One additional complication to our time in Delhi was the presence of President Obama. We felt fortunate that our flight arrived very early in the morning, so most of the streets were still open, but the security presence was astounding! We went past the hotel where he and his entourage were staying and there were police and army stationed every 20 yards along the road and almost as frequently in the wooded area just off the road. I lived in DC a long time and I never once saw anything like it. Later that day, we couldn't even get a taxi to go anywhere because the streets had been closed while Obama's retinue took in some sights.
We took the train from Delhi to Dehradoon, which takes about 6 hours. The trains, while a bit shabby, are timely, reliable and fairly comfortable as long as you are in first, second, or third class. We were in a third class car with seats similar to airline seats, but with much more room. We got bottles of water, tea and breakfast, all included in our (very low) ticket price. It was not a particularly foggy day, so there weren't any delays and we arrived only about an hour late. We had arranged for one of the taxi drivers we use frequently to pick us up, so we after finding him outside the train station, we packed up the car and headed out.
Since we had emptied our pantry and refrigerator and there was zero chance of any of us cooking dinner when we got home, we made a stop at one of our favorite restaurants in Dehradoon, Black Pepper. Just before we left, we discovered their Afghani Chicken, so we ordered some "for take away", then went to a grocery store nearby to get some essentials, ate a quick meal at McDonalds (don't judge us, it is literally underneath Black Pepper and we were in a hurry). Then we got back in the taxi and headed up the mountain.
It was cold and dreary, but we were finally back at what Cassidy and I have dubbed our "iHome", the "i" is for India, get it? Anyway, we were all happy to be able to put our backpacks down and empty them. Of course, that meant giant stacks of laundry to do, but its was okay. The dryer helped heat up the kitchen and we weren't planning to go anywhere for a few days anyway.