be meeting again soon, to catch up with the little anecdotes that made this trip so memorable. We negotiated the Sunday traffic at Alambagh and a detour from Jail road, and were finally at Nisheeth’s home, and Nisheeth promptly in the waiting arms of Bonnie. Vijay, dutifully handed over the Naughty Kid to Bon, in entirety…. nappies, bottles, biscuits and bags. The delightful faces all around said it all.
Next stop was Vijay and Roma in waiting, along with Caesar the doggie. I was next and Neelam , my mom, Pranay, our son and Esha our daughter in law were dying to catch up with all that Leh Jayenge was!
Amazing is all I can say……..and an experience that will be embedded in our life’s special history archived for posterity.
As we said our good byes, the Fortuner with Shekhar and Sadhana drove into oblivion, hopefully with another opportunity to head in a different direction, very soon!
Cheers guys and friends, for encouraging us all the way, with your comments and kind words and I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed living and writing each day, on this wonderful journey to Leh and back. We’ll be back, I promise!
Like it says, at the back of our Fortuner…………….Live it up….You’re middle aged only once! This is Kiron Chopra...signing off.........but only for now!