Rajesh from Tourist Pension takes me to the DHL office to check the status of my new credit card. There, after a few phone calls, we are told that the envelope has already been handed over to Indian Post on January 5th. We get a new track number and go to the city post office together.
There it is complete chaos because they have had no electricity, no computers, no internet for 2 days. Fortunately, Rajesh is a regular customer with them and he knows how to persuade them to actually look up the track number. Then a paper log is taken and after a few pages my track number is found. It is noted that (my) name and the address of Tourist Pension do not match and that they sent it back to NL two days ago! I shout loudly 'no!' through the office and almost sink through the floor.
But then the local chaos suddenly works in my favor because the good man checks a stack of envelopes on his desk and yes: my envelope is in between! They haven't sent him back yet because the administration has been down for two days. I can't believe my happiness and hug Rajesh for all the effort he has done for me. If I had come alone, they would have definitely brushed me off.
This means that I can finally continue traveling and the next day I leave for the Nepalese border. After a long day of driving on mainly busy provincial roads I am in Delhi, where the importer of Rev'it India is located and I can exchange my very faded motorcycle jacket for a new one. Fortunately I already had my motorcycle pants washed so that they also match the new jacket. I am warmly welcomed in the store and the difference between my old and new coat is really huge. Now certainly no one believes me anymore when I tell them that I came to drive from the Netherlands.
It's already getting dark when I leave the store and I don't have a place to stay yet. I try it at a fancy resort a little further away, but 60 euros for a night is really too much for me. The hotel manager understands my urgency, because it is getting dark and the traffic in Delhi is one big chaotic traffic jam. Not to mention the smog. Delhi has the honor of being the city with the most polluted air on earth. The manager does his utmost to find me an affordable place to stay and he succeeds. Only a little bit further on the route I can spend the night and have breakfast in a new hotel for € 24, and the motorcycle is safely parked behind a gate. That sleeps a lot more peacefully.
