Thursday 3 December

Sleep is so good. I could do with more. We get ready and head down stairs to get breakfast and printing done. There is no mention of breakfast and we spend about an hour trying to get the printers to work. Eventually we give up and go to a store down the road where it works smoothly. We continue on our way to the metro station and figure which tickets to buy. We get a 3 day pass. We have to go through security first- bags through a scanner and person through a scanning frame. I go to follow Malcolm through but the guy gestures me away. Then I see it. There are scanners for women and men. Well actually 2 for men and 1 with a cubicle for women. The men can't be allowed to scan women here. It's 4 stops on one line and 4 on another. As soon as we exit we are approached by rickshaw drivers and we do decide to take one to save time. We have to give some directions as the drivers English isn't perfect. We get to the high commission and sign in. We drop off our applications and then head out. There are a group of ppl painting the high curbs. Black and yellow. The ppl aren't in any uniform and there is even a lady painting. As we round the corner there is a man indicating with a paint brush yellow spots which segments or curb are to be visited yellow. We walk past a hospital and see our initial driver. He offers us another ride or a tour. We decline again and again. Down the road another driver stops and offers us a tour all over the place. He is harder to get rid of. This area is like embassy-ville. So many. And with big grounds. There is a nice park strips along the road. Although they need a lot if watering. There cannot be much rain here. There is a park so we stop for a rest and check out the map with tourist spots. We decide to and see a tower. It is the furthest thing we want to see. The metro is full and by the time we get to our stop we have to squeeze and push and in the end Malcolm has to pull me out by the arm just as the doors start to close. It's kinda funny. Again there are lots of drivers looking for passengers. We are running short on time so decide to take one. The tower is lovely and surrounded by other ruins of an old city, tombs and college. But the starts of a tower that was to be double the size but ended up not even one storey as the man died. There are chipmunks everywhere running about. The are cute. Back at the metro the driver tried to get more money than agreed upon as he had waited for us. The train is quite empty on the way back and we even get a seat. There is time to walk to the embassy. The passports are ready. But when we check there is a problem. The lady is going to check with someone and ring us tomorrow. There goes our sightseeing day! Hopefully it's an easy fix with no hiccups. It's a long walk back to the metro. We manage to get back eventually - after getting a bit list and confused after the first 4 stops. We see a small convenience store and purchase a few things. Water included. We see a weasel like creature running amongst the rubbish. Around the corner there are lots of take away food places and we order. It takes forever. It's very cheap. But in the end not that great. My wrap is painfully hot, but the bread is yum. The rice is not rice but maybe chopped noodles. Is ok. But also a bit hot. Malcolm's burger and noodles are much better. It's nice to relax a while. I quite like India despite all the things don't like. The shower is cold today. It's very disappointing for a hotel. Really, the bathroom is horrible. A square with a shower head in one corner, a toilet in one corner, a sink in another corner and random drains and taps around the walls. Things feel a bit grey. Hoping for a better tomorrow.
Good things- even though room isn't nice there is no bed bugs and there is a wide bed. Around 10pm there seems to be a drum performance. Thankfully it doesn't last long.