Incredible India!!! at least that is what the tourism add says, and trust me they are not wrong. Here's how our time in Delhi went.

As soon as we got our bags at the airport we were reminded that we are in India. Our pick-up from our hotel wasn't there. So no problem I had done my research, all we had to do was get a prepaid taxi. One problem, we had no cash. You can only get rupees in India. Went to a cashpoint, only take Visa, went to another one, was out of order. Finally had to talk our way into the departures area and Del was escorted to the ATM, success.

Our taxi ride was educational. Not really sure why they have even painted lines on the road, complete waste of money as nobody uses them. No such thing as a 2 second rule for distance, it's just fit into whatever space you can. Amazingly it works! We haven't seen one accident. Must be the secret honking code that they have, we still haven't been able to work it out.

We got to Main Bazaar and our hotel was quite nice. Absolutely no complaints, it was in a perfect location too, wasn't super touristy and clean. Later on we were walking down the street and I turned around and nearly got run over by a cow who was on a mission and not changing direction.

First day we had a car and driver. He took us to all the free places and parks. It was really nice and we saw a lot of the city this way. We found a fantastic little cafe right next to our hotel and ate there every day. So odd to see the kitchen at the front and the seats at the back.

Next day was a shopping day. We walked to Connaught Place. Many locals looked at us a bit odd and plenty of rickshaws offered us a lift, but it seemed more real to walk and truly experience our surroundings. We visited the underground market which was an experience, as soon as they saw us coming everybody was up and outside there shops asking us to come inside. All around us was up in riot. Del did get an India Cricket top and as we were walking out a man came up to him, said something and Del just started laughing loudly. The man looked almost hurt as I walked past him. Del told me that the man just asked him if he liked "Indian Porn". Later we visited Jantar Mantar, an astrological monument. We got caught in a massive monsoon and waited at a Bank for almost an hour before we figured we might as well just get wet. Back at Connaught Place we looked like wet dogs running in and out of the rain. We got some odd looks.

The following day we experienced some more real India and walked to the Jama Masjid Mosque and then the Red Fort. To get there we had to walk through a local market that sold hardware. We were by far the only whites for miles. It was very interesting. At Jama Masjid I had to wear a pretty pink gown to cover my western clothing. Very flattering. At the Red Fort we visited the India war museum as well. The fort was built by the Moghul Government and was later plundered by Persia and later the British.

We Made the long journey out to the Lotus Temple in a rickshaw (too far to walk). The temple is for the Baha'i faith, who believe in tolerance and peace. They teach that there is no one religion but looks at each instead as a spiritual path leading to the same place/God. It was very interesting, and a gorgeous piece of architecture. Getting a rickshaw there was no problem but coming back was more difficult. One guy kept lowing his price just so that we would go to his friends shop before taking us to our destination. It was kinda funny. Earlier that day we were waiting for the temple to open and a guy came up to me and opened a basket, I thought he was just going to try to sell me something, but when the basket opened a cobra came out. He pet it and it flared out. Scared me half to death.

I'd have to say the hardest thing for me to get use to is all the men just staring at me. Some even make noises, or congratulate Del. Overall, yes the city is dirty and it smells, but it is so interesting and almost beautiful in its own way. The people are nice and children are constantly coming up to talk to you or waving as you pass.

If the same things that have happened to us here happened in Europe or North America I would probably be shocked or surprised, or even annoyed. But here it is so normal that it's a unique experience...