So the adventure begins!! We arrived in Delhi in the early hours on Thursday 4th and settled in to our hotel, which was fine. We stayed in the main bazaar area which was crazy, soo busy and so noisy but actually after a day or so we quite enjoyed it. We went out on Thursday afternoon and tried to get ourself around but no one would take us to where we wanted to go so after being taken to a few expensive shops by a tuktuk man we ended up at the tourist information centre. So we chatted to them for a bit and decided to get a driver with them to take us around for a day and a half to see all of the sites..it was the best decision we made as it was so easy to actually explore Delhi. He took us to New Delhi where the Lotus temple is which is built in the shape of a lotus flower and is a place for all religions to go and pray. We then went to the India gate and the presidential area which was all built by the British, and then got a curry for lunch, which I'm loving, never would have thought it!!

We ended up in back in the main bazaar area where we just got a drink and sat watching the craziness outside. There are just so many cars, tuktuks and mopeds and people crossing everywhere, I've literally never heard so much beeping in my life..they use their horn ALL the time, propably so they don't run people over!! Everyone stares too, which we've kind of got used to now, and everyone is trying to get you to buy something from them, so when you walk around you're bombarded with people in your face all the time!! There was a restaurant right at the top of our hotel which was quite nice so we went up there for a kingfisher and just chilled out for a bit above the bustling streets below!

On Friday we had the whole day to explore the rest of Delhi, whcih wasn't much to be honest. We went back to the tourist information place and met our driver again. He took us to Old Delhi to the biggest mosque in India, which had a slum right next to it. We weren't allowed in though as it was their prayer time so we walked along the road to the Red Fort, just about managing not to get run over. There were hardly any white people around so everyone was staring at us! We got in to the Red Fort which is where all 7 mugal kings lived before the British came. We found our driver again and he took us to Ghandhi's tomb and the Ghandhi museum which was really interesting to see and then he took us to such a nice Indian restaurant which did amazing food...3.50 for a curry!! After that we wanted to go to a proper Indian bazaar so he dropped us off at the underground one in Connaught Place. It was big but not really the kind of bazaar we were looking for, I don't think there really are many markets in Delhi. We got back to the main bazaar and Jo got a really cool henna done on the street and then we just went back up to the rooftop to play cards and get some drinks. This morning we checked out of the hotel in the main bazaar and came to the hotel where we're meeting our STA group at 4pm, we're really looking forward to getting out of Delhi and starting the tour :).

So yeah, first impression have been mixed, it took a day to get used to the craziness, it's just so incredibly different, a completely different life here, it's so dirty, noisy beyond belief and hectic but it actually has a charm about it, the people are generally friendly and welcoming and so we've felt quite safe, if a little overwhelmed by it all! The funniest thing so far is probably listening to I'm a barbie girl really loud in the car driving through all of the traffic in Delhi haha!

We're off to Jaipur tomorrow and then Agra and Varanassi, so lots to look forward to in the next week!!