Day 1 - Delhi

---

Day 1 - 9th October

We've arrived, after a 7 hour flight into Dubai, and then a 3.5 hour flight to Dehli. We can recommend on line check in - the minimum of fuss and waiting and our own queue. It only took us 5 miunutes to drop off the bags, we were treated to a lot of evil stares from those passengers that hadn't decided to check in on line. We were met by an Intrepid rep to take us to the hotel. The one hour journey took us past the new airport metrolink which they are building for the Commonwealth Games in April. The chances of it being done for then are zero! The Indians drive like their Nepalise nbeighbours, and the drive siad that you only need three things in India to drive, "Good brakes, Good horns and Good luck!" Going down a two lane road in the fourth lane certainly tests your nerves.

Our hotel, the Hotel Perfect, which is far from it, is in a market suburb of Dehli called Karol Bagh. Our room has a fridge, air conditioning and TV. Unfortunately, it also has a dirty bath, towels that look well used, and bed linen that also look well used, giving it that lived in look. We have deployed sleeping bags! On the plus side the toilet facility is european and the sink will be fine for a wash.

Last night we ventured out into the bustling market area, and were pleasantly suprised to to find the locals very friendly and very few beggars. The obligotory Watch, sunglasses and belt sellers easly took "No" for an answer, although how we refused a 8GB memory stick from one seller as he produced it from inside his underpants i don't know! We are hoping for sellers with more stamina later in the trip.

We went for a Chinese meal round the corner from the hotel at Ban-Zai, where our chicken momos and chicken chow mein with soft drinks cost..... £1.50 each. I think you will agree, a bit of a rip off.

As we were walking back to the hotel, we noticed a bamboo screen on the roof of our hotel. Upon investigation, we found this to be the resturant, and settled down to a couple of warm Sandpiper beers with complinentary popadoms. The beer was certainly better than the Lhasa beer in Nepal, and the popadoms had a good kick to them.

Tomorrow we meet our tour group.....

---