We have arrived in India!! No sooner had we jumped into a taxi were we thrown into the chaotic mess of New Delhi - think a 2 lane carriage way turned into at least 6 lanes, buses, bicycle rickshaws, motor rickshaws, horse carts, cows, cars, trucks, buses... my god it is total madness and they love their horns - beep, beep bloody beep!!

Before we left London we booked ourselves a hotel room so we would miss the touts that follow you to every hotel trying to get commission... On the website the hotel looked nice 'for the price' - how could we have been so silly to believe the photos (nice big windows, lovely linen etc). Although the place is fine, the first room they tried to give us was a windowless box with prison blankets... the second was a bit nicer, it has a tiny window so there was at least some natural light.

Its monsoon season here and it is stifling hot (around 40), they've not had any rain yet and the news channels are talking of a drought. You leave your hotel feeling fresh and within minutes your clothes are stuck to you and you've sweat patches the size dinner plates... oh the joy!

We'd almost forgotten just how crazy this place can be, there are people (mainly men) everywhere you turn and you can't escape the stare and, they all want to talk to you - "Where are you from", "How long in India"... although about 90% seem to genuinely want to practise English, there is that 10% where you can see $$$ signs light up in their eyes - normally when you say this is my second time in India they leave you alone.

The streets here are filled with so many aromas - burning incense, urine, rubbish, cow poo, food stalls... it makes for an interesting smell, actually its pretty awful!

We were to stay in Delhi for 2 nights, but we've decided head off. Originally we were heading for Rajasthan, but after talking to some locals they are telling us to head north where we may get some respite from the heat... so, tonight we are going to experience our first Indian bus trip, 16 hours to Manali, Himachal Pradesh. We've paid a bit more to get a Volvo airconditioned bus, though I'm not convinced it will be that flash... from previous experience you normally end up getting a beat up old bus that should have been retired 20 years earlier. Hmmm may make for an interesting story...