Day 21 - New Delhi, new group

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Had my best sleep yet last night - first time I've actually slept right through. My allergies seem to have gone too, which is amazing and such a relief - was really getting to me. Must be allergic to some of the greenery down south. Hopefully not palm trees since hope to be around some a fair bit later in the trip. Got up okay and got to an ATM. felt horrible giving over the RS10000 (£131) local fees. Not really sure they are that necessary or where the money goes considering we have already paid £800 for the trip! Met the German and Australian girls but can't remember/didn't catch their names - will need to work on that - very bad at names indeed.

Caught a local bus for a bumpy ride to a mosque where we took a ton of pictures with locals. Was mostly guys but then some woman tried to hand me her baby. The kid clearly sensed my dislike for children and didn't like me, gripping tightly to it's mothers hair, so we just stood together for the pic. After this we walked through old Delhi, which was extremely narrow and actually gated. We tried some chai tea which I knew I wouldn't like and didn't. Just so milky and sugary, bleh. We then got the metro and it was very nice and clean - such a contrast from the dirty streets above. It is cool and clean and a great system, much nicer than London underground, although much newer. Wold never have thought they'd manage to maintain it so well.

Went 'downtown' and were left to do our own thing and make our own way back to the hotel without Sanjay. Had a wander past all the brand name stores and picked up a few things in FabIndia. A shirt to go with my print pants and a shirt and long sleeve top for my mum. Going to pick up some nice textiles to send home too. Will get them along the way or when get back here to Delhi. Had lunch in a nice place called Rodeo that had a MExican theme and was delicious. It is much more expensive in the north however so will have to watch what we are having. But still loads cheaper than at home. A few people mentioned an emporium for shopping so got an auto there. Wasn't too exciting but lots of nice fabrics. The guy said he'd take us back for RS10 after he'd dropped up. But when we came out he said only if we went to a particular store first just to look - as they give him a litre of petrol free. We just wanted to get back and said no so he refused to take us to the metro. Ended up walking and it wasn't too far and we were only two stops from Karol Bagh where the hotel is.

Spent the rest of the day doing bits and pieces. Had been wanting to get my legs waxed and so had stopped shaving, which wasn't pretty, and now have finally had them done! Ouch! Also picked up snacks for train tomorrow - up and out for 6am 😞 tomorrow. Oh and got henna done on my foot and Sarah had her hand done - looks fab! But had a slight accident with the henna. Couldn't quite manage to sit still for an hour and when I was reaching for something across the bed my foot brushed the sheets. Henna paste does not look good on a white bed sheet!!! One of Sarah's FabIndia tops is a teen one - oops. Going to see if it will fit Kara.

Went to a south Indian restaurant for dinner and we all shared a mixture of different dishes which was really nice. Those only doing the north trip got to taste southern dishes and we got to try some new ones we hadn't ordered when we were there. Very tasty and worked out pretty cheap. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel and just went to bed and watched TV for a bit before falling asleep.

General thoughts for today

• a good day - was nice walking around and managed to get four of us in the back of one small auto - with me sitting on the side
  
• happy to have smooth legs
  not looking forward to 6am start! 😞
  

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Photos

Peter Susan and Jaki
Peter takes a picture of Sarah taking a picture

Sanjay
What was to be the first of many phonecalls for Sanjay - he always seemed to be ringing someone!

Chai making in old Delhi
Wish I liked it so I could appreciate the chai

Praying
We were allowed to discretely take pictures inside here

Comments

[Raman]

hi there
hi, I'm a design student and an architect here in India and I'm researching on the problems that tourists face while finding there way in Indian Cities. Please mail me your comments, ideas, observations on this. I'm based in Delhi and this research is for the improvement of signage systems in the city. Thanks Raman