The bad (written by Dom):

And I thought Bangalore was sh#?. We read the books, we knew the scams, our BS radars were finely tuned and we had our tout free armour on. Within an hour of venturing from our hotel we were duped 4 times. Firstly, we were walking to the train station when a helpful local who was concerned for our safety suggested we get out of that area asap. He kindly escorted us to a rickshaw who drove us to the "official" tourist centre. The nice staff at the centre told us all trains were booked up for next 2 weeks, but they could arrange something else for us. We left the centre and was told by another passer by that we had just been to a fake centre, the real one was across the road. The official Delhi tourism dept must be very overstaffed, it seems every other person works for them.
Q - How do you know if someone from Delhi is lying? 
A - Their lips are moving. 
These scammers are very convincing and are a new breed to what we've already seen. Their acting skills are phenomenal. That area wasn't unsafe, neither tourist office was the "official" one and our exit train was available (perhaps the best news we've ever had). Luckily, our naivety didn't cost us anything. 

Delhi is very busy and noisy and the harassment is never ending. We now ignore everybody that tries to speak to us and just have to assume that everyone is a scam artist. You can't walk anywhere as pavements are blocked off with stalls, beggars, faeces, men urinating, stray dogs, rickshaws and people that want to pester you. Rickshaws always try to rip you off and are not much safer. Yesterday while sitting in a rickshaw we were harassed by a transvestite demanding money and today we had a water bomb thrown at us by pesky kids! We have seen children getting out of nice cars and then running up to tourists begging. They are part of an organised network begging scam that mostly targets popular tourist spots. It seems nothing here is what it claims, nobody is to be trusted.   

We did get to see some picturesque parks, but in comparison to the rest of Delhi, an open sewer could be considered picturesque. 

 The good (written by Shelly)

After our terrible experience at the tourist office (that isn't actually a tourist office), we escaped to the first watering hole we could find (a Chinese restaurant) and ordered beer. Not knowing the beer price shown was excluding extortionate vat and service charges, but that's another story. Anyway, there we are slagging off our first 2 hours in Delhi unawares that the Indian guy having a beer alone at the table next to us speaks fluent english and is taking this all in, probably much to his amusement. Anyway, feeling a little merry by now, I drum up some conversation with this man (Gaurav) and it was the best thing we could have done. It was so refreshing meeting a local who is genuinely nice and helpful. We have met quite a few nice locals but its always the not so nice ones you remember!   We have to remember that as backpackers, we will often come across the poorer community who will generally try to overcharge you or scam you.  I'm sure if we were travelling in stylish extravagance we wouldn't have these experiences!  But then whats the point? Anyway, Gaurav is a writer, he was so nice, he restored our faith in Delhi, gave us tips on where to go, told us to ignore everything, even chatted about other places in India like Varanasi and Darjeeling where we are visiting next.   We chatted for a couple of hours and it was great.

The next couple of days we spent visiting some very picturesque gardens and taking some nice walks.We wanted to go to Agra on a day trip from Delhi but the trains were (genuinely) all booked up so we won't get to see the Taj Mahal, as the alternative transport is either too costly or too long. So in Delhi we visited a place called Humayan's tomb which was built by an emperor's family and considered the precursor to the building of the Taj. We chilled in a village called Haus Kauz which had a picturesque park with old ruins, then cosmopolitan bars with beautiful Indian women dressed in elegant and revealing western clothing, the first time we've seen this in India!    

Also our hotel, despite being in a pretty dodgy area (beside a red light district), has been a welcome safe haven. The porters are paid by tips so, whilst they are constantly following you around and over helpful, you understand why.  One porter, Pratak, reminds me of an excitable Indian version of Manuel from Fawlty Towers.  He followed us around, always super helpful,  and I found myself tipping him a lot, though I didnt mind, as he was really sweet.  The hotel had an amazing roof terrace where we could just people watch.  We saw protests and street parties and just general craziness. ( see video)

I think in conclusion,  we made the best of our situation, but I wouldn't return to any of the 3 indian cities we have been to so far (mumbai, bangalore, new Delhi).  We clearly just dont like indian cities!  I wonder what the experience would be like if we were staying in luxury hotels? I would never pay to find out though; once bitten and all that.

Next stop Varanasi.