Christmas in Delhi

Christmas Day in Delhi. Christmas is celebrated as a festival here, albeit low-key, though we were driven by a Catholic church today with a big crowd attending mass. Many restaurants have special menus. We start off with our usual breakfast at Hotel Perfect, though we don't have as much time as usual since we need to pack up one last time for our journey to the airport hotel, where we'll catch a few hours sleep prior to our 1:30 am taxi to the airport. So what to do on our last day? Turns out the National Museum is open, and all we have to do is arrange for our transport there. We thought we'd take the Metro, but as we check out we ask the hotel manager and he suggests taking a tuk-tuk there. So we leave our bags at the hotel for pickup later, and walk the two blocks down to the Karol Bagh Metro where a line of auti rickshaws is waiting. There's the usual negotiation; the first driver refuses Hoyt's offer, and another driver agrees to take us there. It ends up being a very picturesque drive on a surprisingly not-too-busy morning. We arrive at the museum and learn that several of the exhibits are closed for renovation. We decide to take the tour anyway and were treated to one of the best collection of miniature Indian paintings we've seen, plus sacred relics of the Buddha (with devotees pictured), Indian textiles and weaponry. But one of the biggest surprises was in the museum cafeteria: we end up catching an early dinner there, featuring an excellent vegetarian buffet, Tandoori paneer and cold coffee with ice cream. One of the best meals of our trip! Our return tuk-tuk ride didn't go so smoothly, at least at first. Since our trip to the museum cost 80 INR, we assumed we could get the same deal on the return trip. Silly us, what were we thinking? First driver quoted us 200 INR. Then the next drive said he'd take us for 80 INR if we stopped at his shop "just to look." Then a taxi driver offered to take us to the nearby Metro station for "our price" which ended costing 50 INR. Turns out there WAS a Metro station within walking distance, but the taxi driver made it sound like it was so far away. But that's just how it is, you have to negotiate everything and not believe everything you hear! After returning to Hotel Perfect for our bags, it's now about 6:00 pm and time to call the taxi to the airport hotel. The driver reaches the airport hotel area fairly quickly, but it's another matter finding the Hotel Aerostar, which is located in the corner of an out-of-the-way street. We're glad to have had dinner early so we can check in, take a shower and get to bed as soon as possible. But first, we need to make sure we have enough rupees left for the airport exit tax, about 1,400 rupees each. Good news, we won't have to visit the ATM. Plus, we still have some Singaporean dollars we need to convert.