Back home, however, with just a day before we were to catch a 0600 train to Ajmer (Pushkar), it was pretty rough going. Varsha couldn't keep anything down, Caro was coughing patches out of her throat, and I was a bundle of aches. We lay sweating in bed for 12 hours waiting for daybreak...my teeth pounding in pain, Caro coughing, and Varsha throwing up. A total of about 12mins sleep was had between all 3 of us.
When morning finally came, Caro and I triaged the situation and decided we really needed to reconsider the trip to Pushkar pending V coming good. Frankly the whole Indian adventure was looking shaky. Then we received an email from Ken and Jan telling us that Caro's grandmother had passed away that morning. Aiee. It was always expected (she was nearly 97) and her passing was peaceful, but the reality is a blow when it arrives. No wonder the night had been so unsettled.
There was little question that Caro needed to go home and give respects to her dear Gran. We agreed that I would carry on with the program in India. The next few days were a slow recovery: juggling train tickets, nursing V back to strength, eating gently, and keeping our spirits aloft. Wrestling with Singapore Airlines became a sort of hobby: Caro could not get a confirmed seat out of Singapore back to Australia so eventually we got the nerve up to put them onto the plane in New Delhi and hope for the best.
The next day was pretty nerve-wracking for us all. After getting the girls through the airport in New Delhi, I descended into a funk of anxiety which apparently contributed, in some small way, because after only 12 hours of hanging around on the *outside* of Changi airport Caro and V secured seats and were on their way to safely return to Oz.
On arrival there were tears of relief (thanks Stu), fits of flu, and latent runny bottoms, but things were on the mend. You’ll need to quiz the women out if you’re after the details of July 14-31.
Meantime, I had a train to catch.
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