Day of Departure

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The alarm clock rang at 7am once again. We packed and left our cute little hotel behind.

We tried 3 ATMs to withdraw cash. The new one was empty of money, the middle aged one said it wouldn't work with our card but the ancient dusty ATM, came to the rescue and delivered 5000 rupees.

We continued to the bus station and found the bus we needed. It was a while before it left and when it did leave it stopped again on the main road and we waited there some more!

With the help of the locals and bus conductors we made bus switches with ease. We drank chai twice at one stop as it was so good.

We passed a number of forts and some huge rivers too. There were also a number of toll plazas en route and of course the speed bumps in the road made it a little bumpier than we would have liked.
Final stop, Dhule.
Dhule is a busy intersection on the main Mumbai to Agra Highway. The bus stand was right in the centre which gave us a 4km walk to where we were staying. We had arranged to stay at the Guru Nanak Sahib Ji Gurudwara. With our Sikh friends help and a few phone calls we had managed to book a room.

The walk was fairly boring through Dhule. In the end we followed a large main road - mainly because our walking route took us through a police compound and along a road that had been dug up! It became a lot simpler to take the main road. 

A local with a bike accompanied us and invited us to his house. He was friendly but we thought money extraction could be his final aim. At the Gurudwara, he was sent speedily on his way.

We were welcomed into the office and filled out the paperwork. We were then told that our stay would be free of charge. We met the whole family who take care of the Gurudwara and it appeared we were more their personal guests than just visiting. Baba ji (grandfather), dad, mum, various daughter's, aunties and so many others helped us and took care of us. They explained everything from their beliefs to the history of Sikhism and the Gurudwara.
We ate, we drank tea and we talked. We had a full tour, even of the vegetable garden, kitchens and where the snakes live! We even met the roti machine that can make thousands in no time at all!

We had roti training and made a few ourselves however we were a lot slower than the machine.
Big sister showed off her new tablet, little brother (1year old) liked cute kittens and could operate the phone like a pro. One sister felt unwell and had to visit the doctor. Mum fed us, and fed us some more! Dad showed off his 5 Ks and swords. Baba ji showed us his 300 year old sword made in Birmingham for the British army!

We ate Manchurian at the park. Roti, tumeric milk, chai and vada pav at home. Wow!

Next door a wedding played super loud music but it did eventually stop at bed time, thankfully.

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