So this is India! It's definitely not a place someone can shrug your shoulders and go 'meh' at.

I had a very smooth flight and arrival in Delhi. I had a free seat next to me + a window seat which meant not only did I have great views of American military bases in Afghanistan at night, and German coastal villages, I also had decent leg space. With a great book by Yuval Noah Harari as well, the 7 hour flight flew by.

Delhi Airport is very snazzy and whilst other immigration officers were barking rudely at bewildered tourists I probably got the nicest ever border official of all time and was through without hiccup.

Of course my bag was among the last to arrive and of course it took ages to find my transfer driver. He was very friendly, ailing from a village in Himachal Pradesh on the Chinese border, and we (well he) talked at length about India's rampant corruption and... yeah it was mainly just complaining about corruption.

I had to wake up the receptionist to check me in and I finally fell asleep at 4 in the morning in my slightly squalid 14 bed dorm. Yeah 14 beds is a tad too much...

I spent all morning catching up on sleep and still slightly bleary eyed at 1pm I headed out to change my pounds for rupees. I got very lost. Never trust google maps in India. Lesson learnt.

Delhi is a city like none I've ever been before. Because it isn't really a city. It's more a conglomeration of the absorbed. The side of the flyaway my hostel is on is full of posh apartments and fancy cars. The other side is the grotty Panchsheel Village, not quite slum but only level up. My currency exchange was near the Madagascan Embassy in the bohemian village of Haus Khas.

The roads into each of these little subdistricts have their own policeman with massive poles stopping cars without permits from entering them. Anyway, it was all very confusing. Also, whilst it hasn't rained today, there was clear evidence of recent downpours, the parks were reduced to bogs and the stench of overflowing sewage in the area was quite frankly putrid.

I had a weird spinach and cheese rap for lunch and made my way back to the hostel to chill the bit.

Then, finally, something worthwhile. I made my way on the Delhi Metro, sprinkly clean and highly secure, to the Bahai'i Lotus Temple. I was there at the perfect time, in time to see the museum to learn about this unknown religion but also able to see sunset.

I also appear to a be a minor celebrity. I had selfies with approximately 20 Indians between the ages of 14 and 30 in the space of 40minutes. Clearly it's a thing to just take selfies with a random white guy whenever you get the opportunity.

The Baha'i faith initiated in 1800s Persia when some guy called Babs decided he was the son the God. The Muslim rulers didn't really like that idea so they persecuted him but he managed to convince quite a few others he was who he thought he was.

Miraculously the Ottoman Turks decided to release Bab's son from a prison in Akko (modern day Israel) because they were having a prison camp rebuild and so Bahaism could spread to the world.

Bahai'sm does however believe that effectively all religions share a common true basis and that the differences between them are simply irrelevant. Further, it has very agreeable ideas about gender equality, how developing our understanding of the world is constant, the dangers of prejudice and spiritualism and the value of science.

Further, the Lotus temple is simply stunning! Especially with the sun setting in the background! Anyway, managed to successfully navigate the chaotic 'streets' of Delhi to have a toothpick necessitating, filling Biryani.

Now to try fall asleep at a normal time!

अलविदा

Alavida!

p.s. I did get asked on the metro by a local man to identify whether a western man with a pony tail was either a man or a women...