Day 43 - Chandigarh to Delhi - The Grand Finale

I had a good night's sleep and woke up early for the last day of my journey. About 15 riders from Chandigarh joined me for a short breakfast ride and they bid me adieu on the last leg of my trip.
 
Someone up there is looking after me as today was a very cool day compared to the last few days in the area. It was cloudy and gray and the temperature was in the low 30s. There was some part of me wishing for a bright, blue sky for the last ride of my journey, but I enjoyed enough of brilliant, blue skies in Ladakh and gladly welcomed the cool ride into Delhi.
 

The highway from Chandigarh to Delhi was a breeze to ride and I enjoyed getting sanDRina into 5th gear and leaning back with my feet up on the highway pegs. While paying attention to the traffic ahead, I was reminiscing about all the good rides I had over the past three-plus years. So many countries visited, so many beautiful places seen, friendly people met and tasty food savoured. I was thrilled that I had the chance to do something like this and that it actually happened. My tunes were turned up and I was jammin on the bike.

Watch the sign-off video postcard, 50 km away from Delhi:

I reached the Outer Ring Road of Delhi and got a taste of heavy Delhi traffic. I soon met up with some Bullet riders who had come to welcome me into the city and celebrate the ending of my journey. We rode to India Gate and managed to get the police to allow us in for the final photo. From there, we headed to Khan Market and celebrated over champagne and beers and I felt like I was with old friends already. I got dropped off at my friend's place that I'm staying at and when I turned the engine off on sanDRina, that was it, the end of the journey.
 

Thank you all for following along and giving me your encouragement to keep going. More photos and stories from the last part of the trip will slowly be coming out on my Facebook page, so check that out. 

Cheers,
Jay

That's the celebration tweet!

Watch the celebration video postcard from Khan Market, New Delhi:

PREVIOUS: Day 42 - Dharamsala to Chandigarh

Enjoyed the ride? Hear all about it -- the little side-stories and the untold and perhaps untellable ones -- straight from the man himself. Jay Kannaiya joins us for a live chat on MONDAY, JUNE 17 at 2:30 PM IST (+5:30 GMT). Save the date and sign up here to be reminded.

Trip stats: Total distance covered in India: 8,264 km. States visited: 12