10th
Well i am back as a solo traveller till tonight when Shauna arrives for our Essence of Rajasthan 15 day tour. Doesnt start till the 13th so we have a few free days. My first taste of Delhi is from the airport to the hotel. The traffic is utter chaos, very heavy fog, and lots of people everywhere.

The hotel is only average, and the first room has no hot water, so i am moved a few times till i get a noisy room with hot water. Yes it is one big culture shock.

We head out to collect Shauna and arrive back at the hotel at around 10pm. We are both tired so its off to bed.

11th, 12th
Our free days are spent taking the metro to Connaught Place. I cannot begin to describe what its like to walk the streets here. We are constantly stared at and are approached and being asked if they can help us and where we are from. So after the 10th time i am starting to get annoyed. There are lots of high end shops here and so expensive, could not believe some of the prices.

We take lunch on a rooftop cafe with a nice view of the foggy day. I have been assured on more than one occasion that it is fog not smog. The food is great and cheap. We will only be eating in good restaurants and drinking bottled water. This way we should avoid the delhi belly.

Now it seems that every trip i do, i catch the flu. Well i now have a nasty dose of the flu. Havent been able to sleep much because of the noise and the very blocked sinuses.

The area we are staying in has one of the biggest markets in Delhi, so we venture out, but not far to see the action. Its is madness, so its back to the hotel.

13th
Our tour starts today and our driver and guide meet us at 9am and we are off to see the city. We are taken to may interesting place, none of which i can remember what they are called. Now we have both seen a fair bit more and learnt a lot as well. The fog does lift so we do actually see blue sky. It is cool to cold at just 15c. What you see on the side of the streets is pretty rough. People living in squallier on the footpaths, fires for cooking on the paths, men taking a leak on fences, mangy looking dogs roaming, bullocks pulling carriages. I could go on and on, but i think you get the picture. Life here is pretty sad for the vast majority.

The roads are so congested and rough. Nobody obeys the traffic lights, people ride scooter with no helmet. You would not get me behind the wheel of a car here, ever!

We have lunch in a fancy restaurant, and the butter chicken is absolutely amazing. Only $15 for a big serve and some nan bread.

Now its about 4pm and the tour is over and we are dropped off at the hotel. No some time to relax and shake off this virus.

14th
Our drive has arrived early for our day drive to Mandawa. Should be 6 hours to do 270ks. Getting out of the city is a nightmare, traffic is shocking. We finally get onto the highway and its not until the toll collect point that we stop. Now here is the stupid thing. The toll booth is now closed, but our driver must stop in the centre of the divide and run, yes run across to the other side of the 7 lane highway to pay the tourist tax. We watch in utter amazement as he risks his life to pay the tax. Then a few more tourist drive stop and attempt the suicide crossing. One guy gets stranded, and is having to step back and forth to avoid being road kill.

Anyway our driver makes it back in one piece and we proceed. We continue on our way. The landscape changes from city to Desert, with little vegetation. We pass through many towns which are quite congested with traffic. Lost count of the number of near head on crashes we nearly had. Our lives are in the hands of fate now.

We arrive at Mandawa, a little town in the desert. The hotel is one very fancy place. It is a huge gated complex with about 50 villas throughout the grassed grounds. The room we have is huge, the bathroom is as big as the bedroom. And we have hot water!

Its getting on to 6pm so we head over to the reception building where the restaurant is located. We thought we were the only guests, but no, 2 tour buses full of french tourists has arrived. Just as we walk into the gift shop the power goes out. We both dont move as its pitch black, but people working in the gift shop quickly flick their mobile phones on so we have the most basic lighting. Its 5 minutes before the power is back.

Taking our seat in the restaurant we finish up just as the french guests arrive, which are very loud. With tea over we head back to the room and get some sleep, hopefully deep sleep as tonight is going to be ever so quiet.